transports – Page 16 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

APR Patreon Back Issue Catalog NOW AVAILABLE

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Oct 302016

I’ve been running the Aerospace Projects Review Patreon project for a bit over two years now. Every month, Patrons get rewarded with sets of aerospace history stuff… currently, one large-format diagram or piece of artwork, three documents and, depending on level of patronage, an all-new CAD diagram of an aerospace subject of interest. More than two dozen such packages have been put together so far and distributed. Given that you can get in on this for as little as $1.50 a month (for 125-dpi scans… $4/month for full-rez 300 dpi scans) and you get at least four items, that’s a pretty good bargain compared to the individual aerospace drawings and documents.

Patrons who signed up after the process got underway can now get “back issues” of the previously released rewards packages. A catalog of more than the first years worth has just been posted; each month will see an updated catalog posted for Patrons to order from. So if you are interested, check out the APR Patreon page to see how to sign up; if you are already a patron, check out the catalog here.

Bell Aerospace Hypersonic Transport Ticket

Dyna Soar, hi-rez, hypersonic, jetliner, Patreon, rockets, spaceplane, transports 1 Response »

Sep 042016

Produced by Bell Aerospace around 1960 as a promotional item was this “ticket” for a flight from New York City to Melbourne, Australia. The aircraft shown was a two-stage hypersonic passenger transport; the first stage was essentially a supersonic transport equipped with turboramjet engines; it carried on its back a rocket powered passenger spaceplane. At the time it was pushed by the likes of Walter Dornberger, who had previously publicized a two-stage all-rocket powered hypersonic transport. There was some link between this design and the Dyna Soar program, but it is unclear just how involved the engineering was on the HST. Artwork was produced and a good display model, but it’s hard to tell if it went any further than that.

I have uploaded high-rez scans (600 dpi) to the 2016-09 APR Extras folder on Dropbox. This is accessible to all APR Patreon patrons at the $4 level and above.

General Dynamics VL-3A

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Jun 222016

A General Dynamics concept for a logistics spacecraft (personnel and cargo transfer to/from space stations) from 1966. The VL-3A was a narrow lifting body design to be launched by a Titan IIIc, and featured flip-out wings and turbojets for runway landings. The VL-3A and other spaceplanes were presented in US Spacecraft Projects #2.

Transonic Transport

jetliner, transports 1 Response »

Jun 112016

An early Boeing concept for the 767. This was designed for cruise at high subsonic speeds; the unusual “wasp-waisted” fuselage was to give the configuration the area ruling needed for low-drag transonic flight. This concept, studied by Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, NASA, Bell and others, arose after the spike in oil prices in the early 1970’s and the demise of the SST program. The goal was to create a jetliner that could fly just as fast as possible while still being economical with fuel. But production costs of the curvy fuselage and wings doomed the effort.

This scan is from a print currently on ebay.

US Bomber Projects #18, Transport Projects #6 Now Available

bomber, hypersonic, jetliner, nukes, rockets, spaceplane, transports, US Bomber Projects, US Transport Projects 1 Response »

Apr 172016

Now available: two new US Aerospace Projects titles.

US Bomber Projects #18

US Bomber Projects #18 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #18 includes:

Boeing Model 726-13: A nuclear pwoered bomber with the cockpit in the tail
Martin Model 164: A pre-war high altitude twin-tailed bomber
North American WS-110A: An early concept for what became the B-70, with “floating wingtips”
Convair MX-1593: An Early, large five-engined Atlas ICBM concept
Boeing Model 701-299-1: The final XB-59 supersonic bomber design
Boeing Model 464-72: A B-52 with pusher turboprops
Boeing F-15GSE Global Strike Eagle: An unmanned F-15 with a giant missile on its back General Dynamics – Light Weight Attack Configuration 29: An advanced ground attacker with vectored thrust

USBP #18 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Transport Projects #6

US Transport Projects #06 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #06 includes:

Lockheed CL-408-15: An early Mach 3 SST
Lockheed L-155-4: A very early 8-engine jetliner
Boeing Model 754-4V: A very-wide-bodied cargo hauler for Husky
Gates Learjet PD1502A: A four-seater with a turbofan
Convair Comet Seaplane: An American idea for turning a British jetliner into Flying Boat
Lockheed Twin C-5 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft: Two C-5’s mated together to carry a Shuttle between them
Boeing Model 765-096 Rev A “SUGAR Volt”: A hybrid jetliner
CRC HOT EAGLE – Super Global Troop Transport: Finally, hard data on a rocket transport for Special Forces and Marines

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

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And don’t forget…

US Fighter Projects #1 and US VTOL Projects #1 are still new and still available!

