APR Monthly Historical Documents Program

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Dec 182018

For some years I have been operating the “Aerospace Projects Review Patreon” which provides monthly rewards in the form of high resolution scans of vintage aerospace diagrams, art and documents. This has worked pretty well, but it seems that perhaps some people might prefer to sign on more directly. Fortunately, PayPal provides the option not only for one-time purchases but also monthly subscriptions. By subscribing using the drop-down menu below, you will receive the same benefits as APR Patrons, but without going through Patreon itself.

Bridge diagrams

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Nov 302018

Because why not: two diagrams created for the production of the USS Enterprise model for Star Trek: the Motion Picture. These were put up for auction a year ago but did not seem to sell.

It would be interesting to see the complete set of diagrams used to create the model. Heck, what I’d *really* like to see are high-rez scans of the full set of blueprints for the “Cygnus” from Disney’s The Black Hole. Complete gibberish as engineering, but beautiful as artwork.

Some other auctioned-off Enterprise blueprints:

Airport Spotting in the Era of SSTs

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Nov 232018

The SST designs of the 1960’s are hardly unknown. But what’s generally not well understood is that designs such as the Boeing 2707 were *huge.* This was considered necessary because SSTs with fuselage lengths in line with existing jetliners – such as the Concorde – would have small passenger capacities due to the need for the fuselages to be *very* narrow compared to their lengths. This, as Concorde showed, was a great way to build an extremely cost-ineffective fuel hog.

So the 2707 would be terribly long and pointy, with a geometry quite a bit unlike regular jetliners. A practical concern is “how do we deal with these things at airports?” If nothing else, the long pointed nose of the SST would put the passenger door considerably further aft than for a conventional rounded-nose jetliners. So, like the 747 and the A380, it was assumed that the larger airports would have to make some infrastructure modifications in order to deal with these new beasts.

The illustration below, from a 1967 issue of Aviation Week, shows American Airlines thinking about the airports of the future. Note that the 2707 is pulled in far closer than the other craft, with the tip of t’s very pointed nose just a few feet away from the building while the others are notably further away. The SST is being serviced by two extendable jetways at maximum extension, while most of the other planes seem to be getting along with just one jetway… though one of the 747s is using four. Note that even though the 747 isn’t pulled in quite as far as the 2707, the SST nonetheless projects much further out into the airfield. For some airports this could well have meant that the taxiways would have been a cluttered mess.

US Fighter, Transport, Launcher, Recon & Research Projects

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Nov 072018

Now available… four new issues in the US Aerospace Projects line.

US Fighter Projects #3

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Fighter Projects #03 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #3 includes:

Vought Advanced Interceptor AI-0604R: a dart-winged ejector ramjet-powered concept
Convair Nuclear Powered Interceptor Configuration I: a single0seat interceptor with a nuclear reactor
General Dynamics F-111X-7: A stretched F-111 for bomber escort and interception
Bell Ramjet Fighter: A subsonic small fighter from the end of WWII
Convair XP-92: A post-war delta-winged ramjet powered supersonic interceptor
Rockwell D736-4 Supersonic Penetrator: the wings could sweep back entirely within the fuselage
Lockheed CL-362-2: A high-altitude hypersonic rocketplane
NASA-Langley TBF-1: an unusual supercruiser

USFP #3 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Launch Vehicle Projects #5

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Launch Vehicle Projects #5 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #5 includes:

North American Aviation 600K SSTO: an early concept for cheap space launch
Boeing “Windjammer” SSTO: A horizontal takeoff design form the early 70s
JSC Winged Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle: A giant SPS launcher
NASA Nova “Saturn C-8”: an early Apollo booster
Lockheed Reusable Ten-Ton Orbital Carrier: A logistics system from the early 60s
Chrysler Hot Air Balloon S-IB: An unusual approach to booster recovery
MSC Orbiter 042A Titan IIIL6: A shuttle design with a delta-winged orbiter on an enlarged Titan
General Dynamics Model 202: a preliminary design for a Brilliant Pebbles launcher

USLP #5 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Recon & Research Projects #3

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Recon & Research Projects #3 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #3 includes:

Lockheed A-2: An early design leading to the SR-71
Boeing NuERA 747: A nuclear powered 747
General Dynamics SX-109 “Pathfinder”: a subscale SSTO demonstrator
Northrop N-165: A giant U-2 alternate
Convair M-125: A high altitude/speed single seat recon plane with toxic fuel
Bell AMST STOL Prototype: A heavily modified C-130
Convair Nuclear AEW: unmanned, nuclear powered VTOL fleet defense recon platform
Boeing Model 818-300: an early 60s battlefield surveillance platform

USRP #3 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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US Transport Projects #8

Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

US Transport Projects #8 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #8 includes:

NACA SST: a 1947 concept
Boeing CX-HLS: Boeings design for what became the C-5
Bell Operational Medium STOL Transport: vectored thrust for short takeoff
Convair Limited War Amphibian: A concept for a single plan to meet both land and sea plane requirements
Bell Hypersonic Transport 1980-1990:A two-stage turboramjet/rocket concept
Lockheed Hybrid Wing Body 757PF-Sized Freighter: a recent design for an advanced transport
Lear Liner Model 40:a small airliner/large executive transport
Boeing Model 759-153A Resource Carrier: A big flying wing natural gas “tanker”

USTP #8 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4.25:

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Shuttle Program Orientation Course

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Nov 052018

In June 1973 Rockwell put together a short course – presumably or employees new to the STS program – that described the Space Shuttle system as it was then designed. There were a number of clear differences between the STS of the time and the STS as actually built. Differences included a forward extension of the OMS pods, continuing well onto the cargo bay doors. Also, the forward RCS thrusters on the sides of the nose were contained behind sizable doors to protect them during re-entry, a protection that was found to be unnecessary. There were also important differences with the SRBs and ETs.

I have made the full-rez scan of the document available to $10+ APR Patreon patrons. If this sort of thing is of interest, please consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

And yet even more craziness

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Oct 272018

In todays installment of “what the hell is wrong with these people,” some jackhole went into a synagogue during a BABY-NAMING CEREMONY and shot the place up, killing a number of people. Rather amazingly, the cops actually captured him.

11 Dead, Several Others Shot At Pittsburgh Synagogue; Suspect In Custody

As always, the officials are digging through the guys social media, and once again… boy, what a winner.

Media difficulty: he hates Trump, too.

Yet another Identity Politics success story.

XC-142

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Oct 252018

An inboard profile of the LTV XC-142 VTOL transport from the mid/late 1960’s. The XC-142 proved capable, but also a bit flawed, suffering a few failures and crashes. Still, had those problems been worked out, the capabilities of the V-22 might have been realized twenty years earlier.

I’ve posted a higher rez version of this to the 2018-10APR Extras Dropbox folder for $4+ APR Patrons.

B-47C Concept

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Oct 222018

The B-47C was a 1950 Boeing proposal to re-engine the six-engine B-47 with four engines. It is usually depicted as being largely indistinguishable from the standard B-47 except that the inboard engine nacelles only had a single engine. However, in early 1952 the Model 450-155-33 was designed and designated the B-47C that not only had four P&W J-57-P-1 engines but also a very different fuselage. Most obviously, the cockpit was completely redesigned and was now indistinguishable from that of the B-52.

New CAD diagram PDFs?

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Oct 222018

Two and a half years ago I released seven CAD diagrams as 18X24 “posters” in PDF format. There was a little bit of interest, but not enough to move the project to the top of my to-do list and, like many of my projects, it fell by the wayside. Still, it’s always possible that some of the CAD diagrams I’ve created for US Aerospace Projects and other efforts in the years since might be of interest. If so, and you’ve always wanted to see such-and-such a diagram made available, comment below.

Here are the original seven:

CAD 007: Northrop Low Altitude Penetrator

A 1/72 diagram of a 1979 design for a B-2 alternate configuration

Download for $3

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CAD 006

A 1/96 scale diagram of the 1979 Rockwell D645-4a spanloader bomber.

Download for $3

CAD 005

A 1/144 scale diagram of the Manned Spacecraft Center MSC Orbiter 020, a 1972 Space Shuttle concept with a single 260″ solid rocket booster.

Download for $3

CAD 004

A 1/350 scale diagram of the 1971 Boeing Resource Air Carrier (AKA RC-1, AKA “Brute Lifter”) designed as a flying oil tanker for the arctic.

Download for $3

CAD 003

A 1/72 scale diagram of the Martin-Marietta “Zenith Star” experimental space-based laser for the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Download for $3

CAD 002

A 1/24 diagram of the Lockheed “Harvey,” the initial concept for a low radar cross section strike platform that eventually became the F-117.

Download for $3

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CAD 001

A 1/32 diagram of the North American Rockwell D-541-4 “Surprise Fighter” from 1973, an early stealth concept designed to sneak up on Soviet AWACS planes.

Download for $3

September APR Patreon rewards

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Oct 022018

Patrons of the Aerospace Projects Review Patreon received last month:

Diagram: A foldout diagram of an Apollo-derived logistics spacecraft

Document: “The Piasecki Story,” an illustrated history of the company and its products

Document: “The N.S. Savannah,” a brochure about the sole nuclear powered merchant vessel

Document: “Lunar Spacecraft Design” A paper describing the evolution of the General Electric Apollo design, quite similar to the later Soyuz spacecraft

CAD diagram: 1985 design of the British HOTOL spaceplane

If this sort of thing is of interest, please consider signing up for the APR Patreon.

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