US Bomber Projects #08, Large formats 01-03 and 04-06 Now Available

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Feb 162014

Now available:

Issue number 08 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

Boeing Model 464-27: a slightly-swept turboprop B-52 progenitor
Rockwell D645-6: A minimum-weight spanloader missile carrier
Martin Mach 4.25: A large, manned nuclear ramjet
Boeing Model 484-2-2: A swept-wing, slightly supersonic B-58 competitor
Douglas System 464L: A many-surfaced Dyna Soar spaceplane
Martin Model 223-8: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
Boeing Model 801-11A: A Mach 3.5 hydrogen fueled design of incredible range
Martin MAMBA: A mid-1960’s A-10-analog

USBP#08 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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Brand new: larger format drawing collections

The CAD drawings created for USBP reformatted an rescaled for 11X17 collected in separate volumes. Drawings have in some cases been corrected, improved and added to.

USBP 11X17 01-03 collects the diagrams created for issues 01, 02 and 03, including:

Rockwell D 645-1; NAA 1495-25 PAMSS; Boeing Model 701-273-0; Convair B-58-C-1; Lockheed CL-2102-2; Lockheed Model 195-A-13; Martin Model 223-1; Boeing Model 444 A; Rockwell D 645-1: LH2; NAA High Performance Penetrator; Boeing Model 701-273-1; Lockheed GL-232; Boeing Space Sortie; Martin Model 223-2; Boeing Model 461; Northrop Low Altitude Penetrator; Rockwell D 645-4A; Lockheed System 464L; Convair Mach 4 “Rollover;” Boeing Model 701-273-3; Boeing HSCT Model 1080-854; Martin Model 223-3; Boeing Model 462

USBP11x17-01-03 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $11:

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USBP 11X17 04-06 collects the diagrams created for issues 04, 05 and 06, including:

McDonnell System 464L; Lockheed-Martin Falcon; Lockheed Senior Peg; Boeing Mobile Missile Carrier; Boeing Model 701-273-4; Lockheed Cruise Missile Carrier; Boeing Model 462-5; Martin Model 223-4; McDonnell-Douglas ATB; McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing DF-9; Boeing Model 701-273-5; Fairchild N-9; Martin Model 223-5; Rockwell D645-5;North American 464L; Boeing Model 464-17; Boeing Model 464-18; Convair WS-125A; Martin MX-2092; GD AMPSS; Republic System 464L; Martin Model 223-6; Boeing Model 701-273-6; Martin Water-Based Attack Aircraft

USBP11x17-04-06 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $11:

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Nuclear Turbojet

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Feb 122014

I usually don’t just repost aerospace projects from other websites, but what the heck: An illustration of a 200 megawatt nuclear powerplant for aircraft. This single-reactor, four-turbojet engine would have been installed in a highly modified B-36 or B-60.

This powerplant is very similar to the General Electric powerplant intended for the X-6, which consisted of an R-1 reactor and a P-1 powerplant… four modified General Electric J47 turbojets. However, here the reactor is spherical rather than the R-1’s cylindrical, and the engines are described as Wright engines rather than GE. Wright was not a major designer of turbojets… this drawing might show engines based on the Wright J67, which was a license built version of the British Rolls-Royce Olympus. This nuclear turbojet concept is probably form fairly early in the design process.

The basic concept was simple enough. The reactor would replace chemical jet fuel by putting a heat exchanger where the turbojet would normally have a combustor. In order to get the heat from the reactor to the heat exchanger, a NaK (an alloy of sodium and potassium) would be used. NaK has the convenient feature of being liquid at room temperature (freezing at -11 Celcius), boiling above 785 Celcius. This means that in most conditions, even with the reactor off, the liquid in the pipes won’t freeze, and the liquid will stay a liquid, capable of carrying considerable thermal energy, at usefully high temperatures. On the other hand, NaK has the unfortunate problem of having a serious hatred for water and oxygen, merrily exploding in contact with either (especially at high temperature). If your nuclear engine springs a leak… watch out.

USBP Examples

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Feb 112014

Here are selections from each US Bomber Project issue released so far, plus one from the next issue (#8). Remember, full issues are only four bucks a pop…

USBP & APR suggestions

bomber, Dyna Soar, fighter, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, rockets, space shuttle, space station, spacecraft, spaceplane, US Bomber Projects 10 Responses »

Feb 102014

For the next few days blogging might be a bit sparse as I work on the next issues of Aerospace Projects Review and US Bomber Projects. Usually when I release one of these, I get a *few* emails, generally complementary, sometimes asking for clarification or pointing out editing/spelling errors, that sort of thing (and with APR, “make go more faster”). I very rarely get “why don’t you include this” or “why don’t you do that” messages. Well… discuss. What would you like to see new and/or different in APR and/or USBP?

Also: the perpetual problem I have with both of these is lack of public knowledge of these titles. Heck, when I did “The Space Show” interview two months ago, I expected a slight bump in business… but sales (and views of the APR blog) actually went *down* slightly in the week afterwards. Damned if I can figure that out. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to get some press for these little endeavors, I’d appreciate ’em. And of course, an increase in interest & sales will mean an increase on *my* part in producing these things faster, so if you want APR and USBP issues at a faster clip, here’s how to get it done.

