Aerospace Projects Review, Volumes 4 and 5

bomber, Dyna Soar, fighter, future projects, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL 2 Responses »

Nov 212013

The complete rework of APR from the original release a decade ago is going a lot slower than I’d planned. A lot of people have asked for the original versions of the as-yet-unreleased issues of APR to be made available. I’ve been hesitant to do so, but… it’s just taking too long. So, I’ve taken the original Word files for the six issues of Volume 4 and the six issues of Volume 5, and made two PDF files from them. I’m making them temporarily available as two bulk sets. When the issues are re-released, these full-volume sets will be withdrawn. So, Volume 5 might remain available till the sun explodes, I dunno…

If you’re dying to get hold of the old-school APRs, here’s your chance. Remember, these are the *original* files from around 2002-2004, without any updates, edits or other changes. Errors, crappy formatting and all. A bunch of the individual old articles remain available as well.

APR Original Run Volume 4 downloadable PDF: $30

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APR Original Run Volume 5 downloadable PDF: $30

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Here are the contents:

Volume 4:

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Bell Aircraft Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
First in a series of articles describing the competitors for the X-15

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 2 by Bill Slayton
Immediately post-war M-wing jet fighter designs

Cobras Of The Field by Scott Lowther
Modified helicopters for ag duty

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 3 by Bill Slayton
Immediately post-war swept-wing jet fighter designs

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Douglas Aircraft Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The Douglas competitor for the X-15

The Martin “Spacemaster” by Scott Lowther
An unconventional design competitor for the Shuttle

Radial Engine P-51 Mustang by Scott Lowther
A little-known modification to the supreme WWII fighter

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Republic Aviation Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The Republic competitor for the X-15

Boeing Super Clippers, then and Now by Scott Lowther
Truly grand aircraft

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The North American Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The winning competitor for the X-15

The HFB 530 Ranger by Mike Hirschberg A German VTOL strike/recon design

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 4 by Bill Slayton
Early Post-war variable geometry fighters

Sonic Cruiser Update by Scott Lowther
New drawings of a new aircraft

LARA Craft: COIN Raiders by Scott Lowther
A long way to go for a bad pun for some tough aircraft

English MUSTARD by Scott Lowther
An early 1960’s British fully reusable Space Shuttle

The NACA’s First Jet by Scott Lowther
The last gasp for ducted fans prior to the turbojet

Addendum to Issue V4N5
Ooops.

The Hopeless Diamond by Scott Lowther
The first cut of the stealth fighter

Sea Dragon by Scott Lowther
A giant, dirt-cheap launch vehicle

North American NA-116 by Scott Lowther
A long-range bomber

Multibody Designs From Lockheed by Scott Lowther
Unconventional yet fuel efficient designs

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Volume 5:

Editor’s Gratuitous Additions: Republic XF-103
A little bit of extra info.

Republic XF-103 by Dennis R. Jenkins
About as sleek as an aircraft can get.

Boeing’s Advanced Multipurpose Large Launch Vehicle by Scott Lowther
Perhaps the most powerful space launcher ever seriously conceived.

McDonnell Douglas GRM-29A by Scott Lowther
Just about the coolest spaceplane ever… but would it have worked???

The Rockwell XFV-12A V/STOL Prototype by Dana E. Lubich
It came close…

XFV-12A Followons by Scott Lowther
The end of the program wasn’t the end of the concept

Hawker Siddeley HS 141 by Scott Lowther
VTOL jetliner concept

Bell/Boeing Armed XV-15 by Scott Lowther
A tilt rotor with a mission

Lockheed Sea Sitter by Scott Lowther
A seaplane to conquer the oceans

Early Atlas Missile Designs by Scott Lowther
Evolution of America’s first ICBM

Boeing’s Air-Launched Micro-Fighters by Scott Lowther
The fighter needed for a flying aircraft carrier

Chrysler SERV by Scott Lowther
An SSTO Space Shuttle design

Soviet Seaplane Jet Bombers by Thomas Mueller and Jens Baganz
A counterpoint to American efforts

