PDF Review: Unconventional Submarine Propulsion Systems

 drawings, history, Patreon, projects, ships  3 Responses »
Feb 212015
 

Modern submarines (like the Seawolf and Virgina classes) are often propelled not by propellers, but by pumpjets. These are shrouded turbines with a number of blades, looking much like the inlets and compressors of modern high bypass turbofans. They provide propulsive improvement, but apparently more importantly they are quieter than exposed propellers. However, the details of their designs are often obscure, for the obvious fact that they make submarines stealthier vehicles.

One of the few pumpjets I’ve seen shown in any detail comes from a 1963 General Dynamics report covering unusual propulsion system options for submarines. At this early date it’s safe to assume that the resemblance to a modern pumpjet is probably fairly minimal beyond the overall concept and configuration, but it’s still an interesting look at a rarely seen technology Additionally, the pumpjet is about the *least* unconventional of the concepts shown in detail, which include props that are fitted to a ring at the maximum diameter of the hull and separate, podded propulsion systems (a common enough design feature on many surface vessels today) and cycloidal propulsion systems. All of the systems are compared by assuming they are applied to SSB(N)-616 USS Lafayette, a ballistic missile sub.

DESIGN STUDY REPORT: A SURVEY OF CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE PROPULSION SYSTEMS

Pages from 342338 CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE PROPULSION SYSTEMS_Page_3 Pages from 342338 CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE PROPULSION SYSTEMS_Page_2 Pages from 342338 CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE PROPULSION SYSTEMS_Page_1

 

This report can be downloaded from the Defense Technical Information Center website.

The link to the abstract is here.

The direct link to the PDF file is here.

Support the APR Patreon to help bring more of this sort of thing to light!

patreon-200

 Posted by at 11:19 am

All prior APR Patreon Rewards

 blather, new products, Patreon, projects  No Responses »
Feb 192015
 

I’ve been pondering how to go about making the APR Patreon rewards available in a reasonably fair way. What I’ve come up with… patrons can now purchase the rewards bundled by the month they were made available. in other words… if you want the diagram from October, 2014, it comes with the documents and CAD diagram made available in October 2014, all in a single ZIP archive.

The documents and diagrams are available in the full-rez 300 (or better) dpi format. The CAD diagram is included in the 18X24 format. All bundles are $10 each. I’m not making the web address of the order form publicly known, but for simplicity it’s not being password protected. If you are interested in any of the prior APR Patreon rewards, either because you signed up several months in or because you were signed in for lower-rez rewards, you can now access the full-rez items.

The link to the order form is now available on the APR Patreon page for all patrons (as low as $0.75/month).

 Posted by at 12:45 am

Research

 blather, books, Crazy, history, new products, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Spacecraft Projects, US Transport Projects  No Responses »
Feb 062015
 

In general, I can complete a diagram for the US Aerospace Projects series in anywhere from a handful of hours to a couple man-days, depending on detail and how much 3D work I need to do (the Space Cruiser from US Spacecraft Projects #2 was a chore because a lot of time was spent on 3D modeling). But even at the long end of the bell curve, this would seem to indicate that I should be able to finish a full set of 8 vehicle diagrams in a week or less. But it hasn’t worked out that way; it’s usually quite a bit longer. Why? Because the diagramming is pretty much the *last* stage in the process.

In order to come up with 8 diagrams, I have to decide on 8 vehicles. Sometimes that’s easy, like when I have a known design series that I’m working on (the B-52 & B-59 series in USBP, for example). Sometimes I get obsessed that I have to do some particular design… the Space Cruiser was one such. And then the next step after deciding on which vehicle is collecting the info needed on each one.

In many cases, I have all the info I need. I have a number of Space Cruiser documents I’ve collected over the years, enough to do the project justice. But just because I have a document doesn’t necessarily mean I *remember* that I have the document… or when I do remember it, remember where I put it. I spend quite a while digging for a document on SC that I only halfway vaguely remembered that I had.

And then when I find the documents, there’s the going through them, looking for the relevant and useful bits. Sometimes that’s easy: the whole thing is described in a single AIAA paper that has four pages and one diagram. Limited data means a limited diagram and description on my part. But sometimes the design is buried in *vast* reports, or scattered across a number of presentations. And while there might be thousands of pages, there are only a few pages that are directly valuable. Such as a design I’m digging up now for US Launch Vehicle Projects #1, for which the research stack is the entire box you see here:

WP_20150206_017

FYI: the cardboard box under the plastic box contains a series of GD SSTO reports for future use; the half-filled box behind is a small fraction of my wholly uncatalogued Saturn/Apollo collection.

So if you see me flacking a US “X” P publication and think that I’m just slapping these things together… ah… no. Simple though they may look, they are each the result of a *lot* of work, often based on reports that I gathered ten, fifteen years ago hoping to *someday* find some use for.

