Jan 232012
 

I keep getting asked the same questions, so I guess I should have a Frequently Asked Questions page for my downloads. Well, here it is.
Q01: How does this work?

A: It’s not an automated system. The way it works is that when you place an order through Paypal, Paypal sends me an email notifying me of the order. I then reply to the email address listed in the order, providing you with the web address where you can find your document, plus the username and password you’ll need in order to access it.

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Q02: “I just ordered a document. It’s been a whole 2 seconds, and I don’t have it yet. Where is it?”

A: I’m asleep/out buying groceries/fighting off hordes of zombies. I’ll respond to your email just as soon as I can.

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Q03: “I just ordered a document. It’s been a whole 24 hours, and I don’t have it yet. Where is it?”

A1: Check your “spam bucket.” Some spam filters see response messages such as you’ll get from me as spam, since there is a web address listed in it.

A2: Are you using the email address attached to the Paypal account? The response email with all your download info will be sent to the Paypal-listed email address. If you are using someone else’s Paypal address, or something like that, then *they* will receive the reply.

A3: On rare occasion, the automated Paypal system that sends me order notifications fails to do so. Thus I don’t know you’ve ordered something. Feel free to send a “where’s my stuff” email to:

A4: Search your inbox. You might have gotten the message, but not noticed or recognized it. The header will be something like “Re: Notification of payment received” or “Re: Payment received from YourEmail@YourEmailDomain.com.”

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Q04: “I ordered a document for downloading, but the username and password aren’t working.”

A: By far the most common reason for this is either you’re typing the password wrong… or if you are using cut-and-paste, you are grabbing a spurious blank space. Try again, making sure to cut *just* the password.

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Q05: “I tried that, but it’s still not letting me in.”

A: The second biggest offender is your web browser. Something or other to do with cookies, or something. If you have another web browser (Netscape, Explorer, Firefox, whatever), try that.

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Q06: “I’ve downloaded a PDF file. What do I need to open it?”

A: Adobe Reader. It’s a free program.

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Q07: “I’ve downloaded a ZIP file. What do I need to open it?”

A: Any modern computer should have come with an unzipping program built in. If not, do a search for “unzip,” and download a program to your liking.

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Q08: “I ordered a drawing set, and can see the files named ‘XYZ halfsize.gif’ and ‘XYZ quartersize.gif,” but not the full size image. Why?”

A: Some of the full size images are quite large. Sometimes they are so large that operating systems and/or image viewing and processing programs simply refuse to show them. All of the full-size images I sell are viewable on *my* system, which is a bit antiquated… but that doesn’t mean that they will be viewable on *all* systems. This is why I include the “halfsize” and “quartersize” versions, so that everybody should be able to see the images. You do still have the full-rez image… try looking at it on another computer.

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Q09: “Ooops, I ordered the wrong thing. I wanted A, but I seem to have actually ordered B. Can I have A?”

A1: If the error is due to something screwy in the webpage – rare, but it has happened that a typo in the HTML coding can lead to this sort of thing – then I’ll fix you right up with a proper download of A. Keep the other item, free of charge.
A2: A slightly more common error is on my part… you order SDOC4, say, and I mistakenly send you the link to SDWG4. In that case, let me know, and I’ll fix you right up with what you actually ordered. Keep the other item, free of charge.

A3: If the error is due to you simply ordering the wrong thing… well… the problem with digital files is that you can easily make copies of them, and thus cannot really be returned. So if my policy was to automatically “correct” “mistakes,” then it’d be the easiest thing in the world to scam me right out of half my catalog.

So… no. If you wanted A but mistakenly ordered B, I’ll be happy to fill your *next* order for A.

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Q10: “I bought one of your documents, and want to extract the images from it for my own devious purposes. However, it’s password protected. Gimme the password. Gimme.”

A: The documents (air docs, space docs and APr’s, but not DCD’s) are password protected *solely* to try to minimise piracy of ’em. The documents will open just fine and will print just fine at high rez, but image and text extraction will present a challenge. I’ve had issues with people taking the data I’ve worked hard to find and prepare and then turning it around and reselling it (grrr). However, if you have a valid use for extracted images, let me know, and I’ll almost certainly fork over the relevant password.

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Q11: “I want you to add me to your mailing list.”

A: No can do. The system I use now requires that the person who wants on the mailing list add themselves (I can add you, or the system will think I’m a spammer). So, simply go HERE and add your email address.

