The next set of stuff… including diagrams being worked for the Pax Orionis Patreon. The Spacecraft diagrams have taken a *lot* longer than expected.
Sep 092015
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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Jun 192015
The next set of USXP’s I’ve been working on.
Jun 112015
I have three “US Aerospace Projects’ publications in the works. Two are virtually finished, the third about halfway through. I’m finding that the going goes slower these days, for reasons that are unclear; early on I thought I might be able to put out an issue a week, but it has been since April since I last released an issue. I’d like to think that I’m doing a better, more thorough job, and that takes more time. But then I’d also like to think that riches are mere days away.
So, what would you like to see come out soon? Options include:
- US Bomber Projects
- US Transport Projects
- US Launch Vehicle Projects
- US Spacecraft Projects
- US Fighter Projects
- US VTOL Projects
- American Nuclear Explosive Devices #2
Perhaps equally importantly… anything you have *zero* interest in?
Also: I’ve got a burning desire to scribble fiction (as may have been obvious from my “After The End” post yesterday), but fiction doesn’t pay anything. So spending a lot of time on it for no money would be a bit silly; spending a lot of time on it for no money *and* no general interest would be fricken’ stupid. I’ve got a half-assembled history of the *first* nuclear war in the “Pax Orionis” series, the one that set the US off on the direction of building up a major Orion program. It’s taken me a while to figure out just *how* to structure this historical background; I think I’ve finally got it. It’ll be a chapter from the memoirs of one of the Orion crew. He’s going over the history of the Orion program in a conversational way… not as a historian, with charts and graphs, but as Just A Guy describing how he got to where he got.
May 202015
So I decided to check in on the Amazon Kindle versions of the US Bomber Projects (available HERE) to see how they’re doing, after I recently uploaded a bunch of new ones. As it turns out: wow. Bad. So, that’s that, I guess.
I also decided to check on the reviews, of which there are very few. Now, checking reviews of stuff you’ve worked hard on is always asking for trouble; *maybe* someone will say something complementary; *maybe* someone will give a negative feedback that provides useful information. But as this is the internet, you’re like as not going to get a response like this:
Huh. Not a fan, I guess.
Interestingly, the same reviewer posted an equally negative (though grammatically confounding) review of another issue of the Kindle USBP back in February. One wonders why he would buy a second issue if the first was so bad, but he has posted 140 separate reviews of items, indicating he likes to review stuff, I guess.
Just in case, here’s the recent issue in question:
May 042015
A piece of artwork from General Dynamics, circa 1963, illustrating their AMPSS (Advanced Manned Precision Strike System) design. This was a predecessor program to the AMSA (Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft – a.k.a. Americas Most Studied Aircraft) that was a predecessor to the B-1 program. The General Dynamics design shown here is very similar to (possibly the same as, though the engine arrangement and canopy frames look a little different) the design presented in US Bomber Projects issue #6, available here and here. This was much like a scaled-up F-111 in terms of overall configuration, especially visible around the cockpit. However, few if any actual components would carry over. 
I have made the full-rez version of this scan available at the APR Patreon for $4-and-up patrons. It is in the APR Patreon “Extras” Dropbox, in the 2015-05 folder.
Apr 272015
Just added five more issues to Amazon for $2.99 each. These are Kindle-fied versions of the issues otherwise available as PDFs here.
There aren’t a whole lot of reviews… seven in total, I think. Six on one issue… and three are 5 out of 5, while three are 1 out of 5. It seems that those who went to the effort of reviewing either loved them or hated them. The negative reviews are at least honest – although I can’t makes heads or tails out of one of them. One of the complaints is that the drawings are too small, but I’m thinking that that might be an issue with the reader, dunno.
Apr 062015
Now available… two new additions to the US Aerospace Projects series.
US Bomber Projects #14: System 464L Special
USBP#14 brings together the competitors to Weapon System 464L, the first major effort in the Dyna Soar program. These designs were previously shown individually in prior issues of USBP; here they are brought together, with some updates, as well as a few extra diagrams and a section of diagrams formatted for 11X17 printing. This issue includes info and diagrams of the Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, McDonnell, Boeing, Douglas, Northrop, North American and Martin-Bell entries as well as their various booster systems. Also included are detailed diagrams of the ultimate Dyna Soar design, the 2050E.
USBP#14 can be purchased for downloading for the low, low price of $6.
Also available:US Transport Projects #03.
Included in this issue:
- Lockheed “Environmentally Responsible Aviation” box-wing jetliner
- Martin Commercial Twin-Hull concept from 1942
- North American Aviation NAC-60 SST competitor
- McDonnell-Douglas Cargo Spanloader
- Boeing Model 763-058 “New Large Airplane”
- BoMi Passenger Transport Rocket
- Lockheed L-152-1 early jet transport with unusual inlets
- Aerial Relay System: for when crazy is preferred
USTP #03 can be purchased for download for only $4:
Please note: APR Patreon patrons can get 10% to 20% off all APR/USXP/air&space drawings & documents. See HERE for details.
Mar 272015
I have made some adjustments to the Aerospace Projects Review Patreon campaign. The first is that I’ve reduced the number of rewards levels, which I was informed was previously Too Many. More importantly, I have added some new rewards: if you become a patron at $5 or more per month, you receive 10% off all future purchases of APR, US Aerospace Projects and downloadable Documents and Drawings. If you become a patron at $10 per month, you will receive 20% off any such purchases. Check of the APR Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=197906
Additionally, the campaign has reached the point where the rewards are now *three* aerospace documents, one high-rez historical diagram and one all-new CAD diagram per month. This is in addition to the random “Extras” I throw in for $4 and up patrons. The most recent extra is a full-rez restoration of a three-view diagram of a 1978 McDonnell-Douglas concept for modifying Skylab to be serviced by the Space Shuttle. You can see a smaller-rez version of that here: http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=2153
If you sign up now you will get the latest rewards which include:
- A Bell Aircraft presentation on the SR-126 Bomber Missile, a manned ICBM predecessor of the Dyna Soar
- A Lockheed paper on the history of the Polaris to Trident Fleet Ballistic Missile
- A large poster illustrating the missiles and rockets of the Orbital Sciences Corporation
- An all-new CAD diagram detailing the 10-meter Orion nuclear pulse propulsion vehicle designed by General Atomic for the USAF
Mar 042015
I happened to notice that the last diagram in US Bomber Projects #13, showing that issues various designs all together at the same scale, was not the actual finalized diagram. So I’ve corrected it. At the same time, I added an equivalent diagram to US Launch Vehicles Projects #01, showing all the boosters to the same scale. If you have previously purchased one or both of these, the info in the email your received with the download instructions will still work if you’d like to download the revised versions.
And if you haven’t purchased these… well, here’s another chance!