Jun 302014
 

I have a pretty fair supply of interesting documents and large format drawings… but not an infinite supply. Consequently, I’m in the market. Do you have interesting aerospace (aircraft, missiles, spacecraft or even perhaps unusual naval or terrestrial projects) documents, large format diagrams or actual blueprints? If so, let’s talk. I’d like to borrow, rent or buy such things. My preference is of course for unbuilt projects, but basically *anything* interesting would be… interesting.

If you have something you’d be willing to share, but not give away, I’d be happy to scan it and send it back ASAP. Alternatively, I’d be happy with good scans.

Additionally: a lot of interesting stuff pops up on eBay. I am actively trolling eBay for such things; just bought two documents tonight. But there’s so much stuff on eBay, with such weird and divergent descriptions, that I can’t possibly hope to catch everything. So if you see something on eBay that looks interesting, by all means let me know.

 Posted by at 10:19 pm
Jun 302014
 

Woo! As it stands now to get the full-rez versions of large format diagrams and brochures costs a mere $5 per month, which gets you two of ’em… meaning that at $2.50 each, that’s less than I normally sell these things for individually. And of course those pledging more than that get more goodies in the form of CAD diagrams.

The next milestone will obviously take it to three uploads a month. Personally I have high hopes that I will eventually get to where I’m doing six uploads a month. That seems about right.

I need to add a Patreon link thingie to the righthand side of the blog. I think I’ll simply replace the “subscribe” button, because let’s face it, that now seems pretty obsolete. How’s about this for the image to go with it:

patreonlink

Too subtle?

 

 Posted by at 10:35 am
Jun 302014
 

Here are photos of portions of a few documents I’m considering as Patreon rewards. These have not yet been scanned in; some will require a bit of effort to make them presentable, but all are pretty interesting in my view. If I understand the Patreon system correctly, the system debits the credit cards or PayPal accounts of those who have pledged at the “end of the month ” (any day now, I expect), and the rewards will be distributed a few days later – when I have them ready – to those who have been successfully charged. The upshot is that if you buy in the day *after* billing, you don’t get the rewards for this month, but only *next* month. So you miss out on the first batch. The $100 benchmark is safely in the past, and there seems to be a slow creep towards the $200 benchmark, which will mean two uploads as rewards for the first month is feasible. In the event that the contribution level gets there, I’ll try to have one large format drawing and one document per month, so long as that’s practical.

So if you don’t want to miss anything, sign up soon!

A NASA report from 1972 showing a *lot* of designs for Space Shuttle concepts. Includes designs that clearly foreshadowed the Shuttle as actually built, as well as some really wacky ones.

WP_20140630_001 WP_20140630_002 WP_20140630_003 WP_20140630_004

 

Two official aircraft recognition guides from the early 1950s to help ground observers tell friendlies from potential bandits.WP_20140630_005 WP_20140630_006

 

A Convair report from 1948 on an assault seaplane. Includes a *lot* of excessively detailed design diagrams. This one might have to be broken up into several parts due to the size of it.WP_20140630_007 WP_20140630_008 WP_20140630_009 WP_20140630_010 WP_20140630_011 WP_20140630_012

 

A report on the Regulus II missile which includes detailed diagrams of both the tactical missile version and the reusable test flight version. Some really snazzy large foldouts, which will require a bit of work to clean up.WP_20140630_014 WP_20140630_015 WP_20140630_016

 Posted by at 1:01 am
Jun 282014
 

Yay! I’ve gone over the $100 benchmark in my Patreon campaign, so I will be releasing at least one large format image or high-rez scanned aerospace document per month. It’s only a pittance per month to get in on this!

These are vastly-reduced versions of some of the diagrams I may include as rewards for Patreon patronage. Not all are unbuilt aerospace projects, obviously, but all are, I trust, of interest to those interested in aerospace. If interested, please consider joining my Patreon campaign. Also to be provided are PDFs of aerospace documents.

patreonb-45 patreona5 patreona2j patreonxb-70 8engineawacs patreonua-1207 patreonnervadiagram patreonx-15a-3b patreonnervaart patreontacbj-58 patreonbj-58 patreonsuperhustler patreonx-15a-3 patreona-4 patreon2707-200 patreondynasoar patreonatlassiiar patreonhsct patreonarrow patreonx-15i

 Posted by at 10:53 pm
Jun 282014
 

It’s not power armor; it’s not fully mechanical cybernetic limbs. It’s not even repaired nerve tissue. But hey, it’s a start.

[youtube 2Xd27c-pz4Y]

And as an aside: that YouTube video led me to the following video. Which I cannot begin to explain. I think it goes like this:

“Why?”

“Because Japan, that’s why.”

[youtube tYgHdxmCcAI]

 Posted by at 10:06 pm
Jun 282014
 

Yow. A sudden 55-mph gust scatters some Super Cub towplanes around the US Air Force Academy airfield on April 23. Some pretty fast piloting saves the day. But I’m not sure if some underwear was lost…

[youtube b_WmjWAGkLI]

 Posted by at 9:23 pm
Jun 282014
 

Here’s some *spectacular* nightmare fuel:

Welcome to doll island (if you dare): Secret shrine to little girl who drowned more than 50 years ago has become a creepy tourist attraction

In short, a whole lot of dolls hanging on walls and fences and trees and such. Including some effectively realistic “baby” dolls, that now look like dead babies. For instance, the third one down looks like someone hung an infant from a tree.
wellimdone
 Posted by at 5:30 pm