VC 400

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Mar 242016

A mid-1960’s German (VFW/Heinkel) concept for a VTOL passenger transport, a quad-tilt-wing design, with capacity for 40 passengers or 13,200 lbs of cargo.

I’ve uploaded a two-page article from the era on the VC400. It is in the 2016-03 APR Extras Dropbox folder, available to all $4+ APR Patreon patrons. If interested, check out the APR Patreon.

Transonic 767

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Feb 232016

In the early 1970s, after the collapse of the SST program due to, in part, the rise in energy prices, Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics and NASA looked at the possibility of jetliners designed to fly economically right at the edge of the sound barrier. The idea was that there is an unavoidable spike in drag at Mach 1.00, but it would theoretically be possible to fly at, say, Mach 0.98 at relatively low drag. This would make the aircraft about 100 mph faster than conventional jetliners without being much more expensive. In order to pull this off, the jetliners would need to take advantage of every imaginable aerodynamic trick in the book… most obviously, area rule designing resulting in “wasp waisted” fuselages, and almost no straight lines… all curves. The problem is that this makes aircraft heavier and more expensive to build. Thus, no transonic airliners ever got any further than wind tunnel tests.

Below is a piece of Boeing art showing one of their designs for an Advanced Technology Transport. It was a Model 767 design, dash-number unknown.

US Spacecraft Projects #4, Transport Projects #5 now available

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Jan 232016

USSP #04

US Spacecraft Projects #04, the Lander Special is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #04 includes:

GE Electrically Propelled Cargo Vehicle: A lunar lander with a nuclear reactor and ion engines to reduce the cost of lunar logistics
Douglas LASS: Landing an S-IVb stage on the moon
Convair PLAME: VTOL crew return with jet engines
North American Mars Excursion Module: the iconic conical Mars lander
Martin-Marietta Ballistic NIMF: A nuclear “hopper”
Early LEM: One of the first recognizable designs, by Maxime Faget
ROMBUS: probably the largest lunar lander seriously proposed
Boeing Lander Module 2: A recent Mars crew lander

USSP #04 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $5.25:

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USTP #05

US Transport Projects #05 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #05 includes:

Boeing Model 820-100: The B-52 can haul more than bombs…
Lockheed Nuclear Tug: Want to tow two C-5s across an ocean?
Martin Super Ocean Transport: A WWII-era design for a post-war giant passenger transport
HOT EAGLE: 13 Marines to Benghazi in minutes
Sikorsky SST: An early supersonic transport concept
Lifting Body Cargo Airplane: A wartime design for a multibody design with a separate cargo module
Resource Air Carrier: A giant “flying pipeline” to haul petroleum
Boeing Model 763-165: A side-by-side New Large Airplane design

USTP #05 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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AND don’t forget these…

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USLP 03

Issue 03 of US Launch Vehicle Projects includes:

Juno V/Titan/Nomad: A 1958 concept for a space launcher using an ICBM for upper stages
Convair ATE Nova: A 1963 idea for winged airbreathing boosters
B-70/Gemini: Using a bomber as a booster
Phase II VTOHL Orbit-On-Demand: a 1985 concept for a relatively small two stage to orbit spaceplane
NASA Lewis Saturn Ib/Centaur/Kick Stage: a high energy upper stage
NASA MSC 042B/Titan IIIL6: a straight-winged orbiter atop a large Titan derivative
Heavy Lift Titan: A large diameter Titan core with three Shuttle boosters
Escher “Unshackled”: An unconventional idea for a lunar rocket

