August 2023 Rewards

bomber, CAD Diagrams, hi-rez, jetliner, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, space shuttle, space station, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports No Responses »

Sep 012023

The rewards for August, 2023, have been released. They include:

Document: Report No. ZD-013, “Preliminary Detail Specification for United States Navy Class VP Long Range Patrol Seaplane,” Convair, 1 April 1946

Document: “Space Shuttle: What Will It Do?” A 1970’s brochure describing the Shuttle, with six full-color full page illustrations

Art: McDonnell-Douglas lithograph of “NASA Earth Orbital Space Station”

CAD Diagram: Northrop Grumman Next Generation Long Range Strike

If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program. Back issues are available for purchase by patrons and subscribers.

And as happens far too often, I’ve been remiss in my PR campaign. The rewards for July, released a month ago, included:

Document: “C-5 Galaxy Pocket Guide,” brochure giving info on the C-5

Document: GDIC-64 O29-21, “Alighting Gear Convair Model 48 Light Armed Reconnaissance Airplane,” an illustrated report on the landing gear for Convairs competitor for the OV-10

Document: “Police Department Lecture #3 Effects of Atomic Weapons,” an early-50’s paper describing what NYC could expect int he event of a nuclear strike

Diagram: EMW “Wasserfall,” German WWII surface to air guided missile

CAD Diagram: Boeing 2707-100-derived bomber

Recent acquisitions

bomber, hi-rez, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, Patreon catalog, research, rockets, space station, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports 2 Responses »

Aug 182023

Thanks to ebay and my fabulously lean bank account, I have recently procured a number of items of potential interest:

“NASA Earth Orbital Space Station,” a poster-sized lithograph from McDonnell Douglas depicting a space station that tumbles for artificial-G.

“Re-Entry Payload Launch Vehicle,” A *brief* General Dynamics presentation on a vehicle to launch re-entry vehicles such as MIRV warhead shapes

“Proposed Development Program on Rocket-Type Missiles,” a 1948 Convair report on early ballistic/boost glide missile concepts, that would lead to Atlas. Includes some fantastic large format layout diagrams.

“Detail Specification for Consolidated Vultee Model 117 Airplane Class VR Transport Flying Boat,” August 1950, all the details on the then-brand new Tradewind.

“Detail Specification for Class VP Long Range Patrol Seaplane,” Consolidated Vultee 1946, all the details on a proposed flying boat patrol/bomber

32 issues of “Astronautics” magazine from 1957 to 1969, mostly 57-59 and 63 or so.

The lithograph and the reports will be scanned and put forward for consideration for monthly rewards; the magazines will have the interesting bits scanned and made available to the subscribers/patrons.

Jun 062023

I put one copy of each of my current books on ebay. They’re all in brand-new condition, and will be signed/dated when sold. They also come with bonus 18X24-inch prints… the “SR-71” book has two prints of the SR-71, the “B-47/B-52” book has one B-47 diagram and two B-52 diagrams; “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol. 1” has two B-70 Valkyrie diagrams. Take a look…

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (Origins and Evolution): Signed, with bonus prints

Boeing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress: Signed, with bonus prints

US Supersonic Bomber Projects Volume 1: Signed, with bonus prints

Stratolaunch drops a Talon

future projects, hypersonic, launch vehicles, rockets, spaceplane, transports 1 Response »

May 132023

Stratolaunch Successfully Completes Separation Test of Talon-A Vehicle

Stratolaunch LLC announces it has successfully completed a separation release test of the Talon-A separation test vehicle, TA-0. The flight was the eleventh for the company’s launch platform Roc and the second time the team has conducted flight operations in Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Western Range off California’s central coast.

Selling cyanotype blueprints on ebay…

Dyna Soar, hi-rez, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports No Responses »

Feb 152023

I’m selling the blueprints I’ve recently made. I can sign ’em if the buyer wants, front or back…

Saturn Ib Inboard Profile Cyanotype Blueprint

NERVA nuclear rocket engine Cyanotype Blueprint

NERVA nuclear rocket engine artwork Cyanotype Blueprint

Boeing 2707-200 SST Cyanotype Blueprint

Trident II SLBM Cyanotype Blueprint

Northrop B-2A stealth bomber Cyanotype Blueprint

Saturn V Inboard Profile Cyanotype Blueprint

Skylab Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Layout & Engine Cyanotype Blueprints

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Isometric Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Isometric Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint: Smaller

Wasserfall German WWII Surface to air missile Cyanotype Bluepri

USS Monitor Ironclad Cyanotype Blueprint

550 Central Park West Cyanotype Blueprint

Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) Cyanotype Blueprint

X-20 Dyna Soar/Titan IIIC Cyanotype Blueprint

Early X-20 Dyna Soar Cyanotype Blueprint

Large X-20 Dyna Soar 2050E Cyanotype Blueprint

APR rewards: December (and November) 2022

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Jan 022023

The December 2022 rewards are available for APR Patrons and Subscribers. This latest package includes:

