B-58 SN 55-665

Jun 242018

Convair B-58A serial number 55-665 was unique due to the extended nose radome. This was in support of the YF-12 program: the AN/ASG-18 radar from the YF-12 was grafted onto the nose of the B58, and a special pod was constructed that would carry a single AIM-47 missile on a deployable “trapeze” launch rail like the YF-12.

SN 55-665 is one of the few surviving examples of the B-58. Sadly… “surviving” is a relative term. It’s sitting in the Mojave desert at Edwards Air Force Base, out in the approximate middle of nowhere; it has been stripped of pretty much everything including not only engines but also nacelles. It was placed there not as a gunnery target, but a photo target for satellite reconnaissance systems. (satellite imagery can be seen HERE) The desert is a benign environment for long term storage of metallic aircraft, but it it still non-optimum. It can clearly be found and climbed upon, which seems not only disrespectful but also unwise.

Seems to me that this aircraft should be taken to a museum and restored. However, restoring it to the appearance of a flyable aircraft would seem a virtual economic impossibility given its depleted state. Still… it does seem that it could be cleaned up, some missing bits restored, and put on display as a “cutaway” showing the inner workings of the aircraft.

Boeing entry vehicle designs

bomber, Dyna Soar, hypersonic, launch vehicles, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Jun 102018

A Boeing illustration from 1964 showing a number of designs for lifting entry vehicles that Boeing had produced by that point. Most of these are manned vehicle concepts; a few of them are unfamiliar to me. The “B-3 —– B” looks like it might have been an ASSET competitor. The “Recoverable Booster” at top is one of several similar V-shaped designs that used a modestly modified Dyna Soar as the crew capsule up front. One such design was the Model 895 shown (along with competing ASP designs from other firms) in Aerospace Projects Review issue V2N5.

Submersible Nuclear Ramjet art: Downtown Moscow

bomber, nukes, rockets, US Bomber Projects, VTOL 1 Response »

Apr 292018

Artwork was created for USBP 21 by Rob Parthoens depicting the Convair Submersible Nuclear Ramjet paying a visit to 1970’s-era Moscow. If you think that this looks like Project Pluto, you’re not far off; this was also a Mach 4, treetop-level nuclear ramjet powered bomber. But there were a few minor differences. Notice that little bump above the nose? That’s the cockpit, a necessary addition because this design was manned. It was also designed to operate as a submarine, cruising the oceans of the world faster than 100 knots before launching upwards and taking flight. Because the 1950’s were rather more optimistic when it came to technological advancement.

Be sure to check out US Bomber Projects issue 21 to read more about this design.

NEW: US Bomber Projects #21 and Spacecraft Projects #05

bomber, future projects, nukes, rockets, space shuttle, space station, spacecraft, spaceplane, US Bomber Projects, US Spacecraft Projects 2 Responses »

Apr 262018

US Bomber Projects #21 and Spacecraft Projects #05 are now available.

US Bomber Projects #21

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Bomber Projects #21 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #21 includes:

Convair Submersible Nuclear Ramjet: a Mach 4 manned nuclear powered flying submarine
Bell MX-776: an early post-war pilotless airplane
Convair Manned Flyback Atlas: an unconventional recoverable ICBM
DTNSRDC PAR-WIG Strategic Deterrent: a low-flying aircraft packing 4 Trident ballistic missiles
Boeing Model 464-197: a supersonic B-52
Martin Model 151-K: a pre-war twin-engined medium bomber
Boeing Cruise Ballistic Missile: an entire aircraft packed into a silo, carrying an ICBM
MC-747 Air Mobile System: a 1973 concept for carrying up to seven ICBMs in a modified cargo jet

USBP #21 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

——–

US Spacecraft Projects #5

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

Project HORIZON Lunar Lander: a late 1950’s US Army concept for a manned Lunar lander
Lockheed-Martin Mars Ascent/Descent Vehicle: A very recent concept for a future manned Mars vehicle
JPL Interstellar Precursor: a 970’s design for a space probe to interstellar space
Lockheed Modular Rotating Space Station: a truly gigantic design circa 1970
Lockheed Payload Carrier: an early 1960’s spaceplane for space station logistics
Martin-Marietta Winged NIMF: a nuclear powered “hopper”
Lockheed CL-414: a capsule for Man in Space Soonest
NASA HAVOC: High Altitude Venus Operational Concept, a 2015 project for manned exploration of the atmosphere of Venus

USSP #05 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $5.25:

——–

The previous releases of US Aerospace Projects:

US VTOL Projects #2

SOS Interceptor: A US Navy Mach 3 aircraft with jettisonable wings
Lockheed GL-224-3: A small battlefield surveillance and ground attack plane
Phalanx Dragon MP-18: An unconventional small civilian transport
Lockheed L-161-1: An early concept for a variable geometry roadable helicopter
GE Supersonic V/STOL: A supersonic strike fighter with flip-out lift fans
Convair ANP-VTOL: A nuclear-powered ground-effect craft of the Navy of unusual configuration
Piasecki 16H-3: A compound helicopter for high speed passenger transport
Boeing Vertol Model 147: A tilt-wing close support fire support design for the US Army

USVP #2 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Research & Recon Projects #2

