Aerospace Projects Review Blog – Page 80 – Unbuilt aircraft and Spacecraft Projects

Shuttle Power

May 072015

A 1977 illustration from Rockwell depicting a Shuttle orbiter docked to an experimental solar power station. Large as it is, this would be a very tiny demonstrator of the sort of technologies needed for large-scale solar power satellites. The configuration shown here uses “troughs” with photovoltaic cells in the bases, with angles walls formed from, essentially, aluminum foil. These would serve as cheap, lightweight reflectors. The end result would be that more or less all of the sunlight impinging upon the cross sectional area of the array would be intercepted by PV cells,even though PV cells only make up a fraction of the total area. Since aluminum foil would be a lot cheaper and lighter than PV cells – and PV cells tend to work slightly more efficiently at higher insolation levels – this sort of arrangement was considered an important contender.

General Dynamics AMPSS artwork

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May 042015

A piece of artwork from General Dynamics, circa 1963, illustrating their AMPSS (Advanced Manned Precision Strike System) design. This was a predecessor program to the AMSA (Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft – a.k.a. Americas Most Studied Aircraft) that was a predecessor to the B-1 program. The General Dynamics design shown here is very similar to (possibly the same as, though the engine arrangement and canopy frames look a little different) the design presented in US Bomber Projects issue #6, available here and here. This was much like a scaled-up F-111 in terms of overall configuration, especially visible around the cockpit. However, few if any actual components would carry over.

I have made the full-rez version of this scan available at the APR Patreon for $4-and-up patrons. It is in the APR Patreon “Extras” Dropbox, in the 2015-05 folder.

US Bomber Projects 6-11 now available on Amazon for Kindle

bomber, Dyna Soar, future projects, hypersonic, nukes, spaceplane, stealth, US Bomber Projects 2 Responses »

Apr 272015

Just added five more issues to Amazon for $2.99 each. These are Kindle-fied versions of the issues otherwise available as PDFs here.

Bell D190B artwork

hi-rez, Patreon, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Apr 262015

Below is an artists impression of the Bell D190B, a tilt-duct VTOL derived in part from the X-22. The D190 series, dating from the early 1960’s, was for a more-or-less common airframe design that could carry out a number of missions. Interestingly, variants of this design were considered for “parasite” roles. The aircraft could hard-dock to the underside of a C-130; the larger transport aircraft could then haul the smaller VTOL around the world, where it could serve as a rescue plane (note the rectangular hatch on the top of the fuselage). Another idea was for the small VTOL to serve as a crew or passenger transfer system for EC-135J (707 derivatives) flying command posts, including transporting VIPs (read: politicians) away from nuclear strikes to orbiting escape planes.

Sadly, while I’ve found many bits and pieces on this over the years, I’ve yet to come across good design data. If anyone has anything, I’d love to see it.

I have made the full-rez version of this scan available at the APR Patreon for $4-and-up patrons. It is in the APR Patreon “Extras” Dropbox, in the 2015-04 folder.

Shuttle tile maps

launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane 1 Response »

Apr 242015

I’m currently working on a series of Shuttle Orbiter tile “maps” to massage them into a form where they’d look good as cyanotype blueprints. Two are shown below; what I have on hand are about a dozen, covering every surface of the Orbiter. The centerline diagram is sized for 40 inches wide by 160 inches long; this is *way* beyond reasonable size for cyanotyping. But at 18 inches wide, it’d be 72 inches long… just about what I can handle.

Another option might be to stitch the separate views together, rather than two wings and a centerline. Printed out B&W on paper, it’d be pretty durned impressive.

Asteroid mining craft update

nukes, rockets, spacecraft 4 Responses »

Apr 212015

Earlier this month I posted small sketches of a remarkable 1981 Boeing concept for a spacecraft meant to haul 1,200 passengers to the asteroids. The source the illustrations came from didn’t have much design data, so I had hopes that the references the document called out would. There were two references that seems relevant; one was publicly available, and didn’t have anything on this; the other was not publicly available, so I made a Freedom of Information Act request for it. And a CD-ROM with PDF files arrived in my mailbox Monday with the response. Sad to say, while it had some interesting things on it, the document does *not* make reference to this craft.

So, for the moment research on this is kinda stymied. It may well be that this design was just a minor notion, produced specifically for the 1981 Boeing study with nothing more detailed to back it up. Or it may be that it was based on prior unpublished Boeing internal work. or it may have come from a prior classified study that could not be readily referenced. In any event, unless something unlikely occurs, that would seem to be that. I am going to make a few attempts at researching this through some slim back channels, but I hold out minimal hope.

