Reusable Atlas
scottl...@ix.netcom.com
flyback version of the Atlas. The core would be structurally
strengthened, the booster engines would be permanently afixed, wings,
landing gear, jet engines and a cockpit would be added.
Additionally, the Centaur would be repackaged as the propulsion system
for a lifting body "space shuttle." End result would be a fully
reusable space launcher based in part on existing hardware.
I have a GD/Convair report on this concept availabel here::
http://www.up-ship.com/drawndoc/drawndocsale.htm
snidely
kinda cute and cuddly.
/dps
Pat Flannery
snidely wrote:
> The booster kinda has a "brontosaurus" look, but the spaceplane is
> kinda cute and cuddly.
>
It's going to take a lot of "reinforcement" to make that booster
capable of taking the heat it's going to encounter as it returns to the
surface after the spaceplane separates.
"Winged Titan" was fairly impressive looking also:
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/wintitan.htm
Pat
mh...@ohiohills.com
> The booster kinda has a "brontosaurus" look, but the spaceplane is
> kinda cute and cuddly.
The space plane looks like the Lunex spacecraft.
Yeah, the booster looks a bit awkward.
(There's another one on the page, the Martin Midget attack plane, that
looks like a jet version of the WW2 BV-40 glider fighter.)
Mike
mh...@ohiohills.com
> kinda cute and cuddly.
And another appearance comment: the booster looks like someone at
Convair had a special relationship with the nose of the B-36. The
similarity is remarkable. One wonders why whoever it was didn't go
with the pointed YB-60 nose, which had the same bubble canopy.
Mike
OM
>On May 13, 11:43 pm, snidely <Snidely....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The booster kinda has a "brontosaurus" look, but the spaceplane is
>> kinda cute and cuddly.
>
>The space plane looks like the Lunex spacecraft.
...If you look at about 90% of the lifting body concepts from that
period, they all pretty much resemble the LUNEX/HL-10/M#-F# shape -
ergo, the offpspring of a bathtub and a spade that had the
aerodynamics of a brick that at least managed to learn how to glide.
...As for the other 10%, they all still managed to have some sort of
wing configuration, even the lenticular ones.
OM
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Pat Flannery
mh...@ohiohills.com wrote:
> The space plane looks like the Lunex spacecraft.
>
> Yeah, the booster looks a bit awkward.
>
> (There's another one on the page, the Martin Midget attack plane, that
> looks like a jet version of the WW2 BV-40 glider fighter.)
>
Yeah, it looks kinda clumsy, but the A-4 Skyhawk showed just how much
attack capability could be packed into a small airframe.
Now, what the Skyhawk needed was that bomb on the end of a cable it
could unreel to destroy pursuing MiG's like the BV-40 had. They wouldn't
have been expecting _that_ over North Vietnam
By the way, I designed the BV-437
nuclear-pulse-jet-powered-forward-swept-asymmetrical-flying-wing-heavy-bomber
...with integral parasite fighter and 800 mm recoilless cannon for
firing botulism shells over NYC, if you want me to send you a jpg or bmp
with its 3-view, specs, and history. :-)
Pat
Pat Flannery
mh...@ohiohills.com wrote:
> And another appearance comment: the booster looks like someone at
> Convair had a special relationship with the nose of the B-36. The
> similarity is remarkable. One wonders why whoever it was didn't go
> with the pointed YB-60 nose, which had the same bubble canopy.
>
And you know, you don't need a canopy like that on it... a single pilot
in a X-15 type cockpit will do just fine for flying it back, and would
match the expected descent speed well.
Pat
Pat Flannery
OM wrote:
> ...If you look at about 90% of the lifting body concepts from that
> period, they all pretty much resemble the LUNEX/HL-10/M#-F# shape -
> ergo, the offpspring of a bathtub and a spade that had the
> aerodynamics of a brick that at least managed to learn how to glide.
>
Assuming you don't stall out while gliding in for landing on the runway,
the poor aerodynamics might be an advantage in bleeding off speed during
reentry and landing approach, so you could avoid the speed loss banking
of the Shuttle on the way down.
The X-24B/FDL-7 design was the flip side of that concept; it had
remarkably low hypersonic drag during reentry, and a spectacular
cross-range capability once it was in the upper atmosphere.
(See the drag/cross-range graph in "The Hypersonic Revolution")
Landing speed would have been a lot higher than the Shuttle for a
FDL-7/8 based shuttle orbiter-sized vehicle, but its layout would have
given it great internal volume for its size and overall weight.
Pat
OM
wrote:
>By the way, I designed the BV-437
>nuclear-pulse-jet-powered-forward-swept-asymmetrical-flying-wing-heavy-bomber
>...with integral parasite fighter and 800 mm recoilless cannon for
>firing botulism shells over NYC, if you want me to send you a jpg or bmp
>with its 3-view, specs, and history. :-)
...You're *still* pushing the botulism payload? Pat, I thought we
talked about this. To the average Noo Yawker, botulism is about as
dangerous as Lite Beer.
Pat Flannery
OM wrote:
> ...You're *still* pushing the botulism payload? Pat, I thought we
> talked about this. To the average Noo Yawker, botulism is about as
> dangerous as Lite Beer.
>
The key point is _where_ the botulism is fired into to create the
maximum psychological effect... in this case "Katz's Deli":
http://www.katzdeli.com/
Once the Katz's salamis are contaminated with botulism, no non-Jewish
New Yorker shall ever go near the place again, and the old calumny of
Jews poisoning food for Christians shall be reinforced - leading to a
complete breakdown of mainstream support for the war on Germany.
At least that was the theory Der Fuhrer expressed on the initiation of
the design of the aircraft.
Then he went back to gnawing the carpet, and muttering something "The
New Aryan Man" living off only blutwurst and dark mustard.
Here's a goody for your knowledge of obscure things; I'm presently
watching the movie "Mannequin"... the movie sucks, but they've got a lot
of interesting artists on the soundtrack...the theme song is done by
Belinda Carlisle, with what sounds like Jane Wiedlin's orchestration ...
never heard that song before.
They just ran another song by another female artist who sounds very
familiar, but I can't identify, from the same period.
Meanwhile, although that movie's star - Kim Cattrall - has never turned
my crank...I've got to admit that Sarah Jessica Parker set a new
standard for odd headwear during the "Sex In The City" movie premier
in London:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/slideshows/sexcity/pixsexcity.xml
You stick _that_ hat on top of someone wearing Bjork's "swan
dress"...and you've got a fashion plate from the Superman Bizarro World.
:-D
Pat
Neil Gerace
some parts of the world.