Aircraft related drawings and documents Spacecraft related drawings and documents Aerospace photo collections Get an early look at my book, US Bomber Projects Scotts Models

Issue Volume 2, Number 2

CLICK HERE to see the complete V2N2 issue layout!

Artwork below is reduced in resolution from that in the article.

Issue V2N2 of the new electronic APR (PDF file format on CD-ROM) features four main articles.

The primary article in this issue is a 56-page article on Project Orion, covering the large designs, 20 meters and diameter and larger. The 4,000 design for the USAF is shown in never-before-published detail, using both diagrams from official reports and all-new renderings created just for this article. Prominently featured is the Orion "Battleship," reconstructed based on descriptions from Orioneers who saw the large display model built in the early 1960's. Also described are the "Doomsday Orion," with a 1,600-ton nuclear warhead; the 20-meter NASA design for missions to Mars and Jupiter; the 34-meter NASA-Mars vehicle; 4,000 ton interplanetary explorers for trips to Saturn; and launch systems such as the Convair Nexus to loft these giants to the edge of space.

This is the last of the Orion articles for APR. Many diagrams, including detailed inboard views, are provided.






The next article is a 5-page article by Dennis R. Jenkins about a 1964 Convair design to fulfill the US Army's Advanced Aerial Fire Support System role... the Model 49. This was not a helicopter, as the other more conventional entrants were, but instead a shrouded rotor tailsitter.



Republics "Do Everything" Aircraft Configuration, an 18-page article describing a variable-wing-sweep supersonic aircraft configuration that in the early 1960s Republic Aviation applied to several very different aircraft... the TFX (F-111) strike fighter; the Republic-Fokker D-24 "Alliance" VTOL strike/recon plane; the Rep-10 Mach 3 SST; and an Advanced Manned Precision Strike System (predecessor to the B-1) bomber. Included are many drawings... layout and inboard.


Bell BoMi, Part 1: first of three parts about the Bomber Missile project, which ran throughout the 1950s. BoMi was a concept for a manned rocket powered intercontinental bomber --in essence, a manned ICBM. It led directly to the X-20 Dyna Soar program, and indirectly to the Space Shuttle, and is the granddaddy of all modern Western spaceplanes. Part 1 of the series (ten pages) deals with the pre-history of the BoMi, starting in the 1920's and continuing to the late 1940s. Included are concepts such as the Sanger Antipodal Bomber and other wartime German manned space vehicles, up to the North American Aviation 705-series of rocket/ramjet two stage vehicles.


Martin Model 247: a 12-page article describing the Martin Model 247 and 247-A turboprop bombers. The 247 was a modification of the XB-48 design, replacing the fuel-hungry jet engines with more efficient turboprops. Th article is illustrated with three-views, inboard profiles and interior arrangements, with a considerable store of data.


The Bell X-14B: It Survives!
This autumn I happened to stumble across the Bell X-14B VTOL research plane, tucked away on private property in Indiana. And I have photos to prove it!


North American Aviation designs for nuclear rockets and atomic ramjets: 1947
Just when I thought the story was told for Project Pluto, I stumbled across a 1947 study that proved me wrong. This 11-page article describes early but detailed studies for vehicles which would seem advanced even today, despite their retro looks. Diagrams of vehicles, engines and reactor configurations are included.


The last article covers designs for supersonic transport versions of the B-58 "Hustler," the 58-9, the RC-80 and the QRC-182. Artwork, diagrams data and charts, along with all-new color artwork by JP Santiago, help fully illustrate this 20-page article.


And finally, this issue has 10 pages of 11X17 pages including larger-format versions of some of the drawings and art. These pages are at the end of the issue for easier printing. BONUS: an inboard profile of the Lockheed RIFT (Reactor In-Flight Test) nuclear stage for the Saturn V!

V2N2 download order: $10.00