Bell LHX art

hi-rez, Patreon, stealth, VTOL No Responses »

Apr 182015

A piece of Bell Helicopter artwork depicting their design for the LHX competition, what became the RAH-66 Comanche. Note that this design featured unusual curved, swept sponsons and a NOTAR (no tail rotor) tail.

The full resolution version of this scan has been made available for $4 patrons at the APR Patreon.

Burnelli GB-888 artwork

hi-rez, jetliner, Patreon, transports 1 Response »

Apr 142015

Vincent Burnelli was an aircraft designer who specialized in lifting-fuselage aircraft… instead of a cylindrical tube, his fuselages were fat unswept wing cross-sections. The thinking was that this would reduce drag and increase lift and make the vehicles more structurally sound in the event of a crash; while in some cases testing did show some occasional advantages, on the whole these designs did not provide much if any aerodynamic advantage; and once aircraft started flying high enough to require pressurization, the non-circular cross section made pressurization difficult to achieve cost effectively. Sadly, any advantages these designs may have had have been overshadowed by the largely unhinged conspiracy theories that have sprung up around why they haven’t been adopted.

One of the last of Burnellis designs (from about 1962) was the “GB-888,” a supersonic jetliner of unusual configuration. Artwork reproduced below seems to date from the 1980s; here the SST has been relabeled an “aerospaceplane.” The idea, apparently, was to ride the coattails of the X-30 National Aero Space Plane, which had a *vaguely* similar lifting fuselage configuration. As drawn, of course, the GB-888 would make a terrible ASP… the windows on the sides would be melt nicely on re-entry; the sharp edges would concentrate aerothermal heating loads to a fantastic degree; and putting then engines on the top surface would do a fantastic job of getting them out of the airflow, assuring that the engines would not perform very well at all. Still, it’s interesting art.

I have made the high-rez of this illustration available for $4-level patrons at the APR Patreon.

US Bomber Projects #14, Transport Projects #03 Now Available

bomber, Dyna Soar, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports, US Bomber Projects, US Transport Projects No Responses »

Apr 062015

Now available… two new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.

US Bomber Projects #14: System 464L Special

USBP#14 brings together the competitors to Weapon System 464L, the first major effort in the Dyna Soar program. These designs were previously shown individually in prior issues of USBP; here they are brought together, with some updates, as well as a few extra diagrams and a section of diagrams formatted for 11X17 printing. This issue includes info and diagrams of the Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, McDonnell, Boeing, Douglas, Northrop, North American and Martin-Bell entries as well as their various booster systems. Also included are detailed diagrams of the ultimate Dyna Soar design, the 2050E.

USBP#14 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.25.

Also available:US Transport Projects #03.

Included in this issue:

Lockheed “Environmentally Responsible Aviation” box-wing jetliner
Martin Commercial Twin-Hull concept from 1942
North American Aviation NAC-60 SST competitor
McDonnell-Douglas Cargo Spanloader
Boeing Model 763-058 “New Large Airplane”
BoMi Passenger Transport Rocket
Lockheed L-152-1 early jet transport with unusual inlets
Aerial Relay System: for when crazy is preferred

USTP #03 can be purchased for download for only $4.25:

PDF Review: A nuclear flying wing

bomber, nukes, PDF Review No Responses »

Apr 052015

More than sixty years ago, the US government and various aeronautical contractors began examining the application of atomic energy to powering aircraft. A mountain of documentation was produced, much of which has been lost, forgotten or is still locked behind classification. But some things come out from time to time that provide tantalizing hints as to what the designers of the time were thinking.

One such document is a short memo from June, 1948, describing a lecture given to unnamed staff by one William van Zelm of the Glenn L. Martin Corporation, describing aspects of aircraft design for atomic flight. Being simply a description of the lecture, the details are lean, but a sketch was included:

The design, crude and simply reproduced as it is, looks very reminiscent of a number of “stealth” aircraft that have been designed over the years including the A-12 Avenger II and the General Dynamics “Sneaky Pete” concept. This one, of course, was nuclear powered and apparently capable of supersonic speeds. It would be interesting to find more about this particular design.

The memo can be downloaded HERE.

Much more aerospace stuff is available via the APR Patreon.

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