Dec 032015
 

I’m planning on producing some new cyanotype blueprints at some point. Some will be copies of vintage blueprints, but some will be all-new CAD diagrams. Below are some CAD diagrams at various stages of completion. All are based on a 10-inch by 40-inch format; this will make them appropriate for folding into a book, or hanging on a wall. They would go for $25 per sheet as cyanotypes; I might also do them in frosted (white) mylar for probably a bit cheaper and maybe on regular paper for a lot cheaper. However, before plowing ahead I’d be interested in feedback… which of these are of interest? Which might you actually plunk down funds for? Additionally: I’ve produced a *lot* of CAD diagrams for APR and USXP. Is there anything I’ve done you’d like to see expanded out like this?

1: USAF 10-meter Orion, two sheets, 1/96 scale

NPP-0500X-Model

2: Have Sting orbital railgun, one sheet, 1/200 scale

ussp03-02-wide railgun-Model

3: X-15A-3, 1 sheet, 1/35 scaleussp 02-03 wide X15A-3-Model

4: Rockwell MRCC, 1 sheet, 1/60 scaleusbp-12-107 wide rockwell MRCC-Model

5: Rockwell D645-3, one sheet, 1/144 scaleusbp-07-104 wide rockwell d645-3-Model

6: X-20/Titan IIIc, two sheets, 1/72 scalemisc-132 wide X-20-Titan III-Model

7: XB-70, one sheet, 1/144 scalemisc-127 wide XB-70-Model

8: ITHACUS troop transport, two sheets, 1/200 scale

ustp04-002-1 wide ithacus-Model

 Posted by at 11:26 pm
Nov 272015
 

Just under the wire, rewards for November have been made available to APR patrons. Three documents and one large-format diagram, and one all-new CAD diagram, have been posted:

  1. NASA diagram (on two sheets) of a NERVA nuclear rocket engine display model, presenting the configuration with detail and clarity
  2. An article on a orbiting nuclear power station
  3. A full-color brochure (via photographs) on the Convair Model 36, their entry for what became the B-36
  4. A North American Aviation presentation on delta wings for the X-15, presenting a few different configurations
  5. An all-new layout CAD diagram of the Bernal Sphere space colony concept

If you’d like to help out and gain access to these and past and future rewards, please check out the APR Patreon.

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 Posted by at 5:02 am
Nov 032015
 

Now available… a new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.

US Bomber Projects #17

USBP #17 includes:

M.C.D. 392: A wartime design for a global-range bomber
Martin Model 194: A strategic bomber somewhat larger than the B-29
Lockheed CL-285-815: A supersonic nuclear powered concept with five engines
Consolidated Model 36: An early design for the B-36 with twin tails
Boeing Model 701-290: A supersonic bomber on the road to the B-59
Thiokol 260-inch ICBM: An unreasonably large ICBM concept
AFRL ESAV: A recent concept for a stealthy supersonic bomber
Convair GEBO II: An ancestor of the B-58, carried aloft under a B-60

USBP#17 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $4.

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 Posted by at 7:57 pm
Sep 182015
 

Just a few minor things (conversion to PDF & EPUB, uploading, stuff like that) and the second Pax Orionis installment will be posted. This will be “The Deadliest Catch, Part Two,” the conclusion to that particular tale. The bonus will include diagrams and data on the first generation Casaba Howitzer weapon (which has evolved substantially from when i first illustrated it for the pages of APR issue V2N2, years ago), derived from the Orion pulse unit, and a short media piece that fits in with the one included last time. I plan on posting this tomorrow (Saturday).

Patrons who are signed up *before* the story is released will automatically get the story as soon as it’s published. If you sign up *after* the story is published, you won’t automatically get it… but you won’t be charged for it, either. However, patrons may purchase “back issues” for the same price, so you can catch up without any trouble. Each tale is only a buck; with the bonus diagrams and technical discussion, only one additional buck.

