McDonnell Douglas X-36
Air Vehicle #2
Beginning in 1989, NASA and McDonnell Douglas Phantom Works developed the technologies required for an agile, tailless fighter. To validate the advanced technologies in a real flight environment, Phantom Works began building two unmanned X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft vehicles using rapid prototyping techniques at its St. Louis, MO, facility in 1994.
Air Vehicle number 2, on display at the AFFT museum, was used for software development and fit checks but never flew. The X-36 “cockpit” and forward fuselage areas were autographed by personnel associated with the program before the aircraft was donated to the museum in 2003.