4,000 Ton Orion by Scott Lowther
Recently declassified data on a large nuclear pulse propulsion craft

Mart Model 262 by Scott Lowther
A mysteriously delayed article on VTOL fighters…

NASA Langley High Speed Civil Transport by Scott Lowther
Mach 3 and Mach 4 transports from the late 1980’s

Convair/Canadair Tilt-Wing Close Support Aircraft by Scott Lowther
VTOL gunship

Spacejet by Scott Lowther
Spaceplanes with dropable jet engines

Handley Page All-Wing Airbus by Scott Lowther
A British flying-wing transport from the 1960’s

Convair NX-2 Nuclear Powered Bomber by Scott Lowther
A well known but – until now – poorly documented nuclear powered aircraft project

Technology Needs for High Speed Rotorcraft Part 1 Sikorsky and Bell by Scott Lowther
Tiltrotos, tiltwings, fan-in-body designs

Lockheed-Martin ICE by Scott Lowther
An experimental tailless stealth fighter design

Raumwaffe, 1946

Boeing WS-110A

X-Wings

Dash-On-Warning

APR V3N4 preview

Dyna Soar, launch vehicles, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane 2 Responses »

Sep 192013

A long way from being complete. But here’s a look at diagrams being prepared for the article on the Model 2050E X-20 Dyna Soar. This will include not only the proposed operational versions, including bomber, shuttle, rescue, interceptor and so on, but also alternate launch vehicles. Since there has never been a really good layout diagram of the ultimate X-20 on the Titan III released, I’ve created one. Two, actually… the X-20 with just the transtage atop the Titan IIIc with the early UA-1205 boosters, and an operational Dyna Soar with external separation motors, cargo section and later UA-1205 motors. Additionally, Titan III with 156-inch boosters and Saturn C-IB concepts proposed by Boeing.

More on XS-1

bomber, future projects, hypersonic, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Sep 182013

Experimental Spaceplane Shooting for “Aircraft-Like” Operations in Orbit

To help address these challenges, DARPA has established the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program. The program aims to develop a fully reusable unmanned vehicle that would provide aircraft-like access to space. The vehicle is envisioned to operate from a “clean pad” with a small ground crew and no need for expensive specialized infrastructure. This setup would enable routine daily operations and flights from a wide range of locations. XS-1 seeks to deploy small satellites faster and more affordably, while demonstrating technology for next-generation space and hypersonic flight for both government and commercial users.

“We want to build off of proven technologies to create a reliable, cost-effective space delivery system with one-day turnaround,” said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager heading XS-1. “How it’s configured, how it gets up and how it gets back are pretty much all on the table—we’re looking for the most creative yet practical solutions possible.”

DARPA seeks ideas and technical proposals for how to best develop and implement the XS-1 program. The agency has scheduled an XS-1 Proposers’ Day for Monday, October 7, 2013. The agency also plans to hold 1-on-1 discussions with potential proposers on the following day, October 8, 2013. Advance registration is required; more information is available at http://www.sa-meetings.com/XS1ProposersDay. Registration closes on Tuesday, October 1,2013, at 12:00 PM EDT. For more information, please email DARPA-SN-14-01@darpa.mil.

The DARPA Special Notice describing the specific capabilities the program seeks is available at http://go.usa.gov/DNkF. A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for XS-1 is forthcoming and will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Note that the DARPA artwork depicts the XS-1 here in a global strike configuration, equipped with an upper stage and a warhead, either a conical MIRV_style, or perhaps a lifting HTV-type. In either event, the basic layout sure seems familiar… hmmm…

Experimental Spaceplane XS-1

future projects, hypersonic, launch vehicles, rockets, spaceplane No Responses »

Sep 152013

DARPA To Start Reusable Launch Vehicle Program

Short form: a spaceplane to fly 10 times in 10 days (which would necessitate a system that is reliable, rugged and needs relatively little and cheap maintenance) that can fly up to Mach 10 (ouch… harsh) and carry a payload that could eventually translate into an upper stage capable of putting 1,800 kilograms into orbit for no more than $5M per launch.

