F-89B

F-89B

F-89D

F-89B

F-89D

USA

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.7	7.0	7.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Jet fighter

Purchase:7 540

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This page is about the American jet fighter F-89B. For other version, see F-89D.

Description

The F-89B is a premium rank V American jet fighter with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB), 7.0 (RB), and 7.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

The F-89B Scorpion was designed and built to be an all-weather interceptor intended to neutralize any potential invading Soviet bomber force. The USAAF was intent in replacing the P-61 Black Widow with another night fighter, one specifically which would fly faster (minimum 850 km/h (530 mph)) almost assuredly requiring the usage of jets, six sixty-calibre machine guns or 20 mm autocannons and armed with internally stored aerial rockets. To round out the aircraft for ground attack if needed, it would also need to accommodate 1,000 lb bombs and eight larger rocket types externally. Initial wind tunnel testing of the fighter determined that the proposed swept-wings were insufficient at slow speeds and were changed out with straight wings. Though causing a loss of high-end performance, increased stability at low speeds was necessary.

Other changes to the horizontal stabilizer also increased the effectiveness of the elevators and rudder. Concerns about the fuel tanks situated right over the engines were nullified when it was determined that efforts made by Northrop to protect them were considered sufficient, anything else would have required a complete redesign of the aircraft.

Other key features of the Scorpion was the usage of decelerons or clamshell-style split ailerons which work as a standard aileron, however, can open up as a dive brake or be utilized as a takeoff/landing flap. Last-minute changes by the Air Force required upgrading the engines and outfitting an afterburner, adding a radar system, fire control system, permanent wingtip fuel tanks, reconfigured nose guns and easy access to lower the entire engine to make for easier maintenance.

The F-89B was an upgraded version of the F-89A, primarily featuring only upgraded avionics. Armament remained standard with six nose-mounted 20 mm cannons. As an interceptor, the F-89B was well suited to have the six nose-mounted cannons which did not require the pilot to have to worry about convergence, especially when flying at higher speeds. The tightly packed cannons concentrated the 20 mm rounds in a tight pattern and when fired in bursts can unleash devastation on both enemy bomber and fighter aircraft, especially suited for head-ons or even strafing runs aimed at the wings or engine sections of the aircraft. While there are only 200 rounds per gun (1,200 total), they are not meant for the pilot to just hold the trigger and spray but instead require a bit of trigger control and fire in short bursts as typically it does not take much to disable or destroy another aircraft.

The F-89B is a fairly large aircraft and can be an easy target for other aircraft, so speed is key to maintain manoeuvrability and make it difficult for an enemy fighter to get a positive gun solution on the Scorpion. Boom & Zoom tactics will be the best bet for this fighter as while it is a stable flyer when going slow, it, however, will be an easy target and slow manoeuvring aircraft without the advantage of speed.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,200 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	999	992	15240	28.3	29.5	40.5	38.4	747
Upgraded	1,022	1,011		27.7	28.0	59.0	49.4

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
920	379	554	447	379	~8	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 760	< 800	< 700	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Empty mass			Wing loading (full fuel)
Allison J35-A-21B		2	11,780 kg			291 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)						Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		19m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	60m fuel	64m fuel
1,300 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		13,181 kg	13,253 kg	13,971 kg	15,048 kg	16,126 kg	16,413 kg	16,703 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	19m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	60m fuel	64m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	2,141 kgf	2,912 kgf	0.44	0.44	0.42	0.39	0.36	0.35	0.35
Optimal	2,229 kgf (800 km/h)	3,255 kgf (800 km/h)	0.49	0.49	0.47	0.43	0.40	0.40	0.39

Survivability and armour

The F-89B has two 12.7 mm steel armour plates in the nose and a 60 mm bulletproof windshield. The wing tips will break past the aileron at 920+ km/h (depending on altitude) and will count as a vehicle loss. However, the plane can limp back to base if the pilot: maintain speed/don't turn sharp to avoid a spin, approach the airfield low and straight on, open the air brake to help balance the broken wing, roll the intact wing down, lower the gear at < 300 km/h then roll back level onto the runway. There the pilot can repair his plane and get back in the fight!

