Anyone here work on Delta Clipper?

 blather, history, Hmm..., projects, rockets, spacecraft  3 Responses »
May 012014
 

I’m working on a CAD model of the “DC-1” SSTO follow-on to the DC-X, based on some pretty good diagrams I scored a while back from NASA. But I have a question for anyone who might know what I’m talking about: what was the deal with the cockpit being 45 degrees off-kilter? Re-entry would seem to have been a bit of a nightmare, as would what would pass for the glide afterwards.

Was the crew expected to just suck it up? Would the cockpit have been rotated internally by 45 degrees so that even though it was kinda off to the side, it would have been “right side up?” Would the diagrams simply be wrong, and the cockpit would have actually been at the “top” of the vehicle during entry?

 Posted by at 11:35 pm

HL-20

 aircraft, history, models, projects, spacecraft  6 Responses »
May 012014
 

Turns out the HL-20 mockup built many years ago not only survived, it’s on display at the Wings Over The Rockies aviation museum near Denver. It seems to be in generally good shape, though it appears to be missing its landing gear doors. Sadly, while you can seen up into it, you’re not allowed to go crawling around in it. Would’ve liked to have seen the cockpit.  Well, one day someone will send a camera equipped quadcopter in there, I suppose…

hl-20 3 hl-20 1 hl-20 2 hl-20 4 hl-20 5

 Posted by at 1:57 pm

MOL model

 art, history, models, news, projects, spacecraft  2 Responses »
May 012014
 

This is pretty much the final version of the 1/48 MOL model. If you get this kit – and I recommend that you do, cuz it’ll be awesome – I suggest bonding the “feet” to a walnut or oak board. That should make it good and sturdy. It should be lightweight yet fairly strong due to some simple internal bracing. A new type of locating pin/feature/thingies will be used this time… if successful and popular, I expect to use ’em more.

Image150

Coming soon: a 1/48 Dyna Soar/Adapter/Transtage to go alongside this.

 Posted by at 1:47 pm

Ryan flex-wing flying boat for the Army

 aircraft, art, projects, ships  16 Responses »
Apr 292014
 

The San Diego Air and Space Museum has posted a great many images to Flickr, including a fair amount of concept art. One piece (you can see the best-rez version HERE) depicts a Ryan Aeronautical concept for an air boat equipped with a Flex-Wing. Date would probably have been around 1962, plus or minus a few years. The exact role here is a bit obscure… why would the Army have boats like this? Perhaps a troops transport of some type, though a helicopter would probably be a better choice.

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 Posted by at 12:47 pm

1/48 MOL update

 art, books, history, models, news, projects, spacecraft, weapons  2 Responses »
Apr 252014
 

The CAD model for the 1/48 MOL kit for Fantastic Plastic nears completion. It is being modeled to represent the final generic design, without a whole lot of extra parts to keep costs down. However, the design is such so if you want to model one of the more complex versions, this will be easy to do.

Here is the MOL CAD model shown to scale with a Zenith Star CAD model I’ve built. Because… why not?

MOL-ZS 1

The Zenith Star is not planned to be produced as a kit, but rather was produced for the purposes of creating diagrams for a potential book (discussed HERE). Still, it’d make a snazzy – if rather desperately expensive – display model.

The view below shows the planned basic construction of the MOL model. A few external shells supported by internal rigidizing supports.

MOL-ZS 4

 Posted by at 8:38 pm

1964 Worlds Fair “Space Taxi”

 history, projects, spacecraft, youtube  2 Responses »
Apr 232014
 

Via CBS News, a (rather uncomfortably presented) description of an HL-10-based lifting body spaceplane (known as the “Yellowbird,” not that you’d be able to guess from this black and white video). Not particularly enlightening about the taxi itself, but kinda interesting in the presentation.

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This taxi was also included in the Martin film “Rendezvous in Space.”

yellowbird

 Posted by at 7:53 am

Mystery aircraft photographed again?

 aircraft, drawings, Hmm..., news, photography, projects  8 Responses »
Apr 172014
 

A potential followup to THIS POST seems to show a better view of what may be a new stealthy aircraft:

Wichita’s mystery in the sky

UFO1

A tiny amount of processing gives this:

UFO2

To me, this might be a B-2, The underside of the “nose” certainly looks like the complex contouring of the B-2. But the trailing edge *looks* unlike the B-2. Another sites’ attempt at processing gives an interesting trailing edge:

Clearer photo of mysterious unidentified flying object taken in Kansas

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If this is accurate, the aircraft looks like nothing so much as the Boeing Model 988-122, one of a series of stealthy and semi-stealthy highly maneuverable multi-role aircraft designed around 1996:

Boeing 988-122 iso Boeing 988-122

 Posted by at 10:05 pm
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