If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patron.

becomeapatron

Feel free to tell anyone you think might be interested.

 Posted by at 8:51 am
Sep 132015
 

Now available… two new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.

 

US Bomber Projects #16: The B-52 Evolution Special

Boeing Model 444 A: A late war turboprop heavy bomber
Boeing Model 461: An early postwar turboprop heavy bomber
Boeing Model 462: A large six-turboprop ancestor of the B-52
Boeing Model 462-5: A six-turboprop B-52 ancestor
Boeing Model 464-17: 1946 four-turboprop strategic bomber, a step toward the B-52
Boeing Model 464-18: a reduced-size version of the 464-17 turboprop strategic bomber
Boeing Model 464-25: a modification of the 464-17 turboprop bomber with slightly swept wings, among other changes
Boeing Model 464-27: a slightly-swept turboprop B-52 progenitor
Boeing Model 464-33-0: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-34-3: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-40: The first all-jet-powered design in the quest for the B-52
Boeing Model 464-40: The first all-jet-powered design in the quest for the B-52
Boeing Model 464-046: A six-engined B-52 predecessor
Boeing Model 464-49: The penultimate major design in the development of the B-52
Fairchild M-121:A highly unconventional canard-biplane
Convair B-60: A swept-wing turboprop-powered derivative of the B-36
Douglas Model 1211-J: An elegant turboprop alternative to the B-52
With additional diagrams of the B-47, XB-52 and B-52B

USBP#16 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.

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US Spacecraft Projects #03

Northrop ST-38 Space Trainer: a rocket-powered T-38 for trips to space
“Have Sting:” A General Electric design for a gigantic orbital railgun
JPL Thousand Astronomical Unit probe: A spacecraft into interstellar space
Integrated Manned Interplanetary Spacecraft: A Boeing concept for a giant spacecraft to Mars and Venus
Convair Inflatable Spacecraft: an early spaceplane concept
One Man Space Station: A 1960 McDonnell concept for a tiny space station
Astroplane: A lightweight aircraft for the exploration of Mars
Reactor-In-Flight Test: A Lockheed nuclear-powered stage for the Saturn V

 

USSP#03 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $5.

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 Posted by at 2:08 pm
Sep 112015
 

The first story is now available for Pax Orionis patrons. This is available for the low, low price of only a buck. But if you pledge $2 or more, you get not only the story – “The Deadliest Catch, Part One” – but also a Technical Diagram and description of the USS Orion test flight article, and a bonus news article, the first of a number that will tell a tale.

becomeapatron

 Posted by at 11:26 pm
Sep 082015
 

 

The Pax Orionis Patreon is now online. It’s a little bare, but it at least seems to be up and running.  The first piece of fiction and a tech diagram will be ready in a few days, so the first patrons will be kinda guinea pigs. With this system, patrons get charged when new stuff is made available, rather than on a strict monthly schedule.

So if’n you’ve got a hankering for stories about an alternate history with extra nuclear wars and spacelanes filled with atom bomb powered spacecraft, I got ya covered.

POPat

 Posted by at 6:48 pm
Aug 162015
 

This looks like an interesting book:Goodyear GA-28A/B Convoy Fighter: The Naval VTOL Turboprop Tailsitter Project of 1950 by Jared Zichek.

71oZVeYDhxL

It’s available in both paperback and epub from Amazon.

 

The same author also produced the excellent Secret Aerospace Projects of the U.S. Navy: The Incredible Attack Aircraft of the USS United States, 1948-1949

 Posted by at 1:59 pm
Jul 072015
 

Now available… three new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.

US Bomber Projects #15

USBP#15 includes:

  • Bell D2001: A 1957 eight-engined Bell VTOL strike plane for the Navy
  • Lockheed “Harvey”: AKA the Hopeless Diamond, Lockheeds first design for what became the F-117
  • Convair Model 35: An early push-pull concept for the B-36
  • Rockwell D661-27: A nuclear powered strategic bomber
  • Boeing Model 464-49: The penultimate major design in the development of the B-52
  • Boeing Model 988-123: A highly agile stealthy strike fighter
  • Boeing Orbital Bomber: An early concept for a Dyna Soar derivative with eight nukes
  • Boeing Model 701-251: A twin engined concept on the road to the XB-59

USBP#15 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $4.

