Aerospace Projects Review issue V3N3 now available

bomber, Dyna Soar, fighter, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL 4 Responses »

Jul 022013

At last: issue V3N3 of APR is now available. The first article covers the proposed use of bombers, specifically the B-52 and B-70, as launch platforms for the Dyna Soar manned military spaceplane.

The second article is on the Martin Astrorocket, a series of early-sixties design studies of reusable low-cost manned launch systems for the USAF.

The next article covers the development of the Douglas XC-132 turboprop transport/tanker plane throughout much of the 1950’s. This would have been by far the biggest turboprop plane the us would have built… had it been built. Article contains a number of good photos of the full-scale mockup.

Next is an article on the A-12 Avenger II stealthy strike plane for the US Navy. This article includes info and drawings on the Northrop competitor, as well as a number of rarely seen and all-new detailed diagrams of the A-12.

A brief article on a trio of Grumman designs from the 1989-1993 time period, VTOL lift-fan combat aircraft, including the Future Attack Air Vehicle (FAAV).

Last but not least, an article describing a trio of seemingly unrelated – yet possibly related – designs: a “landing boat” for Project Orion, a lifting body design for the Apollo program, and a fighter jet designed to be launched via booster rockets. Included is information on the logistics Landing Vehicle, General Dynamics’ equivalent of the Douglas ICARUS/Ithacus troop transport rocket.

And two “Aerospace History Nuggets,” a Ryan concept for a VTOL jetliner and a concept from Bell for linking two helicopters together to forma single heavy lifter.

Here’s the complete issue V3N3 layout:

It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $8.50. Second, it can be purchased as a professionally printed volume through Magcloud; third, it can be procured in both formats. To get the download, simply pay for it here through paypal.

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To get the printed version (or print + PDF version), visit my MagCloud page:

http://scottlowther.magcloud.com/

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Also available: the V3N3 Addendum. This contains 30 pages formatted for 11X17. Includes larger and improved versions of all the CAD diagrams produced for V3N3, including:

1/72 versions of the A-12 diagrams
Scans of the original A-12 diagrams
1/144 versions of the XC-132 diagrams
1/288 versions of the XC-132 antecedents
1/250 versions of the Dyna Soar/bomber launchers
1/72 versions of the Landing Boat, “Space fighter” and Apollo lifting body
1/200 version of the Nova/LLV

The V3N3 Addendum can be downloaded for only $3.00!
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Focke-Wulf 0310231-024

fighter No Responses »

Mar 222013

A late-war design for a “Jager mit BMW 803.” More will be released on this when I can get images that aren’t just, just terrible.

Cutlass with a difference

fighter, research No Responses »

Mar 122013

In 1949, the Langley Aeronautical laboratory of the NACA studied external stores (apparently fuel tanks) configurations for the Vought F7U Cutlass. A wide and occasionally unusual range of layouts was considered. As it happened, the Cutlass was a disaster of an airplane, with low powered engines prone to flameout in the rain and landing gear prone to collapse. The Cutlass did not last long and a surprising fraction were destroyed in crashes.

HiMAT advanced tactical fighter

fighter No Responses »

Mar 032013

A late-1970’s Rockwell design for a single-seat fighter of similar configuration to the HiMAT research vehicle. It might have been fast, maneuverable and capable, but almost completely un-stealthy.

HiMAT art

bomber, fighter, research No Responses »

Mar 012013

Rockwell artwork from the late 1970s depicting the launch of a HiMAT (Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology) subscale remotely piloted test vehicle from a B-52 carrier plane. While HiMAT was based on the design of a full-sized advanced fighter, it was a valuable program in its own right, demonstrating new structural materials (such as carbon fiber) and computerized flight controls.

NAA VG VTOL

bomber, fighter, VTOL 1 Response »

Feb 032013

A piece of artwork from North American illustrating a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This was clearly intended for high speed… not only does it have four turbojet engines for forward thrust, if also have variable sweep wings. The complexity here is that the wings have embedded lift fans, probably driven be high pressure exhaust gas from two or more of the main turbojets. The ductwork would be impressive.

Role is unclear, but it appears to be a fighter or strike-fighter. Indications of weapons bays on the fuselage underside; at least one forward-firing gun. No other data available.

Avro Flying Saucer Diagrams

fighter, research, VTOL No Responses »

Dec 292012

A few months ago some news sites went buggo with the declassification of several reports on the Avro-Canada Project 1794, a late 1950’s effort to develop a VTOL supersonic “flying saucer.” See, for example, Wired wildly inaccurately titled: “Declassified at Last: Air Force’s Supersonic Flying Saucer Schematics,” which ignores the fact that this design had been declassified fifteen or more years ago… I got a report from the NASM in the mid/late 1990’s, and have seen it online for *years.* Heck, a year or two back I made available some Avro documents on the topic (to thunderous silence, I’ll add).

While a technical masterpiece, it suffered from one minor flaw… it didn’t work. The “Avrocar” test vehicle proved wholly incapable of flight… it could hover in ground effect, and slowly wobble about, but could not generate enough vertical thrust to lurch clear of the ground.

Anyway, a few months back the National Archives declassified a box of reports, the tech blogosphere went nuts, and very little actually got posted online, just retreads of what the National Archives put in a single blog post. So, here’s some more Project 1794 stuff.

Aviation Archeology

bomber, fighter, nukes, Recon, research No Responses »

Dec 212012

“Code One” is the in-house magazine put out by Lockheed-Fort Worth. They have been adding a lot of good stuff regarding projects to their website over the years, and now have a page devoted specifically to diagrams of unbuilt aircraft:

Aviation Archeology

Only a few just now, but they say that there are a lot more coming.

Sneaky Pete

fighter, stealth No Responses »

Dec 152012

In 1977, General Dynamics produced the “Sneaky Pete” design for a stealthy fighter or attack aircraft. The design was quite similar to that of the later McDonnell-Douglas A-12 Avenger II, a delta flying wing with underslung inlets and a straight trailing edge. There were notable differences: an additional inlet on the upper surface, the exhaust was on the upper surface and there was a single pilot. It also appears that the Sneaky Pete had vertical stabilizers on the upper surface that would fold flush during cruise. Performance, weights, dimensions are all sadly unavailable. Sneaky Pete was part of the design evolution leading to the ATF (eventually won by Lockheed and became the F-22), though it seems very unlikely that it would have been capable of supersonic flight, much less supercruise.

SCAMP

bomber, fighter 2 Responses »

Sep 202012

The design for what became the F-16XL began in 1977 as the Supersonic Cruise and Maneuver Prototype at General Dynamics-Fort Worth. The idea was to incorporate lessons learned in SST design into military aircraft. The SCAMP was to be a highly modified F-16 with a 56-inch fuselage stretch, an all-new cranked-delta wing, and an all-new vertical tail, along with many smaller changes. The use of computers – already new with the baseline F-16 – would allow the aircraft to be flown… otherwise unlikely, due to the relaxed static stability of the design (i.e. left to it’s own the design would oscillate in attitude and angle of attack until it went truly unstable). The SCAMP would be capable of carrying a much greater payload than the F-16, such as a sizable bombload.

The F-16XL as actually built used an F-16 vertical tail. But this earlier SCAMP design, from a February 1980 report, used a new all-moving vertical tail. Even earlier designs used all-moving wingtips, which were themselves the horizontal stabilizers from a regular F-16. While that idea undoubtedly had merit, it would not allow for missiles to be carried on the wingtips, and thus fixed wingtips were designed in.

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