Feb 132014
 

The CAD model is done. It has been saved as 98 separate STL files (one for each unique part… there will be, of course, many identical parts that will be cast multiple times) and shipped off to 3D print shops for quoting. So, at least for now… wooo! I’m done with it!

You have *no* idea how much time and trouble it took to crank out this one side-view line drawing…

prometheus sideview 1

 Posted by at 7:45 pm
Feb 082014
 

For the next few days blogging might be a bit sparse as I work on the next issues of Aerospace Projects Review and US Bomber Projects. Usually when I release one of these, I get a *few* emails, generally complementary, sometimes asking for clarification or pointing out editing/spelling errors, that sort of thing (and with APR, “make go more faster”). I very rarely get “why don’t you include this” or “why don’t you do that” messages. Well… discuss. What would you like to see new and/or different in APR and/or USBP?

Also: the perpetual problem I have with both of these is lack of public knowledge of these titles. Heck, when I did “The Space Show” interview two months ago, I expected a slight bump in business… but sales (and views of the APR blog) actually went *down* slightly in the week afterwards. Damned if I can figure that out. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to get some press for these little endeavors, I’d appreciate ’em. And of course,  an increase in interest & sales will mean an increase on *my* part in producing these things faster, so if you want APR and USBP issues at a faster clip, here’s how to get it done.

Also also: It’s been five months since I submitted my science fiction yarn to Analog magazine. Within 24 hours, their submission website had it listed as “received.”  As of a few minutes ago, it was still listed as “received.” Five months seems excessive given that their turnaround time is supposed to be 2-3 months. I can only assume that it has been passed on or ignored (this is, as might be imagined, rather depressing). Anyone have a recommendation for an alternate?

 Posted by at 11:12 pm
Jan 192014
 

Now available:

Issue number 06 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

  • Boeing Model 464-18: a reduced-size version of the 464-17 turboprop strategic bomber
  • Convair WS-125A: A supersonic seaplane powered by nuclear reactors
  • Martin MX-2092: a subsonic jet bomber that towed a large missile
  • GD AMPSS: A 1963 variable geometry design leading towards the B-1
  • Republic System 464L: a lifting body spaceplane with a nuclear bomb on its back
  • Martin Model 223-6: a 1944 step on the road to the XB-48
  • Boeing Model 701-273-6: A supersonic bomber composed of two linked aircraft
  • Martin Water-Based Attack Aircraft: a single-seat strike plane capable of water takeoffs & landings

USBP#06 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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US Bomber Projects #07 is also now available. This issue includes:

  • Boeing Model 464-25: a modification of the 464-17 turboprop bomber with slightly swept wings, among other changes
  • Boeing Model 828-2: a giant and incredibly slow long-endurance plane with a formidable payload
  • Fairchild N-12: an early nuclear powered turboprop design
  • Rockwell D645-3: a supersonic treetop-level bomber capable of completely stowing its wing
  • Boeing model 701-273-7: last in the study, a design with a large wing, a small fuselage and canards
  • Bell MX-Carrying Hovercraft: a large armored hovercraft complete with an MX missile and self-defense interceptor missiles
  • Convair System 464L: Dyna Soar I and Dyna Soar III spaceplanes
  • Martin Model 223-7: A 1944 ancestor to the XB-48 with vertically stacked engines

USBP#07 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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 Posted by at 5:52 am
Dec 272013
 

Issue number 5 of US Bomber Projects is now available (for background, see HERE). This issue includes:

  • McDonnell-Douglas ATB: The little know third competitor for the B-2
  • McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing DF-9: A Mach 10 global-range strike/space launch system from the 1990’s
  • Boeing Model 701-273-5: A supersonic bomber with an extreme inverse-taper wing
  • Fairchild N-9: An early 1950’s nuclear powered concept
  • Martin Model 223-5: A predecessor to the B-48 with canards
  • Rockwell D645-5: A subsonic 1978 flying wing bomber designed to use a laser for defense against fighters and missiles
  • North American 464L: NAA’s X-15 derived orbital spaceplane concept for the Dyna Soar program
  • Boeing Model 464-17: 1946 four-turboprop strategic bomber, a step toward the B-52

USBP#05 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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 Posted by at 4:02 pm
Dec 272013
 

Be sure to check out the Complete Catalog for all the drawings and documents.