Lockheed A-1: The first true design leading to the SR-71
Bell MX-2147 Model 105: The high altitude “X-16”
Boeing/CRC/AMROC X-34 Reference Configuration: A reusable launcher test vehicle
Martin Model 159: A scout/observation float plane
NASA-Langley Low-Boom Demonstrator: a recent design to demonstrate quiet SST tech
McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 Super 80 Propfan Configuration 1: A fuel efficient transport demo
Convair “HAZEL” MC-10: An inflatable Mach 3 plane for the Navy
Republic Manned Hypersonic Reconnaissance Vehicle: an early scramjet concept

USRP #2 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

——–

APR Patreon rewards, February, 2018

bomber, hi-rez, jetliner, nukes, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft, transports No Responses »

Feb 272018

Rewards have been issued to APR Patreon patrons for February, 2018. This month, the diagram is a 1/40 scale B-52B diagram. Normally the diagrams are sent out at full 300 dpi (with 125 dpi for the $1.25 patrons), but at 300 dpi the diagram is simply Way Too Big at over 40,000 pixels wide. Most image viewing programs will simply go “nope”and refuse to even try to display such images. so this month the image is sent out at 200 dpi (still slightly over 30,000 pixels wide), and 83 dpi for the $1.25 patrons. The 83 dpi version is also included for the higher level patrons for easier viewing.

Also: the documents this month include a United Aircraft paper on advanced future space propulsion systems as seen from 1969, and a January 1953 Douglas Aircraft design study for the DC-8. The CAD diagram this month is the Ganswindt Weltenfahrzeug… a truly terrible design for a spaceship from 1899. Terrible though it may be, it one of the first designs that is clearly in the Project Orion family tree…

If you are interested in helping to preserve (and get copies of) this sort of thing, consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

A B-1 bizjet???

bomber, research 4 Responses »

Jan 312018

Recently sold on ebay was an apparently old display model. It came without markings, stand or engine nacelles, which were obviously formerly pinned to the rear fuselage in the usual bizjet position. So just what it is is unknown, but it looks too good to be Just Some Guys kitbash. But what it *is* is a headscratcher. It’s clearly a B-1 bomber forward fuselage grafted to a bizjet fuselage, but for what purpose I can’t guess. It doesn’t make sense to use a supersonic bombers cockpit as the cockpit of a small corporate jet, even as a way to utilize existing manufacturing infrastructure. Might it have been meant as a training plane, to teach future B-1 pilots the fine art of flying a Bone? A flying laboratory for the B-1 cockpit to make sure it was set up right?

Or did someone down at the model shop just get a little likkered up?

It appears t be a B-1A cockpit, dating it to the mid/late 70’s.

December 2017 APR Patreon rewards

bomber, future projects, hi-rez, hypersonic, launch vehicles, Patreon, Patreon catalog, research, rockets, spacecraft, VTOL No Responses »

Dec 302017

The rewards for APR Patrons have been issued. This month:

CAD Diagram: Marquardt hypersonic burning ramjet booster

Diagram: Convair Class VP Airplane High Performance Flying Boat

Document 1: Apollo Exploration Shelter System

Document 2: Chrysler Work Station Capsule (“work pod” for astronauts)

Document 3: Sikorsky S-97 “Raider” brochure

If you are interested in helping to preserve (and get copies of) this sort of thing, consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

Cyanotypes on ebay

bomber, future projects, launch vehicles, rockets, transports No Responses »

Nov 262017

I’ve put five of my large format cyanotypes on ebay, with starting bids far lower than the usual selling price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Space-Launch-System-1-72-scale-Diagram-Cyanotype-Blueprint/253278318585

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-Cyanotype-Blueprint-of-the-Consolidated-B-36-Bomber/253278304259

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lockheed-Skunk-Works-hypersonic-X-24C-L301-cyanotype-blueprint/253278262083

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Boeing-2707-200-Supersonic-Transport-Isometric-cutaway-cyanotype-blueprint/253278272868

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wasserfall-German-WWII-surface-to-air-missile-cyanotype-blueprint/253278294165

Dyna Soar Test Flight Art

bomber, Dyna Soar, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Oct 192017

A rare piece of color art depicting an early Dyna Soar being dropped from a B-52. The Dyna Soar is equipped with two rocket engines used to boost it to higher altitude and higher speed (supersonic, though not very supersonic… think the test flights of the M2-F3 and the HL-10). Note that this shows the Dyna Soar having been tucked into a modified bomb bay in the B-52’s fuselage; planning would soon move the Dyna Soar to under the wing, using the same attachment point used by the B-52 to carry the X-15 and the lifting bodies.

New 12X18 Cyanotypes

bomber, Dyna Soar, fighter, hypersonic, launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft No Responses »

Oct 062017

I have a number of new aerospace cyanotype blueprints available. Until I can repave the catalog page, I have slapped together a PDF catalog of the new items. Until Wednesday, I’m making these new 12X18 prints, as well as the earlier 12X18 prints, available. The earlier 12X18s are viewable HERE. The new items are in the following PDF file:

Cyan catalog addition 2017-10

If any are of interest, Paypal to the email address in the PDF file, and add a note in the order which items you want…. AND what your mailing address is (PayPal doesn’t automatically add the address to payments like this).

After Wednesday the prints will be again unavailable for a little bit while I retool and work on some things.

UPDATE: over for now. After some retooling I hope to have all the cyanotypes, small and large old and new, available for regular sale.

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