US Bomber Projects #11, US Transport Projects #01 now available

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, books, drawings, history, new products, news, projects, rockets, sales & specials, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Transport Projects  1 Response »
Oct 202014
 

As well as the 11X17-format PDF collection of diagrams for USBP07 through 09.

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USBP 11

Issue 11 of US Bomber Projects is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #11 includes:

  • Boeing Model 464-40: The first all-jet-powered design in the quest for the B-52
  • North American D-118: A turboprop conversion of the F-82E into a ground attacker
  • Boeing Model 701-218: A twin engined supersonic concept
  • NAA Model 705-00-04: A ramjet cruise missile with a manned rocket booster
  • Northrop Nuclear Flying Wing: A well defended if rather hypothetical design
  • Martin Model 223-11: *almost* the XB-48
  • Boeing B-1: The design that might have beaten the Rockwell concept
  • Bell/Martin 464L: The submission that most closely resembled what the Dyna Soar eventually became

USBP #11 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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USTP 01

And also available, issue #01 of US Transport Projects. Done in the same format as US Bomber Projects, USTP will cover flying vehicles designed to transport cargo, passengers and troops. Issue 01 includes:

  • Redstone Troop Transport: An Army concept for a troop & supplies launcher
  • Lockheed CL-334-1: A small STOL battlefield transport
  • NASA LH2 747: A “three fuselage” hydrogen-fueled jetliner
  • Douglas DC-8-1004: A very clean pusher-prop passenger liner
  • Bell/Boeing/NASA ATT: A wasp-waisted transonic concept
  • Boeing Model 733-94: An early SST
  • Aereon Dynairship: A giant modern airship
  • Boeing Model 473-10: One of the earliest jetliner designs

USTP #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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Large format USBP drawings, Issues 07-09

The CAD drawings created for USBP reformatted and rescaled for 11X17 collected in a separate volume. Drawings have in some cases been corrected, improved and added to.

USBP 11X17 07-09 collects the diagrams created for issues 07, 08 and 09, including:

Boeing model 464-25; Boeing Model 828-2; Fairchild N-12; Rockwell D645-3; Boeing Model 701-273-7; Martin Model 223-7; Convair 464L Dyna Soar I; Convair 464L Dyna Soar III; Bell MX Hovercraft; Bell mobile defense platform; Boeing Model 464-27; Rockwell D645-6; Republic M-4.25; Martin MAMBA; Boeing Model 484-2-2 (twin-pod); Martin Model 223-8; Douglas 464L Dyna Soar I; Boeing Model 800-11A; Boeing Model 464-33-0; Consolidated Army Bombardment Type; GE Supersonic System 6X; Convair B/J-58 B-58C; Boeing Model 484-2-2; Martin Model 223-9; Northrop N-206 Dyna Soar I/II/III; Boeing Model 800-15A

USBP11x17-01-03 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $10:
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 Posted by at 7:35 am

Posting images in the comments section

 blather, Meh., news  3 Responses »
Oct 192014
 

An issue has popped up from time to time: people can’t post images in comments.

From what I’ve seen, you *can* post an image… if you’re merely posting a link to an image that’s already online somewhere. But as for the option of uploading an image from your computer straight into the comments… basically, don’t bother. Sometimes it works, but apparently usually it doesn’t. *I* can, but that seems to be because I have the proper authorization (or whatever you call it, it’s my blog). But I have attempted to upload images to *other* blog comments, and it has failed. So… apparently, unless it’s *your* blog, you can’t reliably upload pics.

Just one o’them things, I suppose.

 Posted by at 12:58 pm

Eboladumb

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Hmm..., news, ಠ_ಠ  3 Responses »
Oct 192014
 

And the hits keep coming:

Maine school board puts teacher on leave after she traveled to Dallas

A teacher visited Dallas, attended a conference *ten* *miles* from Dallas Presbyterian Hospital, and has been put on 21 days suspension because some parents freaked out. The cool thing for the teach? It’s a *paid* suspension. A three week staycation, away from the horrible little brats with the nightmarish helicopter parents.

