In a previous post, I mentioned that the Santa Monica division of Douglas submitted the Model 1245 design for the MX-1554 competition, which ended up being won the Convair F-102 and Republic XF-103. Recently, however, it has come to my attention thanks to research by Jared Zichek that the Douglas El Segundo division worked on its own design for the MX-1554 requirement, designated D-614 by Douglas. Therefore, I am dedicating this post to the hitherto-unknown D-614 project.
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| Three-view drawing of the Douglas D-614 derivative of the F4D Skyray (Frank Simons collection via RetroMechanix) |
The design of the D-614 was basically similar to that of the F4D Skyray in its wing planform and in lacking any horizontal stabilizers, but it differed in having a longer nose to house the interception radar and in having a slightly taller vertical stabilizer while lacking the catapult hooks of the Skyray. It measured 50 feet 8 in (15.44 meters) in length with a wingspan of 33 feet 6 in (10.21 meters) and a height of 15 feet 2 in (4.62 meters), and it had an empty weight of 14,109 lb (6,400 kg) and gross weight of 19,740 lb (8,954 kg) along with a wing area of 557 ft2 (51.7 m2). Power was supplied by one 15,000 lb (67 kN) thrust Wright J67-W-1 afterburning turbojet, and armament comprised four to six underwing rocket canisters each containing six 2.75 in (7 cm) folding-fin unguided air-to-air rockets.
Like the Model 1245, the D-614 did not make the cut in the MX-1554 competition, and the Douglas El Segundo division was free to concentrate its fighter-related business on production of the F4D as well as development of the F5D Skylancer.