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US Transport Projects #4

USTP#4 includes:

  • Boeing Model 473-13: An early twin-engine jetliner
  • ICARUS Troop Transport: 1,200 marines, anywhere, anytime
  • Republic Model 10 SST: A little known SST competitor
  • Lockheed CL-593: A giant, if slow, logistics transporter
  • Boeing 763-059 NLA: A whole lotta passengers in one place
  • Fairchild M-534: A B-36 converted into a vast cargo carrier
  • Lockheed CL-1201: Probably the largest aircraft ever designed
  • Oblique All-Wing Supersonic Airplane: A supersonic variable-orientation flying wing

USTP#4 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $4.

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US Launch Vehicle Projects #2

USLP#2 includes:

  • Juno V, 4 stage: An early design that became the Saturn rocket
  • Boeing “Space Freighter”: a giant two-stage spaceplane for launching solar power satellites
  • Boeing NASP-D: A rare look at an operational National Aerospace Plane derivative
  • LLNL Mockingbird: The smallest SSTO ever designed
  • Boeing Model 922-101: A fully reusable Saturn V
  • NAR Phase B Space Shuttle: a fully reusable two-stage concept
  • Martin Marietta Inline SDV: A Shuttle-derived heavy lifter
  • Scaled Composites Model 351: The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft

USLP#2 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $4.

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 Posted by at 11:48 pm
Jul 042015
 

Here is the first completed chunk of Pax Orionis. The irony is that I’m not sure that if I finish the work I’ll include this. What we have here is a history of the Cuban War that is the point of divergence from history as we know it to the history that results in Orion battleships fighting a massive nuclear war. The final book might not include this for the reason that it’s a big chunk of exposition that might not be needed… a book on World War II might not have a complete chapter laying out the history of World War I, but would instead just touch on bits and pieces of it. But, what the heck. I figured some of y’all might find it interesting, and some others might like to tear it apart and tell me where I’m dead wrong.

It is available in two formats… a PDF which you can DOWNLOAD RIGHT HERE, formatted for good old 8.5X11, and a Kindle epub version available at Amazon. The PDF is free; the Kindle version is the cheapest price available… 99 cents. If that seems like too much for an admittedly dry short story, don’t worry… I only get 35 cents of that.

If you read this and like it, feel free to toss a few nickles into the tip jar (notice how I haven’t put out a US Aerospace Projects since April? Yeah, pretty much this is why). And feel free to tell anybody you want that this literary masterpiece, or literary abomination, is available here. Constructive criticism – especially on factual matters, of which there are a number here I just handwaved – is appreciated.

The Cuban War.pdf

 

 

If you  don’t see the standard Amazon ad-box thing for “The Cuban War” immediately above this… it’s probably a browser issue. So, try HERE as another link.


Fiction TipJar


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LEGAL NOTICE:

I have, hopefully, much more coming. It is possible, though exceedingly unlikely, that it might be publishable in some form or another. And while I have a lot of ideas and plans for what’s going to happen, story-wise, I don’t plan on just giving it all away. So feel free to comment your ideas and suggestions below, but be advised that I may well already have thought the same thing. So if you don’t want to see *your* idea show up in *my* book… well, don’t post it.

This sort of thing happened 20 or so years ago with “Babylon 5.” The creator, J Michael Straczynski, used to hang out on the B-5 Usenet groups. And that was awesome. but he eventually had to bail because people were posting speculations about things that wouldn’t be seen for another year or three, and he could get in trouble if someone had posted an idea that wound up on screen, even if the idea was created entirely independently.

 Posted by at 7:45 am