Boeing "Quiet Bird" 1962 Stealth project

[LowObservable]

Paul MM - Yes. A classic example of the pre-1975 problem, which was that you could design something that looked right and used the proper materials but you could never know whether it worked until you put the thing on the pole. A Lockheed scientist talking about the use of computing for RCS design in 1992 said that you could in theory get to very low RCS through building, testing, fixing and re-testing models but, as he put it, "you run out of wall-clock time".

 

[Stargazer]

So. What else is lurking in 'Private Discussions'?

Actually not much from what I can remember. This was the most spectacular of the lot I think!

 

[CiTrus90]

Merged with 6 year old topic from Private Discussions as pictures and info are now public.

So. What else is lurking in 'Private Discussions'? Lord Lucan?

"Private Discussion"? What "Private Discussions"?


Regards.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Nothing very interesting, really. It was a place to post stuff for "Senior Members" only, mostly things people didn't want Google to index for the world to see. Not used much if at all recently. I also don't generally assign senior member status any more.

 

[AeroFranz]

This just showed up

Never-Seen Photos Of Boeing's 1960s Stealth Jet Concept That Predicted The Future

For years, all the aviation world knew about Boeing’s secret stealth project from the 1960s was limited to a name and a single mysterious photo. It seemed like a relic out of time, possessing many stealthy design features that wouldn’t exist until decades later, and even then, only in highly...

foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com

 

[Arjen]

Big thanks to everyone for posting all this "Quiet Bird" stuff.

 

[Mr London 24/7]

These Images also now appearing at Boeingimages.com (from where they can be purchased etc)

The Quiet Bird was a version of the Boeing Model 853 which started out as an Army observation airplane study, this version of the 853 study was used to test materials and shapes that would reduce radar cross sections (RCS). The model was built and tested in 1962- 1963 at Boeing Wichita, these test were on a radar range and no actual flight testing was done. The tests reportedly achieved excellent results in reduced radar cross section, but it was a bit ahead of its time and did not generate interest from the military. The lessons learned on Quiet Bird probably did influence the design of the Boeing AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile. Internally Boeing continued to work on the non-metallic structures aspects that were pioneered with Quiet Bird, and that effort eventually lead to the use of increasingly larger and more complex composite structures in Boeing aircraft.

 

[Stargazer]

This just showed up
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/never-seen-photos-of-boeings-1960s-stealth-jet-concept-1732308296

No, it didn't. It's been here since yesterday, see Reply #68.

 

[AeroFranz]

oops! never mind!

 

[Michel Van]

there Article about this plane at Foxtrot alpha by Tyler Rogoway

Never-Seen Photos Of Boeing's 1960s Stealth Jet Concept That Predicted The Future

For years, all the aviation world knew about Boeing’s secret stealth project from the 1960s was limited to a name and a single mysterious photo. It seemed like a relic out of time, possessing many stealthy design features that wouldn’t exist until decades later, and even then, only in highly...

foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com

 

[flateric]

We have the third competitor!)

 

[sublight_]

there Article about this plane at Foxtrot alpha by Tyler Rogoway

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/never-seen-photos-of-boeings-1960s-stealth-jet-concept-1732308296

Michel, welcome to Tuesday Sept 22nd... ;D

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Jim Pinckney
9/23/15 10:59am
I have a model of this from the 60’s. My grandfather was an engineer at Boeing.

From the comments - seems a model has survived.

 

[quellish]

From the comments - seems a model has survived.

Components of the RCS model which were representative of the novelty outlined in the patents were in storage at Boeing at least until 1986.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Which can be 4 924 228

http://www.google.com/patents?id=PwcjAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&rview=1&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

And connected to this one: http://www.google.com/patents?id=aO...rce=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Somebody stop me! ;D

Current Patent URL: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4924228A/

(and US5014060, US5016015, US5063384, US5128678 which seem to be the same)

Note that, thanks to R. Craig Baucke and his book "The Hide Project - The Untold Tale of Stealth in Tulsa, Oklahoma" we know that Dr. Robert Strattan, one of the engineers cited in this patent, moved from Boeing to North American Aviation (Tulsa) shortly afterwards and became a key figure in HIDE, the NAA "stealth" department.

 

[sublight_]

Note that, thanks to R. Craig Baucke and his book "The Hide Project - The Untold Tale of Stealth in Tulsa, Oklahoma" we know that Dr. Robert Strattan, one of the engineers cited in this patent, moved from Boeing to North American Aviation (Tulsa) shortly afterwards and became a key figure in HIDE, the NAA "stealth" department.