(Post in progress…)
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Jun 272015
Apr 272015
Just added five more issues to Amazon for $2.99 each. These are Kindle-fied versions of the issues otherwise available as PDFs here.
Apr 062015
Now available… two new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.
US Bomber Projects #14: System 464L Special
USBP#14 brings together the competitors to Weapon System 464L, the first major effort in the Dyna Soar program. These designs were previously shown individually in prior issues of USBP; here they are brought together, with some updates, as well as a few extra diagrams and a section of diagrams formatted for 11X17 printing. This issue includes info and diagrams of the Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, McDonnell, Boeing, Douglas, Northrop, North American and Martin-Bell entries as well as their various booster systems. Also included are detailed diagrams of the ultimate Dyna Soar design, the 2050E.
USBP#14 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.25.
Also available:US Transport Projects #03.
Included in this issue:
- Lockheed “Environmentally Responsible Aviation” box-wing jetliner
- Martin Commercial Twin-Hull concept from 1942
- North American Aviation NAC-60 SST competitor
- McDonnell-Douglas Cargo Spanloader
- Boeing Model 763-058 “New Large Airplane”
- BoMi Passenger Transport Rocket
- Lockheed L-152-1 early jet transport with unusual inlets
- Aerial Relay System: for when crazy is preferred
USTP #03 can be purchased for download for only $4.25:
Mar 272015
I have made some adjustments to the Aerospace Projects Review Patreon campaign. The first is that I’ve reduced the number of rewards levels, which I was informed was previously Too Many. More importantly, I have added some new rewards: if you become a patron at $5 or more per month, you receive 10% off all future purchases of APR, US Aerospace Projects and downloadable Documents and Drawings. If you become a patron at $10 per month, you will receive 20% off any such purchases. Check of the APR Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=197906
Additionally, the campaign has reached the point where the rewards are now *three* aerospace documents, one high-rez historical diagram and one all-new CAD diagram per month. This is in addition to the random “Extras” I throw in for $4 and up patrons. The most recent extra is a full-rez restoration of a three-view diagram of a 1978 McDonnell-Douglas concept for modifying Skylab to be serviced by the Space Shuttle. You can see a smaller-rez version of that here: http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=2153
If you sign up now you will get the latest rewards which include:
- A Bell Aircraft presentation on the SR-126 Bomber Missile, a manned ICBM predecessor of the Dyna Soar
- A Lockheed paper on the history of the Polaris to Trident Fleet Ballistic Missile
- A large poster illustrating the missiles and rockets of the Orbital Sciences Corporation
- An all-new CAD diagram detailing the 10-meter Orion nuclear pulse propulsion vehicle designed by General Atomic for the USAF
Mar 022015
Two new publications in the US Aerospace Projects series are now available.
Now available: US Bomber Projects #13. This issue includes:
- Ryan Model 162: A VTOL strike/recon plane
- Boeing Orbital Bomb: a nuclear-tipped re-entry glider
- Northrop Atomic Wing: an asymetric nuclear powered design
- Consolidated Vultee High Speed Flying Boat: an early post-war Skate design
- Martin Model 189: a canard version of the B-26 Marauder
- Boeing Model 464-046: A six-engined B-52 predecessor
- Curtis F-87C: a night fighter with bomber abilities
- Boeing Model 701-247: a supersonic antecedent of the B-59
USBP #13 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:
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Also available: US Launch Vehicle Projects #01. The premiere issue of this new series includes:
- Pre-Saturn Phase III Vehicles: 1958 concpet for clustered Atlas boosters
- Boeing “Big Onion”: an SSTO to launch SPS
- Northrop TAV: an in-flight propellant transfer spaceplane
- Martin Orbit Project: A 1946 concept for a hydrogen fueled SSTO
- Saturn V derived HLLV for FLO: A brief Saturn V revival in the early 1990s
- MSC Orbiter 020: An early Shuttle with straight wings and a single SRB
- Hammerhead ET: a way for the Shuttle to transport outsized payloads
- Loral Aquarius: A way to make space launch cheap
USLP #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:
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Jan 222015
Now available: US Spacecraft Projects #02, the “Spaceplane Special.” This is done in the same style as the other US Aerospace Projects publications, but this issue is focused specifically on lifting spacecraft… and is more than twice as long as usual with more data and more diagrams.