DARPA released a few bits of concept art showing winged vehicles, but the XS-1 need not be winged… a DC-X clone might do the job. Illustrations taken from the presentation HERE.

The Mach 10 requirement is odd and confusing. The math on launch vehicle design rarely requires that a multistage launcher stage off the first stage much faster than Mach 5.

An Industry Day is coming in early October.

US Bomber Projects #04 Available

bomber, Dyna Soar, hypersonic, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, US Bomber Projects 1 Response »

Sep 112013

Issue number 4 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

McDonnell System 464L: McDonnell’s entry into the initial Dyna Soar contest, 1958
Lockheed-Martin Falcon: A recent design for an unmanned hypersonic global range bomber
Lockheed Senior Peg: Lockheed’s competitor to the Northrop B-2
Boeing Mobile Missile Carrier: A giant hydrogen fueled amphibian
Boeing Model 701-273-4: A very asymmetrical supersonic predecessor to the B-59
Lockheed Cruise Missile Carrier: A large nuclear-powered cargo plane converted to carry 90 cruise missiles
Boeing Model 462-5: A six-turboprop B-52 ancestor
Martin Model 223-4: A twin-fuselage design on the road to the B-48

USBP#04 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Bomber Projects #03 Available

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

Sep 112013

Issue number 3 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

Rockwell D 645-4A: A compact stealthy flying wing

Lockheed System 464L: Lockheed’s entry into the initial Dyna Soar program, 1958
Convair Mach 4 “Rollover:” A Mach 4 seaplane with a unique approach
Boeing Model 701-273-3: An asymmetrical supersonic precursor to the B-59
Boeing HSCT Model 1080-854: A late 1980’s missile carrier derivative of a commercial supersonic transport
Martin Model 223-3: A canard antecedent to the B-48
Boeing Model 462: A large six-turboprop ancestor of the B-52

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

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Shuttle Art

launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Aug 052013

NASA art, circa 1975, depicting the Space Transportation System. Apart from the paint job, this is pretty much as-flown, except for the fairing over the nose of the ET. This probably depicts the “de-orbit” solid rocket motor that early ET concepts showed, meant to make sure that the ET was properly dumped into the Indian Ocean.

DC-3 Of Space

launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane 4 Responses »

Jul 282013

A NASA painting of a 1969-vintage Space Shuttle concept. This was known as the “DC-3” configuration, and was designed – or at least heavily pushed – by Maxime Faget, and was adopted by several McDonnell-Douglas designs. It featured two manned and reusable rocket powered stages, both burning hydrogen & oxygen, both with straight wings. The smaller orbiter would basically “belly flop” into the atmosphere when re-entering. The straight wings would not provide a whole lot of lift, but they would also not be very massive. Thus the vehicles were relatively lightweight, but with restricted crossrange. Both stages also had turbofan engines mounted in the nose for cruise and landing assist.

US Bomber Projects #02 Available

bomber, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth No Responses »

Jul 202013

Issue number 2 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

Rockwell D 645-1: LH2:: A variant of the low-cost missile carrier using liquid hydrogen for fuel
NAA High Performance Penetrator: a 1963 design for a supersonic bomber, led in part to the B-1
Boeing Model 701-273-1: Second in a series on the evolution of the XB-59
Lockheed GL-232: A subsonic nuclear powered bomber
Boeing Space Sortie: A small unmanned spaceplane
Martin Model 223-2: Second in the series on the development of the XB-48 – a wartime turbojet powered medium bomber
Boeing Model 461: Second in the series on the development of the B-52… an early postwar turboprop heavy bomber
Northrop Low Altitude Penetrator: A competing idea for what became the B-2

USBP#02 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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Grumman Space Shuttle Launch Pad

launch vehicles, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane No Responses »

Jul 132013

Grummans concept for the mobile launch pad for their version of the Space Shuttle. It’s generally similar to the pad as actually built, but with some differences. The Shuttle is offset on the pad, rather than centrally located in order to provide room on the mobile pad for the tower, which for some reason was on the mobile pad rather than fixed in place.

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