“SR-71” references: Lockheed M-21/D-21 diagram

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Jan 262022

Below is one of the diagrams that I used to help create “Lockheed SR-71: Origins and Evolution.” It is a Lockheed diagram taken from a CIA report showing the D-21 drone atop an M-21 mothership… basically a two-seat version of the A-12 spyplane. The D-21 program as a whole was a dismal failure, but launching it from the back of a manned Mach 3 aircraft proved to be fatal. Still, the D-21, for all the trouble it had, was an impressive piece of work; had there been more of a drive to make it work, doubtless Lockheed would have made it into a successful recon platform. But the time, effort and expense just didn’t compare well to results from spy satellites, and the program was ended. A number of airframes have been preserved, and there have been attempts to resurrect them for use as experimental platforms.

The full-rez diagram has been uploaded to the 2022-01 APR Extras folder on Dropbox. This is available to all $4 and up Patrons and Subscribers. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

I plan on uploading a number of the diagrams, art and whatnot that I used to create the CAD diagrams in “SR-71” the the APR extras Dropbox in the coming months.

J48 cutaway

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Dec 282021

I recently stumbled across an old turbojet maintenance manual. Included within the manual was a rather nice cutaway illustration, colored in the way that only early 1950’s technical manuals were.

A 300 dpi scan of the diagram has been made available to above-$10 patrons/subscribers. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

Northrop MX-334 color photo

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Dec 212021

Little known today is the Northrop MX-334 rocket powered flying wing. Originally designed (circa 1942) without a vertical tail, wind tunnel testing showed that such a tail was needed. Three aircraft were built and flown at Muroc dry lake bed (later known as Edwards Air Force Base), towed into the air behind a Cadillac and then a P-38; once in flight a liquid propellant Aerojet rocket engine would provide thrust.

The MX-334 (as it was known as a glider… when rocket powered, it was known as the MX-324) was intended as a technology testbed and proof of concept vehicle for the Northrop XP-79. This was, like the MX-324/334, a smallish flying wing with a prone pilot. As originally designed the XP-79 was to have a liquid rocket engine; it was eventually built with two turbojets. Unfortunately the single XP-79 crashed on its first flight.

The MX-324/334 was painted in high visibility colors and must have made a striking sight at the time.

The much larger full rez scan of this photo has been made available to $4 and up patrons/subscribers in the 2021-12 APR Extras Dropbox folder. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

PDF Review: After LM

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Dec 082021

After LM: NASA Lunar Lander Concepts Beyond Apollo

As this document is being compiled in 2019, NASA is once again planning a return to the Moon, and new lunar lander designs are being generated. Compared to Apollo, crews are projected to be larger (at least four per mission) and stay times longer (beginning at 6.5 days). However, it is expected that the landers will look much like the designs in this document because, as stated in the introduction, lunar lander design is a response to the simple physics that governs the tasks they are asked to perform. Design is also a living thing. New crewed lander designs will continue to emerge up until the point that humans return to the Moon, and even beyond. New players from different countries and commercial providers will create new designs based on new technologies and new requirements. Until some breakthrough technology or new physics principle is created, each lander will respond to the current physics of lunar landing. There may come a time, generations from now, when future engineers are paging through a digital copy of this catalog and reflecting on the early work of lunar lander designers. “Those Apollo guys were really smart, given that they started with nothing as a reference. The Lunar Module – now THAT was a great lunar lander design.”

It’s an interesting, illustrated catalog of many lunar lander concepts, but it’s hardly comprehensive; it largely starts with the Space Exploration Initiative, largely ignoring concepts from the 70’s and 80’s, and of course focusing almost entirely on NASA_designed concepts rather than Lockheed, Boeing, Rockwell, etc.

November 2021 APR Rewards

fighter, hi-rez, hypersonic, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, nukes, Patreon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth No Responses »

Dec 012021

The rewards for November, 2021, have been sent out. Patrons should have received a notification message through Patreon linking to the rewards; subscribers should have received a notification from Dropbox linking to the rewards. If you did not, let me know.

Document: “Galactic-Jupiter Probe Program Concept:” 1967 NASA-Goddard brochure describing a Pioneer/Voyager type of space probe

Document: “Mixed Mode Rocket Vehicles for International Space Transportation Systems,” 1973 paper describing modified Shuttles and other launch vehicles

Document: “Nuclear Physics Made Very, Very Easy,”1968 NASA NERVA test operation publication that summarizes nuclear physics

Diagram: Navalized Advanced tactical Fighter (Northrop NF-23) general arrangement

CAD Diagram ($5 and up): “Disney Bomb,” British designed and built, American dropped rocket-boosted submarine pen penetrating bomb from the end of WWII

If this sort of thing is of interest, sign up either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program. *ALL* back issues, one a month since 2014, are available for subscribers at low cost.

Protected: November 2021 APR rewards catalogs

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Nov 252021

B-52G info: better late than never

B-47 and B-52 Origins and Evolution, bomber, hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, Patreon catalog 1 Response »

Nov 182021

My book on the B-52 is now being printed (I understand that copies physically exist), so it is perhaps a little late for additions and revisions. Still, I remain on the lookout for relevant information. To that end I recently plunked down a fair chunk of change for a pair of documents on ebay… a set of blueprints of the B-52G cockpit, and a B-52G mockup review. I eagerly await their arrival. I have high hopes that the US Postal Service won’t drop a tractor axle dipped in anthrax onto the package.

These will likely end up in the catalog for monthly rewards. If they are of interest, and/or if you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

A3J-1 Vigilante

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Nov 182021

Back in the day, aerospace companies would actively court the public, including those crazy kids who liked to make models. To that end, a number of aerospace companies would release surprisingly nice diagrams of their aircraft. North American Aviation was one such company, and one of their aircraft that they diagrammed for the public was the A3J-1 (later A-5) Vigilante supersonic carrier based bomber. Oddly, I’ve had trouble finding the full scale print of this… but then, I’ve had trouble finding *most* of the ones released by North American. Seems that they tended to not survive to make it to ebay. However, I recently acquired a copy of an old magazine that had the Vigilante diagram, reproduced reasonably well. Woo.

A 300 dpi scan of the diagram has been made available to $4 and up patrons/subscribers in the 2021-11 APR Extras Dropbox folder. A 600 dpi scan has been made available to above-$10 patrons/subscribers. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

October 2021 APR Rewards

hi-rez, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, nukes, Patreon, research, rockets, space station, spacecraft, transports No Responses »

Oct 312021

The rewards for October, 2021, have been sent out. Patrons should have received a notification message through Patreon linking to the rewards; subscribers should have received a notification from Dropbox linking to the rewards. If you did not, let me know.

Document: “C-131C Tactical Unit Support Airplane,” 1953 Consolidated Vultee briefing on cargo aircraft military capabilities

Document: “Aerodynamic Model test Report Titan IIIM Final Posttest Report 0.0535 scale Force and Pressure Model Phase II,” 1967 Martin Report Of Unusual Size (ROUS, 353 pages) describing with charts, data, model photos and diagrams, of the proposed Titan IIIM topped with a Manned Orbiting Laboratory.

Diagram: General Arrangement of the Douglas D-558 research aircraft (provenance unknown)

CAD Diagram (for $5-level and up): Medusa Spinnaker, second illustration of giant but lightweight nuclear pulse propelled spacecraft

Protected: October 2021 APR rewards catalogs

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Oct 242021

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