I’ll update this FAQ as questions come in. Feel free to comment

 Posted by at 11:06 am
Jan 072012
 

NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating three configurations for Class II Nova designs. The Class II designs ere mid-technology designs… new engines and new engine types, but nothing crazy. Some stage reusability was expected, though not complete vehicle reusability.

You can download a 4.7 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link  is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 26 of APR issue V2N1. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 31 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 6:41 pm
Jan 042012
 

NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating two configurations for Class I Nova designs. The Class 1 designs were the lowest-technology of the three classes suggested, and involved the use of expendable vehicles and conventional propulsion systems.

Still, the Nova designs were sized to carry payloads of a million pounds or more, about four times that of the Saturn V.

You can download a 4.1 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link  is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 7 of APR issue V2N3. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 10 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 2:08 am
Dec 232011
 

Curtiss-Wright proposed the Model 90 to the US Army for the AAFSS (Armed Aerial Fire Support System) contest circa 1965. The Model 90 was derived from X-19 design concepts, and was a VTOL vehicle that used four tilting prop-rotors for both VTOL and forward thrust. The Model 90 lost out to the Lockheed design, which became the AH-56 Cheyenne. It’s interesting to speculate how the USAF would have reacted had the Army selected the Model 90… it was, after all, a fixed-wing combat aircraft, and by this point the US Army was not supposed to have such things.

You can download a 5 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link  is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N4. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 5 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 4:10 pm
Dec 212011
 

Below is concept art from North American Aviation depicting a manned hypersonic airbreathing vehicle… presumably using scramjets (not a certainty, however). It was clearly painted by the same artist, using the same technique, as this rendering of the Manned Hypersonic Test Vehicle-3 (MHTV-3). Date is uncertain, but is from the latter portion of the 1960’s. This design might be the MHTV-1, -2, or something completely other. As with a lot of concept art from decades ago, it was found without context… in this case, a transparency found at a yard sale.

The aircraft features six engines, three on either side of a semi-conical fuselage. A ventral ridge runs from the nose past the engine exhausts;panel lines indicate that the landing gear was contained within this ridge. Another line behind the cockpit indicates that the forward fuselage could pop off in the event of an emergency. Downward angled wingtips indicate B-70-like compression lift; a large expansion ramp  forms the aft end of the rather tubby fuselage.

You can download a 5.7 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link  is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N6. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 4 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 10:03 pm
Dec 202011
 

A three-view drawing of the North American Rockwell FX, dated June 1969, with a good deal of dimensional and other data. Note the large ventral fins which fold out of the way for takeoff and landing.

You can download a 0.5 megabyte JPG file of the diagram. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. These are available on the first page of the Aerospace Projects Review V3N2 Addendum (available HERE) Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 1:18 am
Dec 142011
 

A NASA artist concept for a three-arm space station, dated 1962.

This space station would be launched as a unit by a single Saturn V, with the arms folded down, forming a cylinder. In orbit the arms would hinge up and the space station would rotate, generating artificial gravity.

Dennis R. Jenkins wrote an article on such space station designs, published in Aerospace Projects Review issue V1N6.

You can download a 4 megabyte JPG file of the artwork. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 4 of APR issue V2N5. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 9 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 11:28 pm
Dec 112011
 

Another piece of North American Aviation artwork depicting their FX design. Sadly, I only have this in B&W, but at least it’s gigantic.

You can download a 5 megabyte JPG file. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N2. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 16 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 9:38 pm
Dec 092011
 

An artist impression of the North American Aviation FX design, the NA-335. This was a late 1960’s design concept entered into the competition that eventually produced the F-15. The NAR design was a particularly aesthetically pleasing one, with almost every line a curve.

You can download a 4 megabyte JPG file. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 13 of APR issue V3N1. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 21 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

If you want to read more on the NA-335 or see a three-view, I can’t recommend highly enough Tony Buttler’s “American Secret Projects: Fighters & Interceptors 1945-1978.”

 Posted by at 5:06 pm
Dec 072011
 

An informational poster from Rockwell International showing the configuration of the Space Shuttle dating from, I believe, February 1983. Provides geometric data as well as coloration, mission profile and subcontractor data.

You can download a 9 megabyte ZIP file with 300 DPI scans of both front and back of this poster. The 1/200 scale drawings are particularly nice. The link to the ZIP file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 8 of APR issue V3N2. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 24 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

 Posted by at 7:16 pm