Oct 112014
 

Bonhams, the high-end auction house, is auctioning off a single pane of glass. Doesn’t sound like much, until you get the details. It’s 54 inches long by 36 inches high, six inches thick and weighs 1,500 pounds. It is composed of 70% lead oxide; this makes it structurally sucko… but it also makes it a good blocker of radiation. Which is the point: this window oversaw plutonium production for the Manhattan Project at the Hanford facility in Washington state.

MANHATTAN PROJECT VIEWING WINDOW

 Posted by at 10:57 pm
Sep 042014
 

Issues 09 and 10 of US Bomber Projects is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #09 includes:

  • Boeing Model 464-33-0: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
  • Consolidated Army Bombardment Flying Wing: A ground attacker with an extreme mode of attack
  • GE Supersonic System 6X: A Mach 3 nuclear-powered bomber
  • Convair B/J-58: A supercuising version of the Hustler
  • Boeing model 484-2-2: AB-58 competitor
  • Northrop 464L: A blended wing/body spaceplane
  • Martin Model 223-9: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
  • Boeing Model 800-15A: A Mach 3.5 hydrogen fueled design of incredible range

USBP#09 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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usbp09ad

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Issue #10 includes:

 

  • Boeing Model 464-34-3: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
  • Martin Model 192-5: A medium-sized flying wing
  • Republic Mach 7: a relatively small high-speed design
  • Convair WS-125A: A large nuclear powered supersonic design
  • Boeing model 484-415: A jet-powered supersonic flying boat
  • Boeing 464L: Boeings first Dyna Soar
  • Martin Model 223-10: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
  • Lockheed CL-1301-1: A very small VTOL ground attacker

USBP#10 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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usbp10ad

 

 Posted by at 1:11 am
Sep 032014
 

US Bomber Projects issues 09 and 10 are now done, and will be available for sale just as soon as I get all the requisite website blahblah worked out. Hopefully tonight. I have issues 11 and 12 planned out, though still quite a bit of drafting to do.

The USBP series has been modestly successful (not blisteringly so, but ok, I guess…). I’m pondering doing the same format but with something other than bombers. Other concepts include:

  • US Fighter Projects
  • US Transport Projects (jetliners, cargo, civvies, SSTs, HSTs, etc.)
  • US Recon & Experimental Projects
  • US Launch Vehicle Projects
  • US Spacecraft Projects (spaceplanes, moon landers, Mars ships, etc.)
  • US Helicopter Projects

So, a few questions for commentors:

1) What did I leave out?

2) What would you most like to see? Some of these have a much bigger database to work from than others, of course.

 Posted by at 7:49 pm
Aug 282014
 

In the innumerable CAD diagrams I’ve created and will – presumably – continue to create, I often include a simple human figure to provide a sense of scale. But the same figure, repeated over and over… well, that’s kinda boring. So, who has alternates? I’m looking for simple line drawings (DWG or DXF or some other vector format would be easiest, but GIF/JOG/whatever would be fine too) of human figures that would look good standing next to aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicles, ordnance, etc. Please feel free to post pics and links on the comments.

 Posted by at 8:32 am
Aug 192014
 

With the recent cat illnesses, serious dropoff in business and increase in vet bills, stress levels hereabouts have been at near-historic levels. But hey, at least I haven’t yet contracted a life threatening case of bronchitis in 2014 (that’s me, always looking on the bright side). One of the consequences of stress is a decrease in lesser creativity… I might still be able to creatively think myself out of some emergency situation, but art? Feh. Gone.

Fortunately, things are starting to crawl back towards the normal only-slightly-apocalyptic level of DOOM stress, and creativity is starting to slooowly return. So, some updates:

Continue reading »

 Posted by at 12:35 am