USSP #02 includes:
- Boeing Personnel/Cargo Glider: When you have space industry, you need a space bus
- Convair Manned Orbiting Reconnaissance System: A 1958 concept for a recon spaceplane
- North American D435-1-4: The delta winged X-15A-3 (not a true spaceplane… but still, relevant)
- General Electric R-3 Lenticular Apollo: A 1962 Apollo concept for a lifting body lunar ship
- General Dynamics VL-3A: a 1966 space station logistics transport
- SRI Space Cruiser: An early 1980’s minimum manned spacecraft for the military
- Boeing Model 844-2050E Dyna Soar: The almost-built spaceplane from 1963
- Rockwell MRCC Orbiter: the do-everything concept, modified with additional rockets and propellant
USSP #02 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $6:
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Dec 262014
There was a delay getting the December rewards out, and a further delay in putting this notification together that the rewards are available… so it might be only a short-ish time before these are gone, replaced by the *January* rewards. So if these look of interest… act fast!
PDF Document: “Design Study for an Air Force Model F-82E Airplane Modified to a Ground Attack Aircraft with Allison XT-38 Turbo Prop Engine,” a North American Aviation report from 1948. This was not for a simple engine swap-out… the cockpits were moved forward and the engines located behind them, driving the props with long shafts.
PDF Document: “SAM-D Air Defense Weapon System,” a 1973 US Army description document of what would become the Patriot missile system.
Large Format Diagram: a large-format full-color (w/bonus grayscale versions) diagram of the X-20 Dyna Soar. Very detailed and clear. Looks great on a wall (believe me on that!)
CAD Diagram: Boeing Model 853-21 “Quiet Bird” a 1961 design study for a low radar cross section (i.e. stealthy) research aircraft.
If you would like to access these items and support the cause of acquiring and sharing these pieces of aerospace history, please visit my Patreon page and consider contributing.
Nov 192014
The latest releases in the “US Projects” line (see the full library HERE):
USTP 02
Issue #02 of US Transport Projects, done in the same format as US Bomber Projects, USTP will cover flying vehicles designed to transport cargo, passengers and troops. Issue 02 includes:
- Jupiter Troop Transport: A 1956 Army concept for ballistically launched soldiers
- Catamaran 747: A NASA concept for a more efficient twin-fuselage 747
- Nuclear C-5A: A NASA concept for using the existing C-5 to demonstrate nuclear powered flight
- Boeing 765-076E: A recent design for a small supersonic transport
- Lockheed L-151: An early jetliner concept adding six turbojets to a Constellation
- AAFRL/Lockheed AMC-X: A recent design for a stealthy C-130 replacement
- Boeing Twin Hull Airship: A 1970’s design for a semi-buoyant cargo lifter
- Douglas D5.0-15A: A partially NASP-derived hypersonic jetliner
USTP #02 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:
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USSP 01
Also available: issue #01 of US Spacecraft Projects. This series will present some of the wide range of manned and unmanned probes, stations, landers, spaceplanes and so on that have been designed over the decades. Issue #01 includes:
- General Dynamics 2-Man Space Taxi: A concept for the minimum possible manned spacecraft
- General Dynamics EMPIRE lander: one of the earliest designs for an excursion module to and from the surface of Mars
- Convair Landing Boat: Krafft Ehricke’s Atlas-launched spaceplane
- Zenith Star: the SDI laser battlestation experiment
- Northrop PROFAC: a flying gas station for spacecraft
- NASA Warp-drive spacecraft: a highly hypothetical concept for planning purposes
- Martin Direct Flight Apollo: lunar landing without the LEM
- Boeing DS-1 Satellite Interceptor: an early Dyna Soar with nuclear missiles
USSP #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:
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Nov 062014
Two current projects…
Oct 312014
I’ve written a short and illustrated piece on how the Dyna Soar can illustrate the possible capabilities of the X-37B over at War Is Boring:
Wondering What the U.S. Air Force’s Secretive Spaceplane Can Do? History Offers Clues
I am contemplating expanding this considerably for a separate release. It’d be a little different from the usual sort of thing I do, since the X-37B is a real flying vehicle, not just an unbuilt project.