 

Saturn I Summary

A 44 page NASA brochure (from somewhen around 1965) describing all the Saturn I vehicles that were launched. Includes diagrams showing the different configurations and provides mission data and highlights.

sdoc65
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The Retro-Glide Booster Concept

A 20-page collection of information on the Martin-Marietta “Retro-Glide Booster,” an early Shuttle idea for using a winged and recoverable derivative of the Saturn V first stage. A 1971 NASA Space Shuttle History Project document.

sdoc66
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NB-36H Aircraft Descriptive Data

30 pages of Lockheed data on the Convair NB-36H (the B-36 equipped with a nuclear reactor for test purposes). This comes from the Lockheed “Competitive Data Group,” which was Lockheed’s collection of intelligence data on *other* companies designs and proposals. This report, largely hand-written, provides a program history as well as weight and dimensional data, with a number of sketches showing the general arrangement and internal layout.

adoc25
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Handbook on Guided Missiles

212 pages of a 1946 War Department report on German and Japanese rocket powered missiles and aircraft. This rarely-seen classic (scanned from a photocopy) provides a vast pile of information, including a great many diagrams.

adoc26
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Saturn Foldout

A NASA-Marshall publicity brochure on the Saturn V, dating to the mid-late 1960’s. Prints out full-size to 34 1/4 inches by 9 1/2 inches

sdoc67

 Posted by at 3:59 pm
Dec 052013
 

Just a reminder…

After hiatus, I am again offering cyanotype blueprints of various aerospace subjects on paper. These include the V-2, the Saturn Ib and V, the NERVA nuclear rocket, the Super Hustler, and many more.What says “Merry Christmas” better than a gift of a hand-made, awesome-looking large format cyanotype blueprint of a launch vehicle or nuclear bombardment system?

See the complete list here:

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

And while I’m not at liberty to go into the specifics, I recently provided a number of these to a certain ongoing major TV series to be used as set dressing/props. The episodes will air sometime early next spring, I believe. They should look marvelous…

 Posted by at 2:09 am
Dec 012013
 

I am in the process of reworking my web pages. Part of this is consolidating all the stuff into more compact, less graphically intense (and, I imagine, annoying) forms; part of this is standardizing the prices. All Aerospace Drawings are now only $3; all Aerospace Documents are only $4. The “canonical” catalog is now hosted on the aerospaceprojectsreview.com web page; the pages on up-ship.com/blog are obsolete and will be changed out ASAP.

The new Aerospace Drawings & Documents catalog (includes APR & USBP)

The new Cyanotype Blueprints catalog

 Posted by at 10:46 am
Nov 202013
 

The complete rework of APR from the original release a decade ago is going a lot slower than I’d planned. A lot of people have asked for the original versions of the as-yet-unreleased issues of APR to be made available. I’ve been hesitant to do so, but… it’s just taking too long. So, I’ve taken the original Word files for the six issues of Volume 4 and the six issues of Volume 5, and made two PDF files from them. I’m making them temporarily available as two bulk sets. When the issues are re-released, these full-volume sets will be withdrawn. So, Volume 5 might remain available till the sun explodes, I dunno…

If you’re dying to get hold of the old-school APRs, here’s your chance. Remember, these are the *original* files from around 2002-2004, without any updates, edits or other changes. Errors, crappy formatting and all. A bunch of the individual old articles remain available as well.

