I recall seeing these same two illustrations in a number of books & magazines back when I was a horrible little brat. But I’ve never, to my knowledge, come across any diagrams or data or even references to suggest that this was a serious effort. It dates from the late 1960’s or maybe very early 1970s. Any help?
I’ve put scans of a 1968 Popular Science article on the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter and a Boeing-Bell brochure on the JVX tiltrotor (which became the V-22) on the APR Patreon dropbox, in the 2016-02 folder.
The Pop Sci article featured cover art by Robert McCall. Just cuz, I tinkered with the cover art, attempting to scrape off the text and restore it to just the painting. Perhaps not a 100% success, but not too bad. The JVX is not *quite* the final V-22 design; a notable difference is the inclusion of a .50 caliber gatling gun in the nose and a rocket launcher hanging off the side the cockpit.
If interested in getting these, please consider signing up for the APR Patreon. The “Extras” are available to all $4 patrons. Quite a pile of high-rez stuff is available now.
That’s right… B-21, not B-3. Looks like this:
If you think it looks like the B-2, you’re not wrong, but it looks even more like the original ATB designs from before the B-2 configuration was nailed down:
Now, you may notice that in the B-21 artwork, no exhausts are visible. This could be because the exhausts are on the underside (very unlikely), or they are actually integrated into the trailing edge (unlikely), or the USAF simply doesn’t want to show the exhausts. Anyone who remembers the first artists impression the USAF released of the B-2 will remember that:
I’ve seen a lot of people cheesed off about this design, that it’s too much like the B-2. But… so what? If the goal was to design a long-range subsonic stealthy bomber, the B-2 layout is not far from optimal. The B-52 looked like the B-47; the 787 looked like the 777 looked like the 737 looked like the 707. This is due not to lack of creativity on the part of the designers, but to the laws of physics and economics.
Something I’d love to see… a new air superiority fighter designed for stealthiness and relatively low cost. One way to accomplish this? Rehash the LockMart F-22 layout. We know the configuration is stealthy. We know it’ll fly. So why *not* base a new design on the existing engineering?Save a whole lot of time, trouble and expense.
In the early 1970s, after the collapse of the SST program due to, in part, the rise in energy prices, Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics and NASA looked at the possibility of jetliners designed to fly economically right at the edge of the sound barrier. The idea was that there is an unavoidable spike in drag at Mach 1.00, but it would theoretically be possible to fly at, say, Mach 0.98 at relatively low drag. This would make the aircraft about 100 mph faster than conventional jetliners without being much more expensive. In order to pull this off, the jetliners would need to take advantage of every imaginable aerodynamic trick in the book… most obviously, area rule designing resulting in “wasp waisted” fuselages, and almost no straight lines… all curves. The problem is that this makes aircraft heavier and more expensive to build. Thus, no transonic airliners ever got any further than wind tunnel tests.
Below is a piece of Boeing art showing one of their designs for an Advanced Technology Transport. It was a Model 767 design, dash-number unknown.
An early 1970’s photo of a “mockup” of the Rockwell B-1 bomber. Rather than building an expensive plywood mockup that accurately recreated the complex curves of the B-1, this one was vastly simpler… a “side view” diagram of the B-1 with a few interior details, with a “shadow” on the floor. If you look carefully, it looks like this photo has been censored… the bays fore and aft of the main landing gear have been blacked out. Presumably these showed the payload of SRAMs and/or cruise missiles. One engine and the wing pivot system are included as actual 3-D items, probably mockups. Note that this is not the final B-1 design as built… the nose contours are a bit off.
One of an extremely large large number of designs put forward for Weapons System 324A, Tactical Fighter X, which eventually became the F-111. This particular design, circa 1962, is the WADD 46 from the Wright Air Development Center and is pretty typical… a twin engine supersonic design with sizable variable-sweep wings.
Two full-rez pages from the WS324A Characteristics Summary have been posted to the 2016-02 APR Extras Dropbox folder for all $4 and up APR Patreon patrons.
I’ve babbled about this a time or two in the past, but the specifics keep changing. But I think I’m zeroing in on the final form. The diagram below is meant for 24 X 36; the diagrams are at 1/72 scale. The final print will be black ink on white translucent mylar.
As shown here, it’s still a ways away from being complete; much more data to add, some refinements and additions to the diagrams, perhaps some artistic flourishes (though since I’m apparently devoid of any actual artistic talent, that sort of thing will be kept to an engineering minimum).
There will be only a limited number of these printed up, based on interest expressed in advance. The price is yet to be determined, but $50 is a very high upper limit. That comes from the price of something vaguely similar… the 24X36-on-white-mylar blueprints of the Nostromo from “Alien” and the Sulaco from “Aliens” that used to be available here:
Those two I got a few years ago, but only recently got around to framing (cheapo poster frames, but frames nonetheless). They look *spectacular.* And as they are substantially more spectacular than the X-20/Titan IIIc, my diagrams shouldn’t be priced at the same level.
If anyone has suggestions, I’d be interested.
Just brought Raedthinn home from the vet. He is, it seems, All Better… but that came at a substantial cost. In fact, two days at the vet cost more than a months work on USFP01 and USVP01 brought in. Behold:
So… time for another sale. For the next day or two or three, I’m running another Downloadable Stuff Sale. This applies to all APR’s and articles, USxPs, Air & Space Drawings & Documents, ANED01. As per usual… make your purchase using the Paypal buttons, and I’ll refund the sales difference.
Up to $50: 10% off
From $50.01 to $75: 15% off
More than $75: 20% off
————
And as always, feel free to toss something into the Tip Jar if’n yer of a mind to:
——-
Now available… the first of two new US Aerospace Projects titles.
US Fighter Projects #01 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #01 includes:
USFP #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:
——–
——
US VTOL Projects #01 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #01 includes:
USVP #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:
——–
——
The second of two new types of US Aerospace projects releases, to be released when I’m done with ’em:
I recently asked for suggestions for additional “human scale references.” Sadly, there wasn’t a whole lot of response to that one. And the one that was suggested… well, I’m not sure that this really adds to the dignity of the design:
