remained underpowered. Testing and evaluation The XF-90 was the first USAF jet with an afterburner and the first Lockheed jet to fly supersonic, albeit in a dive. It also incorporated an unusual vertical stabilizer that could be moved fore and aft for horizontal stabilizer adjustment. Partly because Lockheed's design proved underpowered, it placed second to McDonnell's XF-88 Voodoo which won the production contract in September 1950, before the penetration fighter project was abandoned altogether. Upon Lockheed losing the production contract, the two prototypes were retired to other testing roles. The first aircraft (46-687) was shipped to the NACA Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953 for structural tests. It was no longer flyable, and its extremely strong airframe was tested to destruction. The other (46-688) survived three atomic blasts at Frenchman Flat within the Nevada Test Site in 1952. Notable appearances in media The XF-90 lived on as the jet fighter aircraft flown by the popular Blackhawks Squadron in the comic book series of the same name, first published by Quality Comics and later by DC Comics. The Blackhawks flew fictional "B" and later "C" models all through the 1950s until 1964. Both were improved, single engine production variants of the original twin-engine Lockheed XF-90. Aircraft disposition 46-0687 – tested to destruction at NACA lab in Cleveland, Ohio. 46-0688 – in storage, awaiting restoration at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In 2003, the heavily damaged hulk was recovered from the Nevada Test Site and moved there. It is currently undergoing minor restoration in one of the Museum's restoration facility hangars. Its wings have been removed, and its nose was mangled by the nuclear blasts. During the decontamination process, all rivets were removed to purge radioactive sand. The aircraft is now on display in the museum's Cold War gallery in a diorama depicting it on the Nevada Test Site. Specifications (XF-90A) See also References Notes Bibliography Boyne, Walter J. Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. . Greenberger, Robert. "Blackhawk". In Dougall, Alastair. The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2008. . Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. . Jones, Lloyd S. U.S. Fighters: Army-Air Force 1925 to 1980s. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers Inc., 1975. . Knaack, Marcelle Size. Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft