A note on the June rewards

 fighter, hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, Patreon catalog, stealth, VTOL  1 Response »
Jun 302025
 

Once again there will be no voting on APR rewards this month. This is down to a few things:

1) Voting in general has been *way* down. I suspect a revamp of the catalog is needed.

2) Items I tried to procure this month proved unprocurable. Partly due to them being insanely expensive; partly due to someone else out there being fabulously wealthy and snapping them up anyway.

3) Things came up. I’m finding, with some concern, that the end of the month seems to be a magnet for Things Coming Up.

So, subscribers and Patrons, there was no catalog release this month. Rest assured, though, that within the next day or two rewards *will* go out, chosen by yours truly, Benevolent Dictator.

 

And while the things I really wanted proved unobtainable, I did get a few things off ebay. Sadly these are too late for this month, but should, postal system willing, be available next. All of them, gratingly, were more expensive than they should’ve been, but that’s the trend with this stuff anymore. Included:

Six-foot-long blueprint of the USS Akron “flying aircraft carrier:”

Four Sikorsky brochures:

Artwork of a Lockheed ASTOVL (I could have used this when creating a diagram of the craft in the recently released US Stealth Fighter Projects):

Artwork of a 1960’s Ryan VTOL COIN concept. I’ve been after this art, and more information on the design, for about 35 years now after first seeing bad B&W versions of this in Av Week. I’d pay real money for a design report/proposal/brochure. Anyone?

 Posted by at 2:56 pm

A mission to Uranus?

 hi-rez, launch vehicles, nukes, rockets  No Responses »
Jan 272025
 

It doesn’t happen terribly often, but every now and then humor slides into aerospace concept art. I’m ~100% sure that that’s exactly what this is: Expulsive Nuclear-Electric Manned Astroliner (ENEMA). Convair/General Dynamic artist’s concept, 1960-62. The design is actually not that unlike some nuclear launch vehicle concepts of the time, with one giant nuclear engine connected to one giant spherical tank, topped by a payload… but come on, we all know what they were going for here.

Click image to go to a Flickr page with a really high rez version.

fut_v_bw_o_n (ca. 1960-62, unnumbered Convair (Astronautics) - General Dynamics photo)

 

 

 

 Posted by at 4:39 pm

August 2024 APR Rewards

 bomber, CAD Diagrams, hi-rez, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, space shuttle, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL  No Responses »
Sep 012024
 

The rewards went out this AM bright and early. They include:

Diagram: Two sheets of Rocketdyne schematics for the Space Shuttle Main Engine and propulsion system

Document: “B-1B New Strength for America’s Defense” An early 80’s brochure on the then-forthcoming B-1B

Document: “Aerojet propulsion for Space Systems,” a very nicely illustrated booklet on the AJ10-137, the main engine of the Apollo CSM

Document: Two articles in French on VTOL Aircraft from the ICARE revue De L’Aviation Francaise “Salon 69”

CAD Diagram: WIP of the Boeing Model 2000-201 VTOL stealth spec ops transport

 

If you are interested in helping to preserve this sort of aerospace history, consider signing up for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program for as little as $1.50 per month:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

 

 Posted by at 1:30 pm

Douglas D-3203-29

 hi-rez, jetliner, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, transports  No Responses »
Jul 172024
 

A general arrangement diagram of the Douglas Model D-3203-29. This was a modified DC-9-50, appears to be the basic design for the MD-80, dated 7-26-1977.

The full-rez scan (more than ten times larger than this one) has been made available as a bonus to above-$10 subscribers and Patrons. If interested in such things, consider subscribing:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

 

 Posted by at 12:59 am

Cyanotypes: closing up shop

 bomber, Dyna Soar, hi-rez, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL  No Responses »
Jul 082024
 

I’ve shut down production of cyanotype blueprints for the time being. What I’ve got is what there is; I’ll leave the catalog page up while I still have a supply, but I’ll shut it down when I run low and sell the rest on ebay. Get ’em while ya can.

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

 

 

 Posted by at 9:58 pm

June 2024 APR rewards

 hi-rez, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports  No Responses »
Jul 012024
 

A day late, but I’ve sent out the June 2024 rewards to APR Patrons/Subscribers. Includes:

1: A pack of X-30 NASP propaganda. Seven double-sided 8X10 glossies, a double-sided poster, a bumper sticker and an emblem sticker.

2: “Non-Planing Seaplane Study” by Convair, 196. Two presentations; The $4 and up subscribers get not only the cleaned-up report, but the original as-scanned negative-image transparencies. marvel at the liberal use not of white-out but of black-out.

3: Detailed diagram of the KC-135 (1/40 scale model)

4: In lieu of a CAD diagram, first public art of the F-117A, 1988

If you are interested in helping to preserve this sort of aerospace history, consider signing up for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program for as little as $1.50 per month:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

 

 Posted by at 5:32 pm

Martin-Marietta HML Ad

 hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, nukes, Patreon, rockets  1 Response »
Jun 242024
 

I did my best to stitch together this two-page magazine ad. Dating from 1986, it shows missile programs then underway at Martin-Marietta; front and center is the Small ICBM (“Midgetman”) in its Hard Mobile Launcher. The HML would wander seemingly at random around the western US, being difficult to track and target by the Soviets. When the time came, the trailer would be dropped off and the suspension collapsed to lower the trailer to the ground; sloped shells would drop to the ground. In the event of a nearby nuclear detonation, it was hoped that the shockwave would roll over the shell without excessively damaging the trailer. Then the missile launch tube would be raised and the missile fired, sending a single warhead across the planet. The tractor for this version was designed and built by Caterpillar and used rubbed treads, unlike the wheeled Boeing competitors.

Image below is a reduced-rez version of the full scan. The full image  has been made available as a thank-you to APR Patreon and Historical Documents Program patrons at the $4 and above level, placed in the 2024-06 APR Extras. If interested in this piece or if you are interested in helping to fund the preservation of this sort of thing, please consider becoming a patron, either through the APR Patreon or the Monthly Historical Document Program.

 Posted by at 8:24 pm

3D Printer “Crowdfund”

 American Nuclear Explosive Devices, Dyna Soar, fighter, future projects, hi-rez, launch vehicles, nukes, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, US Bomber Projects, US Fighter Projects, US Launcher Projects, US Recon & Research Projects, US Spacecraft Projects  3 Responses »
May 232024
 

So after having the 3D printer for a while and running a *lot* of resin through it, I have achieved some good things. I’ve learned enough to know that there are some things that I plan on producing as full 3D-printed kits, some to be converted into metal castings. I have a few product lines that I want to do:

1: 1/285 (wargaming scale) “minis” of a range of appropriately sized unusual, rare, interesting and projected aircraft/spacecraft

2: “Mini”-sized, but of various scale, aircraft and spacecraft to go with each issue of US Aerospace Projects

3: 1/18 scale models of each American nuclear bomb/warhead/re-entry vehicle. This will range from the downright dinky to the “I’m not sure how to squeeze this out of the printer,” like the Mk 17 and the Flashback. I’ve successfully printed prototypes of the Fat Man and Little Boy A-bombs in 1/18, but they need to be revised.

4: Just whatever strikes my fancy by way of interesting aerospace/sci-fi concepts.

The eventual 3D printed kits will be pricier than if they were cast resin “garage” kits, but this will allow me to make them on demand. I hope there is interest in this sort of thing. To that end, and to help refill my depleted coffers, I’m making available a “crowdfunding” project with three levels. What you will receive are the actual 3D printed components. Each level builds on the prior… Level 2 gets you the Level 1 stuff, Level 3 gets you 1 and 2. No additional postage is required for continental US address… Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the rest of the world, contact me and I’ll work out the additional postage cost.

Note: many of these are “prototype” kits, with revisions and improvements possible or even probable. And some of these are not planned to be released further. This will be your only chance to get them, at least in this format.

Level 1. You will receive:

1/285 X-20 Dyna Soar spaceplane
1/285 XF-103 Mach 3 interceptor
1/285 Project Pluto nuclear ramjet
1/285 X-15 set (X-15, X-15A2, X-15A3, X-15/SERJ)
1/18 Davy Crockett battlefield atomic warhead w/stand

Crowdfund level 1: $60 in the continental US:

——–

Level 2. You will receive:

1/18 US Atomic Artillery Shells w/stand
1/144 X-20 Dyna Soar
1/18 M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun w/stand
1/18 Mk 72 Nuclear Warhead/Re-Entry Vehicle

 

Crowdfund level 2: $100 in the continental US:

——–

Level 3. This part will not ship immediately, as some of it remains unfinished. You will receive:

1/285 XF-103 w/missiles
1/350 Orion Nuclear Pulse Vehicle (with stand… not yet finalized)
1/2000 Aldebaran Concept Vehicle
Cast Metal 1/285 X-20 + XF-103 + X-15 + Pluto: Depending on the success of the casting process. Not all are guaranteed.

 

Crowdfund level 3: $200 in the continental US:

——–

 Posted by at 7:15 pm

Tanker concept art

 hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, transports  No Responses »
May 212024
 

Procured from ebay, this piece of concept art sadly comes without context. It shows a tanker aircraft (pretty much a McDonnell-Douglas YC-15, though the engines appear a bit different… perhaps higher bypass turbofans) topping up an F-15.

The full-rez scan of the art has been made available as a thank-you to APR Patreon and Historical Documents Program patrons at the $4 and above level, placed in the 2024-05 APR Extras Dropbox folder. If interested in this or if you are interested in helping to fund the preservation of aerospace history, please consider becoming a patron, either through the APR Patreon or the Monthly Historical Document Program.

 

 Posted by at 5:08 am
 Older Entries