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F-89B is armed with:

• 6 x 20 mm M24A1 cannons, nose-mounted (200 rpg = 1,200 total)

The F-89B is armed with 6 x M24A1 20 mm cannons in the nose. Although each gun only holds 200 rounds (1,200 total), a well-aimed burst with the air targets belt will easily destroy any target or at least set it on fire.

Usage in battles

This aircraft has deadly frontal cannons, but they also have a very high rate of fire, so it is recommended to keep an eye on ammo count through the course of a battle. Air Target belts are the most effective ammunition belt for destroying enemy aircraft. In ground RB, the F-89B is less effective: without bombs, rockets, or high-penetration rounds, the plane has a difficult time destroying armoured vehicles. Still, it can be used in any game mode as a very potent fighter.

Although fast, this plane has poor rudder authority at high speeds, and this makes high speed boom and zoom attacks more difficult. It's large tail section also makes aiming challenging at times. However, this setup also gives the plane good elevator authority under 800 km/h and especially between 700 and 750 km/h. Above this speed (and below 600 km/h), elevator control also suffers. Although perhaps not comparable to the Ho 229, this plane does have a much better turn rate than the Me 262. Finally, the roll rate is not terrible, but not good either.

This aircraft is prone to wing-ripping above 900 km/h, and when in a dive, it may be necessary to employ the vehicle's very effective airbrakes in order to stay below this speed. Wing-rips are also common when concurrently pulling negative G's and rolling.

Thanks to the F-89B's afterburners, it has great acceleration, and can climb better than any other jet at this rank. This gives players a huge advantage in the first few minutes of a battle, during which the F-89B can prey on lower enemies. But all in all, the F-89B does not do any one thing significantly better than anything else - it's a jack-of-all-trades who's greatest advantage is engine power.

When dogfighting, the F-89B performs very well in vertical manoeuvres. Here, the jet's afterburners give the plane a dramatic advantage over non-afterburning enemies.

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Compressor		Offensive 20 mm
II			Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine		New 20 mm cannons
IV	G-suit		Cover
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Six deadly 20 mm cannons clustered in the nose, massive burst mass
• Excellent for head-on attacks
• Quick acceleration with afterburner
• Dual-engine, flyable with one damaged
• Targeting radar
• Low repair cost for a rank V jet aircraft

Cons:

• A large target
• Damaged wings throw off the aircraft's balance
• No rocket, missile or bomb options
• Not as nimble as single-engine MiGs

History

Almost immediately after WWII, the Nothrop Corporation began developing an experimental jet fighter-interceptor to meet the new requirements for that class of aircraft. The American interceptor’s primary targets were supposed to be Soviet bombers, so the projected model’s flight characteristics and armament had to meet this objective. At first the two-seater twin-engine jet was developed to have a rather interesting four gun turret. This turret was to be mounted on the aircraft’s nose and could fire on targets either automatically or manually along a vertical plane either forward, up, down or, in some cases, backward. However, when the experimental model of the aircraft was ready, the turret still hadn’t undergone testing yet, so the military decided to install traditional static frontal guns on it, as well as HVARs on the wing pylons. It was with this loadout that the Scorpion F-89A and F-89B went into service. The armament was switched exclusively to rockets somewhat later. To make the change to rockets, the designers implemented an interesting solution: Mighty Mouse unguided rockets were installed on the front of the wing-mounted fuel tanks in such a way that the rocket and fuel sections of this part of the design were separated by a fireproof barrier. This also made it possible to install heavier, more destructive HVARs under the wing. The F-89D or “rocket” version of the Scorpion went on to become the most widespread version of the aircraft in the US air force – 682 of them were manufactured.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• F-89D - Rocket-armed variant of the fighter.

External links

• [Development] F-89B and F-89D Scorpion: Jet Bros

Northrop Corporation
Fighters	P-61A-11 · P-61C-1
Jet fighters	F-89B · F-89D
	F-5A · F-5C · F-5E
	F-20A
Export	␗F-5A · ▄F-5E FCU