APR Original Run Volume 4 downloadable PDF: $30

 

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APR Original Run Volume 5 downloadable PDF: $30

 

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Here are the contents:

 

Volume 4:

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Bell Aircraft Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
First in a series of articles describing the competitors for the X-15

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 2 by Bill Slayton
Immediately post-war M-wing jet fighter designs

Cobras Of The Field by Scott Lowther
Modified helicopters for ag duty

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 3 by Bill Slayton
Immediately post-war swept-wing jet fighter designs

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Douglas Aircraft Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The Douglas competitor for the X-15

The Martin “Spacemaster” by Scott Lowther
An unconventional design competitor for the Shuttle

Radial Engine P-51 Mustang by Scott Lowther
A little-known modification to the supreme WWII fighter

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The Republic Aviation Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The Republic competitor for the X-15

Boeing Super Clippers, then and Now by Scott Lowther
Truly grand aircraft

The X-15 Research Airplane Competition: The North American Proposal by Dennis R. Jenkins
The winning competitor for the X-15

The HFB 530 Ranger by Mike Hirschberg A German VTOL strike/recon design

Lockheed Model L-153 Part 4 by Bill Slayton
Early Post-war variable geometry fighters

Sonic Cruiser Update by Scott Lowther
New drawings of a new aircraft

LARA Craft: COIN Raiders by Scott Lowther
A long way to go for a bad pun for some tough aircraft

English MUSTARD by Scott Lowther
An early 1960’s British fully reusable Space Shuttle

The NACA’s First Jet by Scott Lowther
The last gasp for ducted fans prior to the turbojet

Addendum to Issue V4N5
Ooops.

The Hopeless Diamond by Scott Lowther
The first cut of the stealth fighter

Sea Dragon by Scott Lowther
A giant, dirt-cheap launch vehicle

North American NA-116 by Scott Lowther
A long-range bomber

Multibody Designs From Lockheed by Scott Lowther
Unconventional yet fuel efficient designs

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Volume 5:

Editor’s Gratuitous Additions: Republic XF-103
A little bit of extra info.

Republic XF-103 by Dennis R. Jenkins
About as sleek as an aircraft can get.

Boeing’s Advanced Multipurpose Large Launch Vehicle by Scott Lowther
Perhaps the most powerful space launcher ever seriously conceived.

McDonnell Douglas GRM-29A by Scott Lowther
Just about the coolest spaceplane ever… but would it have worked???

The Rockwell XFV-12A V/STOL Prototype by Dana E. Lubich
It came close…

XFV-12A Followons by Scott Lowther
The end of the program wasn’t the end of the concept

Hawker Siddeley HS 141 by Scott Lowther
VTOL jetliner concept

Bell/Boeing Armed XV-15 by Scott Lowther
A tilt rotor with a mission

Lockheed Sea Sitter by Scott Lowther
A seaplane to conquer the oceans

Early Atlas Missile Designs by Scott Lowther
Evolution of America’s first ICBM

Boeing’s Air-Launched Micro-Fighters by Scott Lowther
The fighter needed for a flying aircraft carrier

Chrysler SERV by Scott Lowther
An SSTO Space Shuttle design

Soviet Seaplane Jet Bombers by Thomas Mueller and Jens Baganz
A counterpoint to American efforts

4,000 Ton Orion by Scott Lowther
Recently declassified data on a large nuclear pulse propulsion craft

Mart Model 262 by Scott Lowther
A mysteriously delayed article on VTOL fighters…

NASA Langley High Speed Civil Transport by Scott Lowther
Mach 3 and Mach 4 transports from the late 1980’s

Convair/Canadair Tilt-Wing Close Support Aircraft by Scott Lowther
VTOL gunship

Spacejet by Scott Lowther
Spaceplanes with dropable jet engines

Handley Page All-Wing Airbus by Scott Lowther
A British flying-wing transport from the 1960’s

Convair NX-2 Nuclear Powered Bomber by Scott Lowther
A well known but – until now – poorly documented nuclear powered aircraft project

Technology Needs for High Speed Rotorcraft Part 1 Sikorsky and Bell by Scott Lowther
Tiltrotos, tiltwings, fan-in-body designs

Lockheed-Martin ICE by Scott Lowther
An experimental tailless stealth fighter design

Raumwaffe, 1946

Boeing WS-110A

X-Wings

Dash-On-Warning

 Posted by at 1:58 pm