VTOL – Page 19 – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

APR issue V0N0 now available

bomber, fighter, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, transports, VTOL 1 Response »

Jan 202012

Aerospace Projects Review has been re-working and re-releasing the original run of issues in order… until now. Just finished and uploaded is an issue that might not be expected… issue V0N0. Prior to publishing the first issue of Aerospace Projects Review, I put together issue V0N0, a short prototype issue that I released for free to see if people liked it and if it would be worth continuing with. There was much that could have been improved about that issue… and it has been improved. Issue eV0N0 is now greatly expanded to 56 pages… small by modern APR standards, but a massive increase compared to the original. The original articles have been greatly expanded, and all-new articles have been added.

Preview the issue here:

The table of contents for eV0N0:

The Drawbridge and the Pancake: One of the more unusual Space Shuttle configurations

Northrop N-31 Flying Wing Bomber: A series of turboprop-powered bomber designs

Martin XB-68: A supersonic tactical bomber concept

Aerospace History Nugget: Mach 6.0 SST: Three fuselages for the price of one

Kaiser Tailless Airplane: A flying wing cargo carrier

Boeing VTOL Intercity Transport: A jetliner that can land on your office building

Boeing Transport-To-Space: The spaceplane that needs to be assembled in space

Aerospace History Nugget: Curtis High-Speed Fighter Concepts: Hypothetical fighters designed for maximum speed

Aerospace History Nugget: Convair VTOL Tailsitter: An early VTOL jet fighter capable of supersonic speeds

It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $6.50. 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/

The Downloading FAQ

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.

APR issue V3N2 now available

bomber, fighter, future projects, jetliner, launch vehicles, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL 11 Responses »

Dec 032011

At long last, Aerospace Projects Review issue V3N2 is now available.

The main article, about 90 pages worth, covers the Lockheed STAR Clipper concept.This was a one-and-a-half stage space shuttle concept. Starting in 1968 for the USAF, the concept lasted well into Phase B of the Space Shuttle program for NASA, and in altered form into the 1990’s. This article has a very large number of detailed schematics of many different forms, including the original small 1.5 Stage To Orbit design, numerous variations on that concept, fully reusable two stage versions with manned boosters, giant concepts for Solar Power Satellite logistics and miniature versions for the USAF in the 1980s.

Also included is an article covering antecedents and derivatives of the Northrop F-23 stealth fighter. Included are early designs such as the “Christmas fighter” and several “platypus” concepts, the F-23A operational fighter design, the NATF-23 concept for the US Navy with aft mounted wings and canards, the single-engined Multi Role Fighter (from the competition that led to the F-35) and perhaps most interestingly, the F/B-23 regional bomber, of eBay infamy. This article is illustrated with a mix of photos of official Northrop display models, official Northrop diagrams, all-new scale diagrams and color artwork especially commissioned for this article.

Dennis R. Jenkins provides an article on a Convair concept for converting the F-106 interceptor into a small supersonic transport. Compare this to Convair idea of converting the B-58 Hustler into an SST!

And finally, two aerospace history “nuggets,” the Vanguard Model 18 VTOL transport and a Northrop laminar flow control multipurpose long-duration aircraft.

You can see the entire issue here:

It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $10. 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

ALSO AVAILABLE: V3N2 Addendum, with 65 pages formatted for 11X17 sheets. Includes larger format (and higher rez images) along with additional artwork and diagrams that were not in issue V3N2 due to space constraints.
V3N2 Addendum download order: $5.00

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The Downloading FAQ

Grumman 698

VTOL 1 Response »

Oct 242011

The Grumman 698 was a mid-1980s concept for a VTOL aircraft. Several somewhat different versions were produced, including a canard design; but all shared the same basic propulsion system. One or two turbofans would be mounted on either side of the fuselage, and given the ability to tilt through more than 90 degrees. This allowed the craft to take off vertically and fly horizontally at high speed. Aerodynamic control surfaces were mounted in the jet exhaust to provide roll, pitch and yaw control at low speed. A full scale powered model was tested in the NASA-Ames 40 X 80 foot wind tunnel, and a lot of art was produced.

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Two variants of the same piece of art. These were scanned from photos of the actual paintings; one is clearly cruder than the other, and probably represents a preliminary “sketch” in advance of the final piece.

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The Grumman 698 as a rescue aircraft, snagging a pilot in mid parachute descent. How the rescue plane just happened to be where it would be needed is unknown.

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A Grumman 698 landing on an oil rig. This is the sort of role that only helicopters can currently fulfill.

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Vought ADAM

fighter, transports, VTOL 1 Response »

Oct 142011

In the 1960’s Vought extensively studied a concept for VTOL propulsion known as ADAM (Air Deflection and Modulation). This used a bank of horizontally oriented turbojets exhausting into a common manifold that formed the main structure of the wing and which drove larger-diameter fans. The exhaust from the jets, and the thrust from the fans, could be directed either aft for forward thrust or down for vertical thrust. Vought proposed the ADAM concept for everything from small single-seat fighters and ground attack aircraft to large military and commercial transports.

A few of these designs are presented below:

A photograph taken in the 1960′s showing a Vought ADAM (Air Deflection and Modulation) VTOL fighter concept display model. ADAM used engines in the wings with thrust deflection to achieve VTOL performance.

Scan made from a slide. No further information on this particular design concept.

More after the break.

Article 34: Bell D188A Mach 2 VTOL Strike Fighter

fighter, VTOL No Responses »

Oct 042011

Now available for download is Article 34, the PDF version of the “APR Special #1,” Bell D188A Mach 2 VTOL Strike Fighter, already available as a printed book through MagCloud. The PDF file has been compressed somewhat to make the filesize manageable, but it still comes in at a hefty 60 megabytes. In that you get the full 72 page, full-color book packed with data, diagrams, artwork and photos… just in electronic format. And for the low, low, incredibly low price of only five bucks!

Check out the other Aerospace Projects Review available for download: http://www.up-ship.com/eAPR/articles.htm

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