C-130 V/STOL modification projects

[AeroFranz]

The main rotor is unpowered (this being a gyroplane), so there would be no engine and no gearbox. I can't remember if it's supposed to have tipjets of prespin the rotor for a jumpstart.

 

[Jemiba]

The concept is the re-incarnation of the Fairey Rotodyne (and that's told by Groen
Brothers Aviation, too) and it uses tipjets, as is mentioned on the companies website,
too (http://www.groenbros.com/).

 

[Stargazer]

The picture seems to show some tipjets.

 

[Batman10]

Oh I see it like an Auto Gyro, with rockets or jet engines on the rotor tips.

Out of the Box thinking.

Is the real world ready for it yet?

It is part of the renaissance of Blimps / Zeppelins and other aeronautical ideas.

Batman

 

[Batman10]

The Stretch STOL Article can be found in the issue of Air International October 1977 pg 209,210.
cheers
Batman

 

[foiling]

Thanks Batman10; I doubt that I have that issue, as I don't recognise the article. Where I live, the local magazine store did not often get the same mags - especially the better ones - in regularly; so much as one might enjoy them, it was very difficult to purchase them consistently. This is still the case, but there are bigger stores in nearby suburbs. I would thus, still enjoy seeing an enlargment of the stretched aircraft - if possible. Thanks.

 

[foiling]

I found this by chance in Janes 2006 - 2007.

 

[Batman10]

There are drawings there is a big one right under the article and the HTTB drawings.
It's all the same concept aircraft as to size.
Lockheed engineers discovered that a C130 or L 100 20 8 feet 4 inches stretch was perfect for the STOL concept. Optimal for what was needed.

This is why and L100-20 was picked as the HTTB vehicle to test and prove these concepts.

Batman

 

[Jemiba]

Found in AviationWeek June 1960: The C-130B STOL, using boundary layer control
by bleed air supplied by two additional turbojets, housed in underwing pods.
Photos showing the prototype, the turbo jet engine pods (open and closed),
the internal arrangement of the BLC system and a cross section of the flap
and duct system in the wing.

 

[AeroFranz]

Thanks Jemiba! this is a topic of interest to me. Does the article say anything about which jet engines it uses and any short field performance metrics (such as stall speed or maximum CLmax achieved)?

Thanks!

 

[Jemiba]

the jet engines were Allison YT-56-A-6, landing speed for the BLC C-130 was 70 mph
(compared to 105 mph for the unmodified C-130), stall speed was just above 50 mph
(compared to 85 mph). The requirement which resulted in this Lockheed proposal called
for a transport, which could carry a 20.000 lbs 1000 nautical miles out off and into an
unprepared airfield with a length of 500 ft. Cruisingn speed of the BLC C-130 was about
10 kts lower, than of the standard C-130.

 

[AeroFranz]

Excellent! these are very good performance characteristics from which it's possible to extrapolate the increase in lift (Delta CL) achieved by the BLC system. Will post something when i find my calculator
The T56s were the main engines, I assume. Did the article say what the auxiliary jets were? Like J85s or similar small turbojet?

Thanks a lot!

 

[fightingirish]

AeroFranz,
the auxiliary jets or gas generators on that Lockheed NC-130B Hercules s/n 80712 (58-0712)
are YJ56-A-6 engines (or YT56-A-6 depending on source). They were only used to provide bleed air for a boundary-layer control system even though it was a jet version of the T56.
See this Blog: http://herkeng.blogspot.com/2007/05/nc-130b-six-engined-herk.html B)


A beautiful colour picture:
http://www.cloud9photography.us/Military-Aviation-9/Lockheed-C-130-Hercules/9082527_mBRBW/2/723331042_L2Tnx/Large

 

[AeroFranz]

Thanks for the clarification. Using the same gas generator for the main and auxiliary engines would have had obvious maintenance benefits. Did not know about the straight-jet T56...you learn something new everyday (especially on this forum!)

 

[Johnbr]

Found on the net today.

 

[Orionblamblam]

A result of the same research in augmentor wings that led to the XFV-12. And given that the XFV-12 failed utterly to lurch itself into sky due to unforeseen scaling effects, it's a safe bet that had this plane been built, it would have made a loud noise, would have stirred up the dirt on the runway, and would have just sat there like a dead lump.

