Goblin Parasite Fighter: The Strange Little Jet Designed To Be Launched From A Bomber – SlashGear

Take one look at the Goblin and you’d be forgiven if you thought it was an altered photo or a nonfunctioning art piece. But the Goblin actually made several flights in 1948 and was reportedly very easy to fly and remarkably controllable despite its over 14-foot length and 21-foot wingspan. It was (and still is) the smallest fighter jet ever. The Goblin was small because it was designed to be deployed from the cramped bomber bay of a B-36 via a trapeze system. It was intended to act as an escort fighter and keep bombers safe with its relatively weak armament of four .50 caliber machine guns. 

It was powered by a Westinghouse XJ-34 turbojet engine that produced around 3,000 pounds of thrust. Fully loaded, it reportedly weighed around 5,600 pounds (roughly the curb weight of a 2022 Chevy Tahoe) and had a top speed of a remarkably fast 650 miles per hour.

Despite its relatively easy to fly characteristics, the goofy-looking little plane was not long for this world. Tests involving a modified B-29 revealed that the launching and reattaching system was too complicated for its own good and prone to failure. Plus, according to the National Museum of the Air Force, aerial refueling systems were proving to be a less outlandish solution to keeping escort fighters in the air than dropping a tiny jet out of a plane and hoping for the best. Only two prototype aircraft were ever completed.