Another display model, this time showing a three-engined design with a 727-style tail engine and Upper Surface Blown engines above the wings. This would have been quieter on the ground and would have required a shorter runway. But as the 727 discovered, re-engining to a higher bypass engine would have been troublesome in the tail.
A reduced rez of this was posted before, but now you can get the full-rez version.
If’n you want the hi-rez, check HERE.
A publicity photo of the BAT (Bell Advanced Tiltrotor), a circa 1984 concept for a one-man attack tiltrotor to complete in the Army scout helicopter program (LHX – Light Helicopter Experimental) that led to the abortive RAH-66 Comanche. Shown here is a full-scale mockup; the prop-rotors as shown are substantially chopped down from the length they’d be on the actual aircraft. The BAT would have outperformed all other competitors except for hover performance; but the Army did not want a fixed-wing vehicle, so the BAT did not progress very far in the competition.
A hi-rez of this image can be found HERE.
Another Boeing 7X7 concept, this time a painting of a three-engined design laid out basically like the Lockheed L-1011. it should be pointed out that the L-1011 was well known for being expensive, and was the last Lockheed passenger jet. Copying it seems… questionable.
They are a few years old, but the photos at the blog below showing the Soviet-era “Lun” ekranoplan are just damned impressive:
For those not in the know, an “ekranoplan,” AKA a wing-in-ground-effect vehicle, is a flying boat designed to cruise at extremely low altitudes, typically about the same height as the wing chord length (the distance fore-to-aft from the wing leading edge to trailing edge). The purpose of this is to ride on the cushion of high pressure air squeezed between the wing and the water; a small, stubby wing can produce a surprisingly large amount of lift in doing so. The result can be a very large aircraft that can carry a massive payload a long distance. In this case, the Lun was designed to help the Soviet Union invade western Europe. On top were six launch tubes for fairly large nuclear-tipped P-270 anti-ship missiles.
While this is an example of a machine designed to aid one of the most evil ideologies in human history to conquer the world, it is nevertheless an impressive machine and it’s sad to see it left to rot. However, apparently there are plans to put it back into production.
The last Curtis fighter was the four-engined XP-87 (later XF-87). Coming right after the end of WWII, it had the bad luck of being just a bit behind the technological times. Fighter design was rapidly evolving towards supersonic; a four-engined straight-winged monster just wasn’t going to cut it. Even though it was planned to replace the four engines with two more powerful ones, it was simply too… World War II. Designed specifically as a night fighter, it lost to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion.
Below is a diagram from a 1947 NACA spin model test report giving full-scale dimensions in inches.
A reduced rez of this was posted before, but now you can get the full-rez version.
If’n you want the hi-rez, check HERE.
MagCloud is running a site-wide sale… 25% off the production cost of all regular priced products, including Aerospace Projects Review issues & specials, Justo Mirandas “Reichdreams” series, Historical Documents and even “Photographing Stuff.”
My main MagCloud page: http://scottlowther.magcloud.com/
The Aerospace Projects Review MagCloud page: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/157097
The Historical Documents MagCloud page: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/198489
The Reichdreams MagCloud page: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/164597
The “Photographing Stuff” MagCloud page: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/144138
And while I’m at it.. would there be interest in MagCloud printed versions of the Saturn I and Saturn V Payload Planners Guides?
Aerospace Projects Review has been re-working and re-releasing the original run of issues in order… until now. Just finished and uploaded is an issue that might not be expected… issue V0N0. Prior to publishing the first issue of Aerospace Projects Review, I put together issue V0N0, a short prototype issue that I released for free to see if people liked it and if it would be worth continuing with. There was much that could have been improved about that issue… and it has been improved. Issue eV0N0 is now greatly expanded to 56 pages… small by modern APR standards, but a massive increase compared to the original. The original articles have been greatly expanded, and all-new articles have been added.
Preview the issue here:
The table of contents for eV0N0:
The Drawbridge and the Pancake: One of the more unusual Space Shuttle configurations
Northrop N-31 Flying Wing Bomber: A series of turboprop-powered bomber designs
Martin XB-68: A supersonic tactical bomber concept
Aerospace History Nugget: Mach 6.0 SST: Three fuselages for the price of one
Kaiser Tailless Airplane: A flying wing cargo carrier
Boeing VTOL Intercity Transport: A jetliner that can land on your office building
Boeing Transport-To-Space: The spaceplane that needs to be assembled in space
Aerospace History Nugget: Curtis High-Speed Fighter Concepts: Hypothetical fighters designed for maximum speed
Aerospace History Nugget: Convair VTOL Tailsitter: An early VTOL jet fighter capable of supersonic speeds
It is available in three formats. Firstly, it can be downloaded directly from me for the low, low price of $6.50. Second, it can be purchased as a professionally printed volume through Magcloud; third, it can be procured in both formats. To get the download, simply pay for it here through Paypal.
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To get the printed version (or print + PDF version), visit my MagCloud page:
A NASA-Langley film showing some early testing of the parawing (Rogallo wing) concept. This was originally intended as a stowable wing that could be deployed from space capsules, stricken aircraft or ejected pilots. Testing was done with landing-gear-equipped Gemini capsule mockups (see HERE), and on a whole range of models, including the B-70 and the Saturn I first stage. But while NASA and the USAF never really did anything with it, it gained a whole lot of popularity at the first truly practical hang glider wing.
The video is 20 minutes long. My favorite few minutes, however, are the first few, showing some introductory flights.
[youtube LlwZ1R_wHZg]
Imagine an alternate history where nothing like the parawing has been invented, never mind demonstrated. Imagine further that you work at NASA and dreamed this idea up. Now… try to imagine that your idea of demonstrating the concept *today* involves something other than CGI, costing spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations.