Found on ebay: Boeing JSF Joint Strike Fighter

 aircraft, eBay, models, projects  3 Responses »
Oct 012009
 

RARE BOEING JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER DESK MODEL PROTOTYPE!

 Here is a S-U-P-E-R and I really do mean super RARE desk top model of the never produced Boeing JSF Joint Strike Fighter! What makes this one rare? This 1:48 scale desk top model was not made from a kit, and not a mass produced factory made model, no. This is a urethane, hand made prototype made in the Boeing model shop. It comes in it’s original Boeing box, and did I mention how scarce this type of model is? This is the only one, and is being offered here at NO reserve! I had to seriously pry this out of friends collection recently by trading three of my models for this one rarity.

jsf1.JPG  jsf2.JPG  jsf3.JPG  jsf4.JPG  jsf5.JPG  jsf8.JPG  jsf9.JPG  jsf19.JPG  jsf20.JPG

 Posted by at 9:57 am

A VTOL F-111?

 aircraft, blather, models, projects  10 Responses »
Sep 282009
 

This illustration has been floating around for a good long while, but unfortuantely, no data seems to come along with it. It is an actual honet-to-Odin General Dynamics PR glossy, not fan art (this particular copy comes from the Jay Miller collection). What it appears to show is an F-111 with a stretched fuselage, and that fuselage stretch containing doors for three or four lift jets (or perhaps 6 or 8… the “doors” visible in this view seem to be on the port side of the fuselage, not on the centerline, indicating that there may be matching features on the starboard side). But the exhaust pipes for the main engines at the tail show no indication of being vectorable, which would argue against VTOL. So just what the hell is this? Are those lift jets, but only used to provide STOL performance? Is it a true VTOL, with some vertical thrust at the tail that’s not apparent in this view? Or are those doors for something else… nto lift jets, but an unconventional weapons system?

Another thought occurs. Along with being streched, the fuselage is also a bit deeper, with unusual “chines” along the lower edge. This presents the appearance of a flying boat hull. Could this be an *amphibious* F-111… with the doors on the upper surface perhaps being secondary inlets used while on the water? Perhaps an amphibious F-111 with additional lift jets to get it clear of the water ASAP?

It would be nice to know.

image191.jpg

image191crop.jpg

If you like this sort aerospace history and/or the other stuff I post, you can support the cause by Buying My Stuff, which includes aerospace drawings and documents, as well as the journal of unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft projects, Aerospace Projects Review. Or you could just Donate.

 Posted by at 10:35 am

Boeing Model 814-1012 Dyna Soar

 aircraft, models, projects, spacecraft  No Responses »
Sep 262009
 

One of Boeings earliest Dyna Soar designs, dating from about March, 1958. Terribly ’50’s in design, looks like a hood ornament. All angles and fins, including two ventral fins which would have had a hell of a time surviving re-entry. This image is made from two separate kinda blurry photos of presumably the same display model.

814-1012.jpg

 Posted by at 3:06 pm

Another Dyna Soar to the Moon

 models, projects, spacecraft  1 Response »
Sep 202009
 

A slightly later Boeing concept for using a Dyna Soar-like spaceplane as a lunar lander/Earth return vehicle. This one was likely designed to a higher degree of fidelity. I base this on two facts:

1) It has a much more realistic “Earth return vehicle size to launch vehicle size” ratio

2) It comes equipped with a Boeing model number (830-718) and weight numbers.

Scale can be roughly estimated by the tiny little figure at the bottom.

image13.jpg

 Posted by at 5:52 pm

Orion Battleship model: now in the Real World

 awesomeness, models, nukes, projects, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Sep 172009
 

A day or two back the mail dropped off the 3-D “printed” version of the 1/288 Orion Battleship. Since then I’ve been busily sanding, filling and polishing. The engineering of it turns out to have *largely* been spot-on, although I did model a few small areas that when printed were just too thin. Not to worry, revising these blips won’t take too long.

The turret turned out surprisingly well. I’m have photos in a day or two.

If you want the details on jsut what the Orion Battleship was, see HERE.

 Posted by at 12:31 am

Dyna Soar to the Moon

 aircraft, models, projects, spacecraft  8 Responses »
Sep 162009
 

A 1960 Boeing concept (most likely part of SR-183, kinda shown HERE) for manned lunar landing spacecraft based on Dyna Soar aerodynamics.

Compared the the Saturn V/Apollo spacecraft, the booster seems massively undersized. The Dyna Soar-derived spaceplane would land on the lunar surface and take off again for the trip to Earth… and the Dyna Soar was not a lightly constructed vehicle. As shown, the top half of the entire launch vehicle is lunar landing payload.

My guess is that this model was not built to reflect a fully-fleshed-out detailed engineering design, but might have instead been a “sketch” of a general concept. Evidence of that viewpoint will be posted soon.

image12asda.jpg

 Posted by at 10:39 am

Nexus on a stand

 awesomeness, models, projects, spacecraft  3 Responses »
Sep 162009
 

A stand will be included with the Nexus model. This is a first stab at it… I think it’s too big, and I’ll simply scale it down.

nexstand.jpg

UPDATE:

The CG of the CAD model is shown below. The CG of the actual physical model *should* be pretty close to the same location.

nxcg.jpg

To display the model with maximum stability, the support rod should go through the CG. An example of that for an arbitrary angle is shown here:

nexstand2.jpg  nexstand3.jpg

The model can be made to look less “lopsided” by either putting the rod through some point offset from the CG, or loading weight in the nose, shifting the CG forward

 Posted by at 10:22 am

Nexus payload

 aircraft, awesomeness, models, news, projects, science fiction, spacecraft  No Responses »
Sep 132009
 

Work proceeds on the payload section for the 1/288 Nexus. It will have a simple geometry, based on an interplanetary mission payload drawn for Nexus; the second stage was likely a nuclear stage. But even though it’s a simple shape is no reason to leave it bland…

nex1.jpg

nex2.jpg

The current schedule of models to be CADded up currently stands as this:

1) 1/288 Nexus

2) 1/72 “X-15D”

3) 1/72 S:AAB Hammerhead

4) 1/288 ROMBUS/Ithacus

5) 1/72 or 1/48 Tremulis “Zero Fighter”

6) 1/72 Super Hustler

7) 1/144 Copper Canyon/NASP

8 ) 1/144 NASA “Trailblazer”

And down the road:

1/288 Saturn V

1/288 N-1

1/288 Ares I

1/288 Ares V

 Posted by at 2:29 pm
 Older Entries  Newer Entries