VTOL – Page 6 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

CL-1201

jetliner, nukes, transports, US Transport Projects, VTOL 2 Responses »

Jan 202021

As is known far and wide, I’m not well known. What little fame I have is largely bound up is the aerospace history research and illustration I’ve done; I’m *hoping* that when the two books I’m working on now get published things will change a bit (well, I hope my *work* gains a bit of fame; I’ve little use for *me* becoming famous). Still: while I toil in obscurity, I find that the products of my labor do have a tendency to pop up here and there. Usually when the diagrams I’ve created are used by someone else there’s some sort of attribution… but not always. There’s little to nothing that can be done about that, of course. Just sorta grit my teeth and move on.

So I watched this video, gritted my teeth and will, I suppose, move on. Note that it uses diagrams I created for Aerospace Projects Review issue V1N3 and US Transport Projects #04. What I suppose was funny was that when I started watching the video I largely *expected* to see my diagrams to show up in it… and, yup, there they are. As of this writing, the video has had about half a million views, not a one of which read where the diagrams came from.

UPDATE: After comms with the video maker: it seems he received the diagrams from someone else claiming them as their own. There have been revisions to the description including proper attribution. If this all pans out, there may be collaborations in the future.

LTA art

transports, VTOL No Responses »

Dec 142020

A while back someone on ebay was selling vintage glossies of concept art of lighter than air cargo lifters, something that got studied with some seriousness in the 70’s and 80’s. As always, money was spent, progress was made, projects were cancelled and nothing came of it.

APR: November 2020 rewards

hi-rez, jetliner, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, research, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Nov 302020

The rewards for APR Patrons and Monthly Historical Documents program subscribers have been sent out. Included in the November 2020 rewards package are:

1: A diagram of a proposed DC-9 aft propfan research configuration

2: A Kaman K-Max brochure

3: A preliminary draft/outline for a report on F-108 employment

4: A CAD diagram of the M61A1 Vulcan

If this sort of thing is of interest, sign up either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

NAA B-70 Valkyrie Variants

bomber, Dyna Soar, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, PDF Review, Recon, research, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Nov 242020

Hey! Anybody hereabouts interested in unbuilt variants of the North American B-70 bomber? I know a guy who can hook you up:

https://media.defense.gov/2020/Nov/23/2002540204/-1/-1/1/B-70%20VARIANTS.PDF

An official publication from the AFMC History Office, edited by noted aerospace author Tony R. Landis. Recommended.

Sikorsky stowed-rotor ad

transports, VTOL No Responses »

Sep 272020

A magazine ad from 1967 looking for people wanting to hire on with Sikorsky. The ad shows a stowed-rotor helicopter design for the CARA (Combat Aircrew Recovery Aircraft) role. In the midst of the Viet Nam War, US pilots were being shot down over enemy occupied territory and needed rescue. A helicopter was a perfectly serviceable vehicle for that role… it could hover over the jungle and drop a line down through the canopy that the pilot could latch on to and be pulled up and flown away. The problem was that choppers are relatively slow. You’d much rather get to the ASAP before enemy forces could find them. A stowed-rotor design could theoretically fly at airplane speeds and hover like a helicopter. But as with all hybrid vehicles, being capable of two things means you’re great at neither.

Additional art of this design:

Aug 212020

Model 227/237 Heavy Lift Helicopters

VTOL No Responses »

Aug 172020

From 1965, two Boeing-Vertol Heavy Lift Helicopter concepts in model form, to scale with a Chinook (at far right). At far left is the Model 227 which carried loaded internally; in the middle is Model 237, designed as a flying crane. note, though, that even though the Model 237 is designed to carry payloads externally the vehicle is so large that the reduced fuselage still has room for a substantial passenger load, windows and all.

Boeing Model 167

transports, VTOL No Responses »

Jun 062020

Another Chinook derivative, the Model 167 was substantially further from the original. It was larger and had an additional turboshaft engines… and moved all three of them forward, *presumably* for balance reasons. This was from the era when it seemed like a good idea to operate commercial helicopter “buses” from rooftop heliports in major cities, generally to shuttle passengers either from one city to another nearby one, or from the heart of an urban area to an outlying airport. It’s a little difficult to be sure, but it looks like the Model 167 had retractable landing gear.

Boeing Model 157B

transports, VTOL No Responses »

Jun 042020

A 1966 Boeing concept for a civilian version of the Chinook. Viet Nam veterans I’ve known who rode in Chinooks of that era have stories that make me suspect that *substantial* structural stiffening would have been required for such a craft to be fully accepted by the public; apparently, looking forward towards the cockpit and watching the while cabin twist back and forth was slightly disconcerting. A cruise speed of 200 mph seems slightly optimistic.

A Flying Delorean

future projects, VTOL No Responses »

May 242020

There have been a lot of “personal air vehicles” designed over the last decade, most designed for VTOL operations and many with purely electric propulsion systems. One such design – which I can’t vouch for on either technical or financial fronts – is the Delorean DR-7 from Delorean Aerospace, founded by the nephew of *that* Delorean.

Their website, lean on details:

http://www.deloreanaerospace.com/

An article from 2017:

A Flying Car From DeLorean Really Won’t Need Roads

And a patent (US9862486B2):

Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

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