A trio of Model 473 jetliner concepts from 1949-1950, from ebay. Note that the one at bottom is a double-decker configuration.
Boeing press release (well, part of it, anyway):
Aug 132013
Aug 072013
Boeing artwork (from ebay) depicting the Model 367 (probably -65) turboprop airliner. Derived from the C-97, this was a step on the road to the 707. Dates from 1950.
Boeing press release:
Aug 032013
An illustration (found on ebay) from 1949 depicting the Model 473 (-31, or possibly -51), a four-engine jetliner derived from the B-47.
The Boeing press release:
Aug 012013
A 1967 North American concept for a hypersonic (Mach 6) passenger transport. Sadly, no further data. If anyone has more – such as a diagram – I’d love to see it.
Jul 102013
Lockheed artwork of a Mach 6 hypersonic transport, circa 1979. Fuel would have been liquid hydrogen. A report on this, with some quite good drawings, is available as Air Doc 3.
Jul 022013
At last: issue V3N3 of APR is now available. The first article covers the proposed use of bombers, specifically the B-52 and B-70, as launch platforms for the Dyna Soar manned military spaceplane.
The second article is on the Martin Astrorocket, a series of early-sixties design studies of reusable low-cost manned launch systems for the USAF.
The next article covers the development of the Douglas XC-132 turboprop transport/tanker plane throughout much of the 1950’s. This would have been by far the biggest turboprop plane the us would have built… had it been built. Article contains a number of good photos of the full-scale mockup.
Next is an article on the A-12 Avenger II stealthy strike plane for the US Navy. This article includes info and drawings on the Northrop competitor, as well as a number of rarely seen and all-new detailed diagrams of the A-12.
A brief article on a trio of Grumman designs from the 1989-1993 time period, VTOL lift-fan combat aircraft, including the Future Attack Air Vehicle (FAAV).
Last but not least, an article describing a trio of seemingly unrelated – yet possibly related – designs: a “landing boat” for Project Orion, a lifting body design for the Apollo program, and a fighter jet designed to be launched via booster rockets. Included is information on the logistics Landing Vehicle, General Dynamics’ equivalent of the Douglas ICARUS/Ithacus troop transport rocket.
And two “Aerospace History Nuggets,” a Ryan concept for a VTOL jetliner and a concept from Bell for linking two helicopters together to forma single heavy lifter.
Here’s the complete issue V3N3 layout:
It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $8.50. Second, it can be purchased as a professionally printed volume through Magcloud; third, it can be procured in both formats. To get the download, simply pay for it here through paypal.
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To get the printed version (or print + PDF version), visit my MagCloud page:
http://scottlowther.magcloud.com/
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Also available: the V3N3 Addendum. This contains 30 pages formatted for 11X17. Includes larger and improved versions of all the CAD diagrams produced for V3N3, including:
- 1/72 versions of the A-12 diagrams
- Scans of the original A-12 diagrams
- 1/144 versions of the XC-132 diagrams
- 1/288 versions of the XC-132 antecedents
- 1/250 versions of the Dyna Soar/bomber launchers
- 1/72 versions of the Landing Boat, “Space fighter” and Apollo lifting body
- 1/200 version of the Nova/LLV
The V3N3 Addendum can be downloaded for only $3.00!
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Jun 292013
A North American Aviation artists impression of a supersonic transport derived closely from the B-70 Mach 3 bomber. An article on this concept by Dennis R. Jenkins was published in Aerospace Projects Review issue V2N1.
Jun 042013
A late 1970’s/early 1980’s design for a supersonic transport from Lockheed included an unusual engine layout… two turbojets on the underside, two turbojets on the topside. This would certainly prevent shockwaves from the inlet spike of one engine from interfering with the inlet of another nearby engine, but it would also make the engines on the topside somewhat questionable during high-alpha (angle of attack) flight, such as takeoff and landing. Note that the drawing wa made with an early CAD program.
Mar 292013
A 1960’s concept painting from Bell depicting a vertical takeoff and landing supersonic transport. The eight individually podded turbojet engines were hinged so that they could rotate upwards at least 90 degrees, providing vertical thrust. It’s far from certain that this was an actual engineering effort as opposed to pure artistic marketing. Exactly what benefit there would be in a VTOL SST is anyones guest.
Mar 162013
The OPEC oil embargo of the west of 1973-74 and subsequent skyrocketing of petroleum prices made sure that the American SST program, cancelled by Congress in 1971, stayed cancelled. As Concord subsequently showed, an SST in an era of expensive aviation fuel would be an economic disaster.
In the late 1970’s there was a flirtation in the American aviation industry with liquid hydrogen as an alternate fuel for jetliners. LH2 would pose a number of issues, not least of which being the very low density of the stuff; relatively gigantic heavily insulated fuel tanks would be needed. For subsonic jetliner designs, these tanks often took the shape of extremely large fuel tanks on the wings, nearly the size of the aircraft fuselage. This was not much of an option for supersonic transports due to the increased drag. Nevertheless, liquid hydrogen fueled supersonic transports were designed. One such is shown below, a late 1970’s Lockheed design. The liquid hydrogen tanks occupy much of the forward and aft fuselage volume; the passengers are stuck in a relatively short segment in the middle of the double-deck fuselage. There would be no direct connection between the passenger compartment and the cockpit… so at the very least, the likelihood of a hijacking – another feature of air travel in the late 1970’s – would be greatly reduced.
By the 1980s, efforts to wean the west off OPEC petroleum were bearing fruit (or at least looking promising); as a result, the price of oil plummeted. And with cheap oil the imperative to design hydrogen-fueled aircraft largely vanished.
