Boeing "Quiet Bird" 1962 Stealth project

That's the RCS model. When the hell did they release this one?
 
SOC said:
That's the RCS model. When the hell did they release this one?
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And how is it YOU know about it? (And what else have you been holding out on? :) )
 
Is 6-8-62 the date the picture was taken?
If that's the case, I'm impressed. the model seems to conform more to what we now understand to be 'stealth rules' than other early designs (chined fuselage, flat bottom, Vee-tails, shielded fan face, although no planform alignment). All the more so because I thought Boeing was a late starter in the field of LO.

For early stealth designs, see

Do you know what was the mission? Light attack?
 
We already heard about it ::) Yay! I must be much observing next time.

And then there are th issues of extremely long periods between application and grant. I can recall off the top of my head at least one aircraft design (Boeing "Quiet Bird") that spent about 30 years between application and publication; an early stealth aircraft from the 1960's that wasn't patented until after the F-117 and B-2 were flying around in broad daylight.
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Orionblamblam said:
Matej said:
Which can be 4 924 228
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Yup, that's the one. Notice that it was filed in 1963, but only granted in 1990. That means that a patent filed for a stealth aircraft designed in 1962 only expired two years ago.
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I've seen the same patent behavior before with very, very secret stuff. I would have to look around, but as I recall there were a number of VLO satellite patents from the 60s and 70s that were all granted on about the same day in the 90s.
From what I have heard this is common practice for some three letter agencies, I may have a reference for that.
 
Matej said:
Just WOW! I also want to know more!
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I have more, freely and openly obtained from Boeing a fesw years back. But since then relations with Boeing have gotten... a little creepy. Which is why I posted it here, rather than in a public forum. I've been wanting to do an APR article on this for a few years, but I'll need to do a complete redraw of all the diagrams (and there are a number), as well as procure new "art." Unfortunately, while I have the design down pretty pat, the actual *story* is at best vague. There was not a whole lot of explanatory documentation.
 
Patent says its a recce aircraft. Its actually quite interesting, goes into some depth on the RAM stuff, though the shaping is rudimentary.
 
sferrin said:
And how is it YOU know about it? (And what else have you been holding out on? :) )
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You forget...I'm awesome B)
 
Wouldn't this be about the same time frame as the Compass Arrow UAV? Compass Arrow had inward canted fins, though, but the general configuration seems similar.
 
Awesome, thanks Scott. I had a feeling the tail was v shaped.


I'm drawing this old-skool style as my school is on break for two weeks and I don't have AutoCAD at home.
 
XP67_Moonbat said:
Awesome, thanks Scott. I had a feeling the tail was v shaped.


I'm drawing this old-skool style as my school is on break for two weeks and I don't have AutoCAD at home.
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Drawings are coming. The scans are on my hard drive, easily accessible; the drawings are on paper, somewhat less accessible. And I suspect I'll be re-drawing them.
 
If it was an army project, I wonder if the "Quiet Bird" name has any relation to the fixed wing O-1 Bird Dog - maybe a low observable observation platform? Sort of a manned UAV? Predecessor to the Lockheed YO-3A "Quiet Star" programme?
 
"Quiet" code is permanently assigned to the US Army, according to designation-systems.net. So assuming Quiet Bird is an official codeword and not a Boeing name, then it must be an Army project, confirming what Scott says is on the drawing.

I'm betting on a "stealthy" observation platform.
 
O-4
The designation ZO-4A (indicating a design in the planning stage) was reserved by the USAF on 28 May 1969. The O-4 was to be a quiet observation aircraft, similar in concept to the Lockheed YO-3A. It seems that one candidate (possibly the only one) for the O-4 requirement was the Wren 460QB, a modified Wren 460B (itself a highly modified derivative of the Cessna 182). In 1969, the USAF proposed the purchase of 28 of these aircraft. However, the O-4 program was terminated in the early 1970s because of budget restrictions.
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The Wren 460QB was also "Quiet Bird".
 
Given the lack of weapons bay, it could well be a reconnaissance bird. At the same time, wouldn't it then be a two seater?
 
If it was indeed an Army effort, it would have been interesting to see how the USAF would have reacted to a swept-wing jet combat aircraft in the Army inventory... even if it did meet the weight restrictions of the Key West Accord.
 
AeroFranz said:
Given the lack of weapons bay, it could well be a reconnaissance bird.
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No, it looks to be pretty much a research plane. I have no doubt that there were plans for operational variants (the drawings I have - which match the photos - are for the Model 853-21, indicating at least 20 other versions), but this particular plane had almost no payload capability of any kind. It was a really small plane. Looks to have been a flying RCS target, little more.
 
It make sense - kind of a proof of concept manned demonstrator like the XST. Its streamlined shape is likely more related to signature management rather than speed.
 
New topic

No outlandish posting of speculative images this time. I should have known better than to have put forward anything like the "flaming pumpkinseed" thingy - like pouring gasoline on a fire. Any information on the Quietbird from Boeing or on the
YF-113G.

Vulture
 
Yes. We have photos of the Boeing Quiet Bird mockup posted in a forum section visible to senior members. Its a 1962 project for a reduced RCS Army observation aircraft. Not well known, but not very secret, and not built.
 
overscan said:
I don't think they are connected. YF-113G is a cover designation for another program.
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Quiet Bird predates the designations that include YF-113G.
 

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