Large Format Diagram: AWACS model diagram

Document: “Preliminary Design of a Mars Excursion Module,” 1964 conference paper, Philco

Document: “Astronauts Memorial” 2 diagrams

Document: “Patrol Reconnaissance Airplane Twin Float,” Convair brochure (via photos), 1944. Two piston engines, two turbojets

Document: “Hard Mobile Launcher,” Martin Marietta PR, two images. One photo, one artists impression

Document: “JVX Space Proposal” apparently a fragment, 1984 Bell maps of manufacturing facilities for what would become the V-22

Document: “Minimum Man In Space,” 1958 NACA memo describing proposals made to Wright Air Development Center for what would become the Mercury program

And because I forgot to post about it at the time, the November 2022 rewards were made available a month ago:

Large Format Diagram: B-50A Superfortress Model Diagram

Document: “Design Study of a One Man Lunar Transportation device,” 1964 North American Aviation conference paper on a rocket “hopper”

Document: “Project EGRESS (Emergency Global Rescue, Escape and Survival System),” 1964 Martin conference paper on ejection capsule for aerospacecraft

Document: “The Hydrogen Fueled Hypersonic Transport,” 1968 Convair conference paper

CAD Diagram: Mach 3 turbojets: Allison 700 B-2 (J89), GE YJ-93-GE-3 (cutaway), P&W J58

EGRESS art: Take two

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Nov 182022

A mere sixteen years ago I posted artwork of the Martin “EGRESS” ejection capsule meant to fling crew from a stricken spacecraft anywhere up to and including orbit. Those scans came from photocopies of a conference paper. I have at last now scanned the same work, producing slightly better results. The artwork is remarkable for one detail in particular: of the two crewmen, one is clearly Lance Squarejaw, wholly unfazed at his situation. The other is… not unfazed. I’d pay real money to get at the original color painting.

The whole thing – diagrams and art scanned at 600 DPI – will be offered up to APR Patrons & Subscribers soon.

APR Rewards: October 2022

bomber, CAD Diagrams, fighter, hi-rez, hypersonic, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, VTOL No Responses »

Nov 012022

The October 2022 rewards are available for APR Patrons and Subscribers. This latest package includes:

Large format art: A Bell Aerospace painting of the D188A VTOL fighter/bomber

Document: “Standard Aircraft Characteristics – Convair Class VF Seaplane Night Fighter (SKATE)” diagrams and data for seaplane jet fighter

Document: “21St Century Aerospace – The 20th Century Challenge,” General Dynamics presentation, late 80’s about hypersonics/NASP. From photographs.

Document: “Prototype X-14 VTOL Aircraft,” Bell Aerospace presentation, 1971, on the “SeaKat” operational naval VTOL. From photos, but art and diagrams were also scanned for clarity.

CAD Diagram ($5 and up): XB-70 Valkyrie forward fuselage configuration

Orbital Transfer Vehicle

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Oct 292022

A Boeing concept from 1983 for an Orbital Transfer Vehicle. This vehicle would change the orbit of the payload not only propulsively, but by using aerodynamic drag to slow the vehicle at perigee. When returning a payload from geosynchronous orbit, it would dive into the upper atmosphere and use aerodynamic lift and drag to slow into a much lower orbit, with propulsive adjustments to put it into a circular orbit for rendezvous with a space Shuttle for recovery or servicing. This particular design was inflatable (creating a lifting body akin to a stretched-out “ASSET” shape) and used an extendable/stowable nozzle. Note that it is entering “upside down” so that the lift forces generated are trying to force it *closer* to Earth, rather than trying to bounce off the atmosphere.

Orbital velocities at geosynchronous are slower than in low Earth orbit… about half the speed. So a relatively small change in velocity at geosynchronous will turn the circular orbit into a sharply elliptical one, with a perigee close to Earth. But that velocity at perigee is much faster than circular orbit velocity, so shedding speed using “free” aerodynamic forces makes sense… if you can pull it off.

Lifting body model

research, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane 1 Response »

Oct 282022

Currently on ebay is an aluminum model of a lifting body. The rear of the vehicle is that of the M1 or M2, but the nose is distinctly conical. The lack of useful volume leads me to think that if this is a legit wind tunnel model (rather than something someone just knocked out at a machine shop for giggles), then it’s not a design for a manned vehicle, either test or operational space logistics. Rather it would be something like:

1) A basic subscale research vehicle like ASSET

2) A concept for a maneuverable entry vehicle for a military system. An ICBM warhead, perhaps designed to glide either for range extension, to avoid incoming ABMs, or to maneuver to avoid tracking systems and come in from unexpected directions.

3) Or it’s just a vague, generic “let’s look at everything” shape.

The nose of the model does not inspire a great deal of confidence… it looks a bit unfinished, with some sharp-ish corners that don’t seem like they should be there.

If anyone knows better, by all means speak up…

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