Additionally:

A Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for the Washington Post, who photographed Ebola victims in Liberia in September, was disinvited from a photojournalism workshop at Syracuse University even though he showed no signs of the disease for 21 days after his return to the United States. On Thursday, a woman flying on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago vomited in the airplane, and was subsequently locked in a bathroom by flight staff. In Hazelhurst, Mississippi, a crowd of parents pulled their middle school students from class Friday after learning that the school’s principal recently had traveled to attend a family funeral in Zambia, which is in southern Africa and about 3,000 miles from the outbreak in West Africa.

Collating the data would be a chore, but I’d be interested in seeing what the Venn diagrams look like of “people who are freaking out about Ebola” and “people who think that vaccinations cause autism” and “people who think that alternative medicine isn’t nonsense” and “people who think evolution is a myth.”

There’s being cautious, and then there’s freaking out. A bit too much of the latter going on these days.

 Posted by at 9:09 am

Autism and AI

 blather, Hmm...  13 Responses »
Oct 182014
 

David Brin published a book early last year titled “Existence” that dealt with the sudden appearance of an alien artifact on the Earth of a generation or so down the line. It was a fairly expansive novel, covering a number of decades, and it included a whole bunch of interesting ideas that altered my thinking on a few topics (or at least led me to think about topics I previously hadn’t).

One topic of great importance in the novel was artificial intelligence. Another of lesser importance was autism. The two concepts actually run into each other in a substantial way in this New York Times  piece, which is presumably accurate and autobiographical:

To Siri, With Love
How One Boy With Autism Became B.F.F.’s With Apple’s Siri

In short, a 13-year-old boy with autism (sounds more like Aspergers) finds the Iphones Siri. And the result: the boy’s mother can finally get a moments peace. One of the well-known little features of Aspergers is obsession with various obscure topics (such as, in this case, the weather), and an insatiable need to discuss those obsessions. For people who don’t share them, such discussions would be unceasingly dreary. But for an artificially intelligent telephone with access to the sum total of human knowledge, there is no such thing as boredom or disinterest in *any* topic. And so the obsessed little kid can yammer on at length with Siri.

This is of course good for those who would otherwise get roped in (I can remember the look of exasperation on my parents faces when I started blathering on about Star Trek or dinosaurs). But it would seem to me to probably also be good for the autistic. Sure, it’d be better to have actual *human* two-way interactions, but such are not generally feasible on arcane topics. As the article suggests, the constant back and forth with the machine seems to make the autistic kid better at back and forth with humans. Perhaps Siri is functioning kinda like a flight simulator, but with interpersonal relationships rather than aircraft.

It might be considered sad that this kids best friend is a small, fairly dumb robot. But considering that the alternative would be to have *no* friends…

 Posted by at 1:58 pm

Patreon bonus: American aircraft Gatling guns… descriptions, diagrams, data

 aircraft, drawings, history, weapons  No Responses »
Oct 182014
 

I’ve uploaded a PDF file of some good diagrams of American aircraft Gatling guns to my Patreon “creations” page for all my patrons. Some years ago I made photocopies of these pages from… something. Clearly it was an Interavia publication, but I couldn’t tell you what with any certainty. A quick Google search indicates that the “Interavia Data” volume on “Aircraft Weaponry” is a good bet. if anyone knows for certain, I’d be happy to have some sort of confirmation.

 

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 10:59 am

X-37B return in photos

 aircraft, history, Hmm..., news, photography, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Oct 182014
 

The X-37B has been lurking in orbit since December, 2012 doing… whatever it was it was doing. Suspicions generally revolve around it performing recon missions of some kind. But it has returned at last to a safe runway landing. Some good photos from an just after that landing are here:

 Posted by at 9:17 am

Mark Of The…

 Hmm...  2 Responses »
Oct 182014
 

I seem to recall hearing about people freaking out about just this sot of thing…

A smart tattoo implanted under your skin? Meet the next wave in wearables

The backbone of Project Underskin is a sub-dermal tattoo that would be implanted into your hand and would interact with everything you touch. You’d be branded with the ability to unlock your door, track your health or exchange information with a handshake.

Useful? Yes, very likely. Creepy? Oh, you betcha.

 Posted by at 9:11 am
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