————-

Please consider signing up to become a patron. For a pittance per month, you get all kinds of aerospace history goodies.

patreon-200

 Posted by at 5:42 pm

Bell VTOL Artwork

 AARRRGH, aircraft, art, blather, Hmm..., Patreon, projects  8 Responses »
Feb 062015
 

Last night I went to upload the monthly catalogs of diagrams & documents for the $10-level Patreon patrons to choose from… and found that something screwy is going on with the file attachment system. After much useless flailing I determined that the system, which has worked fine until now, is just plain broken. However, an alternate system seems to have presented itself which should work just fine. And additionally I wound up adding two pieces of high-rez artwork for $4-and-up-level patrons… an X-14C VTOL ground attack plan weapons loadout display, and the Bell “Mighty Mouse” small assault transport tiltrotor. If you would like to become a patron and get occasional bonus goodies like these (as well as the regular monthly rewards), please consider signing up to become a patron. For a pittance per month, you get all kinds of aerospace history goodies.

patreon-200

The full-size versions (available to $4 patrons under the “Creations” tab) are much bigger:

Image5a Image100

 Posted by at 8:54 am

Atoms for Peace Dirigible

 aircraft, art, history, news, nukes, Patreon, projects  22 Responses »
Jan 172015
 

I’ve made available to all APR Patreon patrons full-rez scan of of an article from Mechanix Illustrated, March, 1956. “Why Don’t We Build an Atoms-For-Peace Dirigible” was written and illustrated by Frank Tinsley and is, to say the least, kinda technologically optimistic. But it demonstrated a difference in psychology between then and now… sixty years ago, thinking this kind of big was not seen as crazy as it would be today.

atomdirigible

If this is of interest, please consider signing up to become a patron. For a pittance per month, you get all kinds of aerospace history goodies.

patreon-200

 Posted by at 11:08 pm

PDF Review: “Ignition!”

 awesomeness, books, history, humor, Patreon, rockets  6 Responses »
Dec 272014
 

“Ignition! An informal history of liquid rocket propellants” was written by John D. Clark and published by Rutgers University in 1972. It is a classic text on the subject… a text which has not been reprinted since except by some print-on-demand types. If you find a copy of this book for less than several hundred dollars, you’ve lucked out. It’s a good read, both informative and entertaining.

Fortunately, someone went to the bother of scanning the whole thing and posting it as a PDF. I’m honestly unclear about the copyright implications, if any… but the scan has been openly and freely available for some years, so…

http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf

Hmmm. It seems that I’ve completely flaked out on the PDF reviews for quite a while. And nobody said anything. Makes me wonder if maybe there’s just no interest in these? Shrug, oh well, moving on…

As always: check out the APR Patreon for info on how to help, and how to get rewards.

 

 Posted by at 1:34 pm

Patreon: December rewards

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, drawings, history, new products, news, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft, weapons  No Responses »
Dec 262014
 

There was a delay getting the December rewards out, and a further delay in putting this notification together that the rewards are available… so it might be only a short-ish time before these are gone, replaced by the *January* rewards. So if these look of interest… act fast!

PDF Document: “Design Study for an Air Force Model F-82E Airplane Modified to a Ground Attack Aircraft with Allison XT-38 Turbo Prop Engine,” a North American Aviation report from 1948. This was not for a simple engine swap-out… the cockpits were moved forward and the engines located behind them, driving the props with long shafts.

PDF Document: “SAM-D Air Defense Weapon System,” a 1973 US Army description document of what would become the Patriot missile system.

Large Format Diagram: a large-format full-color (w/bonus grayscale versions) diagram of the X-20 Dyna Soar. Very detailed and clear. Looks great on a wall (believe me on that!)

CAD Diagram: Boeing Model 853-21 “Quiet Bird” a 1961 design study for a low radar cross section (i.e. stealthy) research aircraft.

2014-12 patreon ad

If you would like to access these items and support the cause of acquiring and sharing these pieces of aerospace history, please visit my Patreon page and consider contributing.

patreon-200

 Posted by at 2:30 pm

Klagenfurt Klf 255

 aircraft, art, blather, Gah., history, Hmm..., Patreon, projects, rockets  11 Responses »
Dec 092014
 

Ever since I started working on Aerospace Projects Review in the late 1990’s, people have asked from time to time if I planned on putting out an April Fools edition,or covering fictional designs, something along those lines. And I have always shot that concept down, because one thing I don’t want to do is contribute to confusion of mythology. Because even the most transparent fakery can be believed by far too many people (witness the patently absurd modern fiction called “Die Glocke”).

One of the better known “fakes” that has sometimes been understood to be real is the “Klagenfurt Klf 255.” This was originally published in the French aviation magazine “Fana de l’Aviation” as an April Fools gag in 1973. Supposedly a wartime German design for a rocket powered interceptor, the diagrams are actually reasonably convincing, as are the pre-Photoshop fake photos… but it was nevertheless pure fiction.

klf 255

Some years back someone sent me a photocopy of the original article. I’ve scanned it in PDF format and posted it to the APR Patreon for all patrons (this means as cheap as $0.75/month). Enjoy. And remember… It’s A Faaaaaaaaaake.

fake

If you would like to access these items and support the cause of acquiring and sharing these pieces of aerospace history, please visit my Patreon page and consider contributing.

patreon-200

 Posted by at 12:10 am

Cape Kennedy: 1969

 art, drawings, history, Patreon, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Nov 302014
 

One of the items that has fallen into my hands is a pretty good map of cape Kennedy as of 1969, showing USAF and NASA facilities:

KSC map 1a

I have posted the full-rez version over at the APR Patreon, available to all $1.50/month and greater patrons.

If you would like to access this item and support the cause of acquiring and sharing these pieces of aerospace history, please visit my Patreon page and consider contributing.

patreon-200

 

 Posted by at 1:09 am
 Older Entries  Newer Entries