USLP #03 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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Large format USBP drawings, Issues 10-12

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

USBP 11X17 10-12 collects the diagrams created for issues 10, 11 and 12, including:

Boeing Model 464-34-3, Republic mach 7, Lockheed CL-1301-1, Convair WS-125A, Boeing 484-415, Martin Model 223-10, Boeing Model 814-1010 Dyna Soar, Martin Model 192-5, Boeing Model 464-40, Boeing Model 701-218, Northrop Nuclear flying wing, North American D118, Martin Model 223-11, North American Model 705-00-04, Bell/Martin 464L, Boeing B-1, Boeing Big Bird BB 6800, Boeing Model464-41, Douglas MX-2091-E, Boeing Model 701-238, Martin Model 223-12, Northrop Nuclear Flying Wing, Rockwell MRCC, Lockheed CL-820-8

USBP11x17-10-12 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $11:
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Large format USBP drawings, Issues 13-15

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

USBP 11X17 13-15 collects the diagrams created for issues 10, 11 and 12, including:

Ryan Model 162, Boeing Orbital bomb, Northrop Atomic Wing, Consolidated Vultee High Speed Flying Boat, Martin Model 189, Boeing Model 464-046, Curtis F-87C, Boeing Model 701-247, Lockheed WS 464L Dyna Soar, McDonnell WS 464L Dyna Soar, North American WS 464L Dyna Soar, Republic WS 464L Dyna Soar, Convair WS 464L Dyna Soar I, Convair WS 464L Dyna Soar II, Douglas WS 464L Dyna Soar, Northrop N206 WS 464L Dyna Soar, Boeing Model 814-1010 Dyna Soar II, Bell/Martin WS 464L Dyna Soar, Boeing Model 2050E Dyan Soar, Boeing Dyna Soar/ Titan IIIc, Bell D2001 TS-149, Lockheed Harvey; Convair Model 35, Rockwell D661-27, Boeing Model 464-49, Boeing Model 988-123, Boeing Manned Orbital Bomber, Boeing Model 701-251

USBP11x17-13-15 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $11:
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S-60 Passenger Pod

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Jan 212016

A piece of Sikorsky concept art from 1959 illustrating a commercial passenger pod for the S-60 flying crane helicopter. Into the 1960’s there were a lot of people thinking that commercial helicopter “airliners” would soon be a practical reality… and obviously, helicopters are perfectly functional in the role of hauling people to and fro, but the idea never really caught on. And in retrospect it’s not difficult to see why.

Compared to turbojet or turboprop passenger planes, helicopters are creakingly slow and quite short ranged. So the idea was that helicopter-liners would serve as short range feeder vehicles, transporting businessmen and the like from city centers to outlying regions. A popular goal was to fly passengers from the top of skyscrapers to distant airports, saving considerable time and trouble with ground traffic. But in the end, while helicopters could do that – as many a multi-millionaire with his own helicopter can attest – the cost was always high, and the noise of regularly scheduled very large choppers was excessive. There was also always the fear of helicopters this big zipping up and down the city streets, and building the infrastructure to support in-city commercial heliports just seemed like too much effort.

Three-man A-4 (V-2)

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Dec 072015

Here’s something I have some vague recollection of posting before, but couldn’t find after a cursory search: a sketch of the seating arrangement of a 3-man A-4 rocket (might be the A-8 derivative). This is a scan of a photocopy of a photocopy; the original photocopy was found in the files of a researcher at the NASM twenty or so years ago. It’s thought that the sketch was originally made by Werner von Braun during WWII.

Little data is provided; range is given as 500 km. *Presumably* this would have been a winged, landing-gear-equipped derivative of the A-4; replacing the warhead of the V-2 with just three guys seems like a waste of three guys, as well as a not terribly effective weapons system.

The full-rez scan (such as it is) has been made available to APR Patrons in the 2015-12 APR Extras Dropbox folder. If you’d like to help out and gain access to this and many other pieces of aerospace history, please check out the APR Patreon.

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