US Bomber Projects #06 and 07 Now Available

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Jan 192014

Now available:

Issue number 06 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

Boeing Model 464-18: a reduced-size version of the 464-17 turboprop strategic bomber
Convair WS-125A: A supersonic seaplane powered by nuclear reactors
Martin MX-2092: a subsonic jet bomber that towed a large missile
GD AMPSS: A 1963 variable geometry design leading towards the B-1
Republic System 464L: a lifting body spaceplane with a nuclear bomb on its back
Martin Model 223-6: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
Boeing Model 701-273-6: A supersonic bomber composed of two linked aircraft
Martin Water-Based Attack Aircraft: a single-seat strike plane capable of water takeoffs & landings

USBP#06 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Bomber Projects #07 is also now available. This issue includes:

Boeing Model 464-25: a modification of the 464-17 turboprop bomber with slightly swept wings, among other changes
Boeing Model 828-2: a giant and incredibly slow long-endurance plane with a formidable payload
Fairchild N-12: an early nuclear powered turboprop design
Rockwell D645-3: a supersonic treetop-level bomber capable of completely stowing its wing
Boeing model 701-273-7: last in the study, a design with a large wing, a small fuselage and canards
Bell MX-Carrying Hovercraft: a large armored hovercraft complete with an MX missile and self-defense interceptor missiles
Convair System 464L: Dyna Soar I and Dyna Soar III spaceplanes
Martin Model 223-7: A 1944 ancestor to the XB-48 with vertically stacked engines

USBP#07 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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Five New Air & Space Documents

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Dec 272013

Be sure to check out the Complete Catalog for all the drawings and documents.

Saturn I Summary

A 44 page NASA brochure (from somewhen around 1965) describing all the Saturn I vehicles that were launched. Includes diagrams showing the different configurations and provides mission data and highlights.

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The Retro-Glide Booster Concept

A 20-page collection of information on the Martin-Marietta “Retro-Glide Booster,” an early Shuttle idea for using a winged and recoverable derivative of the Saturn V first stage. A 1971 NASA Space Shuttle History Project document.

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NB-36H Aircraft Descriptive Data

30 pages of Lockheed data on the Convair NB-36H (the B-36 equipped with a nuclear reactor for test purposes). This comes from the Lockheed “Competitive Data Group,” which was Lockheed’s collection of intelligence data on *other* companies designs and proposals. This report, largely hand-written, provides a program history as well as weight and dimensional data, with a number of sketches showing the general arrangement and internal layout.

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Handbook on Guided Missiles

212 pages of a 1946 War Department report on German and Japanese rocket powered missiles and aircraft. This rarely-seen classic (scanned from a photocopy) provides a vast pile of information, including a great many diagrams.

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Saturn Foldout

A NASA-Marshall publicity brochure on the Saturn V, dating to the mid-late 1960’s. Prints out full-size to 34 1/4 inches by 9 1/2 inches

Nuclear Propulsion In Space (NASA Film)

nukes, rockets, spacecraft 2 Responses »

Dec 172013

A film about NERVA (Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications), 1968.

[youtube WoiVej1rccs]

Provides a basic description of nuclear rockets, plus some art, animation and diagrams of nuclear propelled space vehicles along with footage of test firings.

By The Light Of A Communist Moon

future projects, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, spacecraft No Responses »

Dec 052013

Take this for what it’s worth:

PLA dreams of turning moon into Death Star, says expert

An expert from the China National Space Administration’s Lunar Exploration Programme Center… added that the moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite, and it can be transformed into a deadly weapon. Like the Death Star in Star Wars, the moon could hypothetically be used as a military battle station and ballistic missiles could be launched against any military target on Earth.

Various weapons testing sites could also be established on the moon, the source said.

Welcome to Project Horizon V 2.0.

For those unaware, Project Horizon was a 1959 US Army study of a moon base for military purposes. Included in that was the use of the moon as a missile base. The idea is not *entirely* ludicrous: a missile base on the moon would be several days away from a strike launched from Earth. So if Nation A launched a first strike on Nation B and Nation B has a lunar base, then Nation A can expect a rain of ruin from the moon a little later. However, the US decided that Polaris missile subs were cheaper.

Cyanotype Blueprints Are Available Again

bomber, Dyna Soar, fighter, hypersonic, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Dec 052013

Just a reminder…

After hiatus, I am again offering cyanotype blueprints of various aerospace subjects on paper. These include the V-2, the Saturn Ib and V, the NERVA nuclear rocket, the Super Hustler, and many more.What says “Merry Christmas” better than a gift of a hand-made, awesome-looking large format cyanotype blueprint of a launch vehicle or nuclear bombardment system?

See the complete list here:

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

And while I’m not at liberty to go into the specifics, I recently provided a number of these to a certain ongoing major TV series to be used as set dressing/props. The episodes will air sometime early next spring, I believe. They should look marvelous…

The Space Show: interview now available for download

bomber, Dyna Soar, future projects, launch vehicles, nukes, research, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, VTOL 1 Response »

Dec 032013

Seemed to go reasonably well. Some reports later that my audio faded in and out… I can only assume that my phone was either on the fritz, or perhaps the phone line itself was a bit screwy. Anyway, you can download it in MP3 format here:

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/2134-BWB-2013-12-02.mp3

If you have a question raised specifically by the interview, you can ask it either here, or at the Space Show blog:

http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/scott-lowther-monday-12-2-13/

One minor correction: I was asked what the first US bomber was. I seemed to recall that the US dropped bombs from biplanes during the Pancho Villa expeditions of 1916; I was close, as there were Curtis biplanes modified to drop small incendiaries sent to Mexico, but the bombs were not dropped.

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