The return of cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, blather, CAD diagrams, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, Hmm..., new products, news, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 072022
 

Some years ago I produced a range of cyanotype blueprints of a number of aerospace subjects. The hardware needed for this was disposed of when I left Utah at the end of 2019, so starting again seemed unlikely. However, someone has expressed interest in a special commission. Rebuilding the hardware needed will be an expensive chore, and sadly getting the large format transparencies printed looks like it will be much more difficult here than it was in Utah. Nevertheless, at this point it looks probable that I will restore that capability sometime in the next few months, assuming one further detail can be ironed out.

You can see my now-defunct catalog here:

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

 

When I get back to it I will probably focus on the larger format stuff rather than the smaller prints. I have plans on how to improve upon the prior hardware to make things work better and more efficiently. If there are any of the former large format prints you’d like to see returned to production, or you have any prints you’d like to see, let me know. And once this is up and running I plan on trying to take commissions, working with a local print shop to find customers interested in this somewhat unusual and certainly obsolete form of art.

 

If you have a diagram you’d like me to turn into a cyanotype, contact me. Commissions aren’t going to be restricted to aerospace subjects; naval, architectural, movie props, whatever you’ve got, so long as it *can* be blueprinted, once things are in place I should be able to do it.

 

 

 Posted by at 11:54 am

Beech VTOL: 1971

 aircraft, art, history, Hmm..., projects  No Responses »
Dec 042022
 

A Beech Aircraft Company concept for a civilian VTOL for the 1980s, from circa 1971. This would be a two-seater using tilt-ducts. This appears to be less “engineering” and more “art,” as there are some definite headscratchers about the design. Where are the engines? In designs such as these it/they are typically in the fuselage, driving the ducted fans with shafts. But no provisions for inlets or exhausts are evident. So the engines would probably be in the nacelles themselves but there doesn’t seem to be room for them. The cockpit canopy is expansive and would provide a *fantastic* view, but it seems to be sized only for people who have had their legs amputated. The configuration, unlike your average tiltrotor, seems perfectly capable of horizontal runway takeoffs and landings, but the use of skids rather than wheels would make that problematic. The disk loading would be impressively high, and the resulting blasts of air from the ducts would likely tear anything short of solid concrete to shreds.

 

 Posted by at 8:26 am

Weser Flugzeugbau WFG-P 23 Tiltrotor

 aircraft, drawings, history, projects  No Responses »
Dec 032022
 

The West German Weser Flugzeugbau revealed the design of the P 23 tiltrotor in 1963. This was to be a do-everything vehicle… civil passenger transport, cargo transport, troop transport, ground attack, flying crane. It was an attractive design with one turboshaft engine at each wingtip; the rotors tilted, but the engines were fixed. The engines also provided power to two smaller fans mounted in the tail for pitch and yaw control. Sixty years later, it still looks like it would fit well in the skies of today, and look futuristic doing so.

 Posted by at 1:56 am

Bell Super Transport Artwork

 aircraft, art, history, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon  No Responses »
Dec 012022
 

The Bell 214ST (“Super Transport”) first flew in 1977. Derived from the Bell 214, itself derived from the UH-1 “Huey,” the 214ST was substantially bigger and more powerful than the original design. Bell had great hopes for the type, but in the end less than one hundred were produced. A not-inconsiderable part of the problem was that the 214ST was designed to be produced in Iran which, at the time, was an American ally;  of course, Iran soon fall to forces of the Stupid Age, and that put an end to notions of Bell designs being manufactured in Iran. It was roughly similar to the Sikorsky UH-60 in size and performance. Bell continued to push for customers into the 1990’s (the art below was published in 1982), but production ended in 1992 without any big contracts.

The full rez scans have been uploaded to the 2022-11 APR Extras Dropbox folder for $4 and up Patrons/Subscribers.

 Posted by at 7:37 am

Ukraine’s ancient artillery

 history, Hmm..., politics, russian empire, weapons  No Responses »
Dec 012022
 

Ukraine’s World War II-Vintage Howitzers Still Work Just Fine

Ukraine was given M101 towed 105 mm artillery pieces by Lithuania. The 105 mm hell is still a standard round used by NATO, so the ammo is new. The cannon are apparently still in good shape and work just fine. Like the M1911, the M101 is no longer top of the line… but it still works adequately well, and you’d be a fool to not be afraid of getting shot by one. While more modern artillery might shoot farther or more accurately or faster… if the Ukrainians coordinate their fire with live drone surveillance, those antique cannon are going to make a mess of whoever’s on the receiving end.

 

 

 Posted by at 7:02 am

Bell LHX tiltrotor: Stealth edition

 aircraft, art, history, projects  No Responses »
Nov 282022
 

Early in the LHX program (gave birth to the late lamented RAH-66 Comanche) the Army’s requirements were sufficiently aggressive and vague that Bell Aerospace held out hope that a tiltrotor might be chosen. So Bell designed a few single-seat “scout” tiltrotors under the BAT (Bell Advanced Tiltrotor) moniker. Most were more or less similar in configuration to the Bell XV-15, but one design – which I know solely from this one piece of art, published in 1983 – went a little further. The fuselage and tail surfaces were shaped to reduce the radar cross section, making the vehicle hopefully somewhat stealthier. Sadly, no diagrams or technical information for this configuration. If someone knows more, or has a better version of this artwork, by all mean let me know.

 Posted by at 12:55 pm

Some uplifting documentaries about getting nuked by commies

 history, Hmm..., nukes, politics, russian empire, Worldwreckers, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Nov 262022
 

Oddly, the PBS special “In The Event of Catastrophe” from 1978 is age restricted. Click on it, it’ll take you to YouTube directly. Shrug.

 

“First Strike” from the RAND Corporation. A docu-drama depicting a Soviet first strike that effectively wipes out America’s nuclear retaliatory capability and leads to the capitulation of the USA. Bits of this were used in “The Day After” a few years later.

 

This one from the National Film Board of Canada runs kinda light on pointing out that the Commies are setting off the nukes. Instead, the nuclear explosions just sorta happen, some vague result of American actions.

 

And just for fun, here’s a German 1998 alternate history show (“Der Dritte Weltkrieg”) where 1990 goes a little differently:

 

 Posted by at 11:31 pm

There is a message here

 art, history, Hmm..., Worldwreckers, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Nov 252022
 

A less than one minute video describing the dropoff in quality in art in the Roman Empire. Some of it was due to cultural changes, but there was also a distinct drop in quality during times of crisis. It was especially bad during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

If you want to draw parallels to the situation described HERE, I won’t stop you.

 

 Posted by at 12:38 pm

Anti-tank Vertol 107

 aircraft, art, history, projects, rockets  No Responses »
Nov 252022
 

The Vertol Model 107 became the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. It has been a fabulously successful helicopter; development began almost *70* years ago, and some are still in service.

One suggested modification from 1961 would have seen the helicopter (designated HC-1A at the time) modified into an anti-tank variant using wire-guided anti-tank missiles. The artwork depicts the Model 107 modified with a “trapeze” that would lower from the belly holding one such missile (appears similar to the SS.11 / AGM-22) ; after launching the missile the launcher would retract back into the cargo bay where it would be reloaded and redeployed. At the rear of the bay is a manually loaded rocket launcher (though it looks more like a recoilless rifle to me) that would, after loading, swing down into a forward-firing position. Further rocket launching tubes were built into the extended rear landing gear sponsons; machine guns were fitted ahead of the cockpit.

 Posted by at 12:04 pm
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