 

[AeroFranz]

We have a thread containing all the Hercules mods. Maybe we should move these posts there.

 

[hesham]

Hi Johnbr,


we spoke about it here;


http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2701.msg16823.html#msg16823


please merge those topics.

 

[hesham]

From JP4 magazine,


the Lockheed C-130H STOL aircraft.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

here is a hypothetical VTOL aircraft,used the airframe of C-130.

http://archive.aviationweek.com/image/spread/19620917/6/2

 

[hesham]

This project probably fits into several other threads, too, a VTOL
version of the C-130 Hercules, designed by Rockwell.
It was intended to use the thrust-augmented concept, as in the
XFV-12, and my have failed in the same way !
(from Aviation Week 1975 14-21)

A clearer views;

http://archive.aviationweek.com/search?exactphrase=true&QueryTerm=general+electric+sTOL&start=240&rows=20&DocType=Article&Sort=&SortOrder=&startdate=1916-08-01&enddate=2018-09-17&LastViewIssueKey=&LastViewPage=

 

[elmayerle]

Many a year ago (summer of 1972 to be exact) Lockheed had a display at the Turin Air Show with a three-view of a proposed V/STOL C-130 variant powered by four Pegasus engines. I do not believe I have seen anything about that since. It would be nice to know more about it.

 

[Apophenia]

One of Lockheed's March 1972 AMST submissions had a C-130 fuselage and thrust-vectoring. Maybe that was it? Fairchild also submitted a Pegasus-engined deisng for AMST.

STOL Progenitors: The Technology Path to a Large STOL Transport and the C-17A, Bill Norton, AIAA, 2002, page 51

 

[elmayerle]

Could be. It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit faded. That does sound right, though. Is that reference readily available? It sounds like one I definitely would like.

 

[stevoe]

Could have been this one...maybe

Regards
Stephan

 

[robunos]

AW.681 . . . is that you ? ;D :


cheers,
Robin.

 

[Apophenia]

Very nice Stephan!

Evan: Bill Norton's book is available on Amazon ... but for silly money https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1563475766/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6
Some pages are available on Google Books.

AW.681 . . . is that you ? ...

;D ;D

 

[Archibald]

Now that's one hell of an idea... an Hercules with four Harrier engines. the kind of "what didn't we thought about it before" idea. Although hot gas re-ingestion isues might be... interesting. Or maybe not: it is a STOL and not VTOL. No compressor, cold air.
A SHAR engine was barely ten ton thrust so four of them should be able to lift 40 tons. A Hercules is far heavier than that. So STOL makes more sense than VTOL.

 

[Foo Fighter]

STOL with any kind of load like the C-130 makes more sense than VTOL, an engine out situation is a scary scenario in that the ability to transition would be completely impossible so crew/aircraft/load loss would be inevitable.

 

[Archibald]

Would have been useful for "credible sport" - the C-130 that was to land in Teheran stadium to land commandos and free the hostages. In place of it they tried to put retrorockets... and it ended pretty badly.

 

[hesham]

Could have been this one...maybe

Regards
Stephan

Nice find Stevoe,and yes it was AMST proposal.

 

[stevoe]

Here some more pictures, but I don't know where I found this...

Regards
Stephan

 

[hesham]

Hi,

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a177750.pdf

 

[thefrecklepuny]

Like the turbofanned Hercules. Reminds me of an E-2 turbofan concept proposed some time ago.

 

[circle-5]

Here some more pictures, but I don't know where I found this...

Regards
Stephan

That's not a Hercules modification. That's the Lockheed entry for the C-X competition, which was won by the McDonnell Douglas C-17.

 

[masher47]

Sorry for the warp and quality. Not allowed to lay flat or scan.....

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

That's great, the text is readable at least.

I've considered one of these myself : https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shine-ultra-next-gen-portable-powerful-scanner#/

It's basically a digital camera on a mount which also projects grid lines onto the page, which allow it to detect the page curve and then compensate in software. It also apparently detects page turns so you don't have to keep pressing a button.

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 1963,

here is a small Info about GL-298 STOL aircraft.

 

[mr5oa]

What about this?

 

[Orionblamblam]

What about this?

The frak is that??