hi-rez – Page 26 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

Nova Class I Designs in hi-rez

hi-rez, launch vehicles, spacecraft 5 Responses »

Jan 042012

NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating two configurations for Class I Nova designs. The Class 1 designs were the lowest-technology of the three classes suggested, and involved the use of expendable vehicles and conventional propulsion systems.

Still, the Nova designs were sized to carry payloads of a million pounds or more, about four times that of the Saturn V.

You can download a 4.1 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 7 of APR issue V2N3. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 10 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

Curtiss-Wright Model 90 VTOL Artwork: Hi-rez

hi-rez, VTOL 8 Responses »

Dec 232011

Curtiss-Wright proposed the Model 90 to the US Army for the AAFSS (Armed Aerial Fire Support System) contest circa 1965. The Model 90 was derived from X-19 design concepts, and was a VTOL vehicle that used four tilting prop-rotors for both VTOL and forward thrust. The Model 90 lost out to the Lockheed design, which became the AH-56 Cheyenne. It’s interesting to speculate how the USAF would have reacted had the Army selected the Model 90… it was, after all, a fixed-wing combat aircraft, and by this point the US Army was not supposed to have such things.

You can download a 5 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N4. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 5 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

North American Aviation Scramjet Vehicle in Hi-Rez

hi-rez, hypersonic 1 Response »

Dec 212011

Below is concept art from North American Aviation depicting a manned hypersonic airbreathing vehicle… presumably using scramjets (not a certainty, however). It was clearly painted by the same artist, using the same technique, as this rendering of the Manned Hypersonic Test Vehicle-3 (MHTV-3). Date is uncertain, but is from the latter portion of the 1960’s. This design might be the MHTV-1, -2, or something completely other. As with a lot of concept art from decades ago, it was found without context… in this case, a transparency found at a yard sale.

The aircraft features six engines, three on either side of a semi-conical fuselage. A ventral ridge runs from the nose past the engine exhausts;panel lines indicate that the landing gear was contained within this ridge. Another line behind the cockpit indicates that the forward fuselage could pop off in the event of an emergency. Downward angled wingtips indicate B-70-like compression lift; a large expansion ramp forms the aft end of the rather tubby fuselage.

You can download a 5.7 megabyte JPG file of the artwork; the link is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N6. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 4 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

NAR FX Three-View

fighter, hi-rez No Responses »

Dec 202011

A three-view drawing of the North American Rockwell FX, dated June 1969, with a good deal of dimensional and other data. Note the large ventral fins which fold out of the way for takeoff and landing.

You can download a 0.5 megabyte JPG file of the diagram. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. These are available on the first page of the Aerospace Projects Review V3N2 Addendum (available HERE) Note that both are case sensitive.

Radial-Arm Space Station in Hi-Rez

hi-rez, space station 2 Responses »

Dec 142011

A NASA artist concept for a three-arm space station, dated 1962.

This space station would be launched as a unit by a single Saturn V, with the arms folded down, forming a cylinder. In orbit the arms would hinge up and the space station would rotate, generating artificial gravity.

Dennis R. Jenkins wrote an article on such space station designs, published in Aerospace Projects Review issue V1N6.

You can download a 4 megabyte JPG file of the artwork. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 4 of APR issue V2N5. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 9 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

North American Rockwell FX artwork in hi-rez: 2

fighter, hi-rez 2 Responses »

Dec 112011

Another piece of North American Aviation artwork depicting their FX design. Sadly, I only have this in B&W, but at least it’s gigantic.

You can download a 5 megabyte JPG file. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 3 of APR issue V2N2. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 16 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

North American Rockwell FX artwork in hi-rez

fighter, hi-rez 3 Responses »

Dec 092011

An artist impression of the North American Aviation FX design, the NA-335. This was a late 1960’s design concept entered into the competition that eventually produced the F-15. The NAR design was a particularly aesthetically pleasing one, with almost every line a curve.

You can download a 4 megabyte JPG file. The link to the JPG file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 13 of APR issue V3N1. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 21 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

If you want to read more on the NA-335 or see a three-view, I can’t recommend highly enough Tony Buttler’s “American Secret Projects: Fighters & Interceptors 1945-1978.”

Rockwell Shuttle Model Drawings

hi-rez, launch vehicles, space shuttle No Responses »

Dec 072011

An informational poster from Rockwell International showing the configuration of the Space Shuttle dating from, I believe, February 1983. Provides geometric data as well as coloration, mission profile and subcontractor data.

You can download a 9 megabyte ZIP file with 300 DPI scans of both front and back of this poster. The 1/200 scale drawings are particularly nice. The link to the ZIP file is HERE. To access it, you will need to enter a username and password. The username: the first word in the body of the text on page 8 of APR issue V3N2. The password: the first word in the body of the text on page 24 of the same issue. Note that both are case sensitive.

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