APR Monthly Historical Documents Program


I've been researching the history of aerospace technology for many years. I've focused most of my effort on those programs that didn't fly: the concepts that were too expensive, or politically non-viable, or technically infeasible or just plain unlucky. If you want to read about the P-51 Mustang or the 747, there are many books easily available. But what if you're interested in the X-20 Dyna Soar or Project Pluto or the Orion nuclear pulse vehicle? Nuclear rockets? Manned missions to Mars? Hypersonic bombers? Vertical takeoff rocket powered suborbital passenger transports? Blended wing body jetliners? I've got you covered. For years I've been self-publishing the aerospace history e-magazine "Aerospace Projects Review," where I tell the tales that have been largely forgotten, and more recently I've been working on "US Bomber Projects," which focuses on unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft bombardment systems. Take a look: aerospaceprojectsreview.com and aerospaceprojectsreview.com/bomproj.htm

I have also been posting bits of this information onto the Aerospace Projects Review blog for quite some time, making information available a bit at a time.


For several years a monthly rewards program has been run through Patreon, a program that continues. However, I have expanded the program into a simple PayPal-based subscription service. The rewards and other benefits are exactly the same, just separate from the Patreon service.

Subscribers will receive a link once per month (typically in the last few days of the month) to a ZIP archive on Dropbox containing a collection of PDF documents and image format diagrams/artwork. With the current level of Patrons/subscribers, I am offering one large format diagram and three "points" worth of documents... with a one-point document being something like a brochure or small booklet, on up to three-pointers that can run five hundred pages. I tend to focus on unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft projects, and try to make sure that each months rewards are evenly split between aircraft and spacecraft. Higher level subscribers will receive additional scheduled items as well as access to "APR Extras," occasionally uploaded somewhat random items of aerospace interest. The subscription levels include:

$1.50 per month: Subscribers receive the documents and diagrams at 125 DPI

$4.00 per month: Subscribers receive the documents and diagrams at 300 DPI, as well as access to the two most recent years worth of "APR Extras" on Dropbox

$5.00 per month: Same as $4 level but with a bonus CAD diagram of my creation in 8.5X11 page PDF format

$8.00 per month: Same as $5 level but the CAD diagram is sized for 18X24... and you also get the CAD diagram in DXF format.

$10 per month: Same as $8 level, but you will receive monthly catalogs of diagrams and documents I have, and you get to vote on what will be released later that month.

More than $10: you also will receive additional higher-value "Extra" content at irregular intervals.

Here are some examples of prior rewards packages:


December 2018:

A large document: “Sea Launch and Recovery of Very Large Rocket Vehicles,” a 1962 Aerojet report on the sea Dragon concept

“Ryan Aeronautical Company Plane Portraits,” information, photos and three-views of a sizable range of Ryan aircraft, manned and unmanned

“Nova,” a blueprint of the NASA “Saturn C-8” launch vehicle with 8 F-1 engines

CAD diagrams: Star Raker scrap views


October 2018:

CAD diagram: 20-meter Orion spacecraft

Diagram: Genealogy of Piper aircraft

Document: “Story of the Uprated Saturn I” NASA-MSFC brochure circa 1966 describing the Saturn Ib, including future possibilities

Document: “Preliminary Design Study of a Three Stage Satellite Ferry Rocket Vehicle,” 1954 Goodyear paper describing the METEOR launch vehicle. First of a number of METEOR documents I have.

Document: “The Rocket Research Aircraft Program 1946-1962,” Edwards AFB booklet describing the various rocket aircraft tested up to the x-15


September 2018:

Diagram: A foldout diagram of an Apollo-derived logistics spacecraft

Document: “The Piasecki Story,” an illustrated history of the company and its products

Document: “The N.S. Savannah,” a brochure about the sole nuclear powered merchant vessel

Document: “Lunar Spacecraft Design” A paper describing the evolution of the General Electric Apollo design, quite similar to the later Soyuz spacecraft

CAD diagram: 1985 design of the British HOTOL spaceplane


June 2018:

A sizable January, 1945 technical description of the YP-80 “Shooting Star” by Lockheed. 300 or so pages, filled with illustrations of the aircraft and components.

“On The Utility of the Moon in Space Transportation: the Lunatron Concept.” A 1963 NASA concept for using an electromagnetic accelerator to hurl payloads from the lunar surface onto high energy trajectories, up to solar system escape.

A scan of a large-format Sikorsky lithograph of an ABC (advancing blade concept) VTOL airliner (basically a 727 fuselage turned into a high-speed helicopter).

An all-new CAD diagram of the Soviet Chelomei LKS spaceplane with an inboard profile showing the military (nuclear bombardment) payload. The first in a series on the LKS.