Darkstar hypersonic plane from Top Gun 2: Maveric

[Orionblamblam]

anyone here read the story about a project called "RS-85 Dolos", started service in 1993 -

I hope that image is production art for the movie, not a final product. That white spraypaint "aging" looks freakin' low effort.

 

[Q-nimbus]

It was an april fools’ joke of a few years ago.

https://hushkit.net/2019/04/01/reve...e-of-top-secret-mach-6-rs-85-aurora-spyplane/

 

[robot700]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

 

[Rhinocrates]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

No relation I presume, no weapons so smart that they discuss phenomenology.

 

[Spey_Phantom]

Screengrab from Top Gun: Mavericks secret X-plane (SR72?).
just seen in Lady Gaga's videoclip for the movie theme.

 

[robot700]

here's another story :

Skunk Works Helped Create The Darkstar Jet For Top Gun: Maverick

Skunk Works helped dream up the high-speed test jet Maverick flies in the Top Gun sequel, bringing another level of realism to the production.

www.thedrive.com

 

[Forest Green]

Skunk Works Helped Create The Darkstar Jet For Top Gun: Maverick

Skunk Works helped dream up the high-speed test jet Maverick flies in the Top Gun sequel, bringing another level of realism to the production.

www.thedrive.com

​

 

[TomS]

Skunk Works Helped Create The Darkstar Jet For Top Gun: Maverick

Skunk Works helped dream up the high-speed test jet Maverick flies in the Top Gun sequel, bringing another level of realism to the production.

www.thedrive.com

​

If LM is advising, you can be sure the goal was to make sure the movie prop does not look too much like a real operational aircraft. Like NG's role in Stealth, the objective is to make a plane that is plausible looking but definitely wrong.

 

[X-39]

Despite being advertised as realistic, still has that plastic movie prop feel to it, yeah like this one:

And i can't help but also see a slight reminiscence to Rodrigo's FX (with tails) in this shot, idk maybe it's just me:

 

[publiusr]

“All the drone nerds get all the funds so we have to go to Hollywood now that Branson sold out!”

Now to have it face off with Firefox

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Weq0QSt-U


Thank you for everything, Mr. Jein.

 

[Pokitren]

Skunk Works Helped Create The Darkstar Jet For Top Gun: Maverick

Skunk Works helped dream up the high-speed test jet Maverick flies in the Top Gun sequel, bringing another level of realism to the production.

www.thedrive.com

​

If LM is advising, you can be sure the goal was to make sure the movie prop does not look too much like a real operational aircraft. Like NG's role in Stealth, the objective is to make a plane that is plausible looking but definitely wrong.

To prevent spies from taking advantage of the information

 

[Q-nimbus]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

This will be pretty high on the list of ‘things that didn’t happen in…’ whatever year it was.

 

[TomS]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

This will be pretty high on the list of ‘things that didn’t happen in…’ whatever year it was.

This is a sea story.

How would the Chinese know to redirect a satellite in the first place? On the rare occasion that observing satellite orbits do get changed, it's because the owners have advanced knowledge of something of extreme interest. But if China already had knowledge that this model was sitting out in the open, they would also know what it was and why it wasn't worth bothering.

 

[riggerrob]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

This will be pretty high on the list of ‘things that didn’t happen in…’ whatever year it was.

This is a sea story.

How would the Chinese know to redirect a satellite in the first place? On the rare occasion that observing satellite orbits do get changed, it's because the owners have advanced knowledge of something of extreme interest. But if China already had knowledge that this model was sitting out in the open, they would also know what it was and why it wasn't worth bothering.

A wise spy confirms - or denies - new evidence from a wide variety of angles. You can be certain that Chinese spies were also digging through dumpsters and plying Darkstar engineers with too many beers.

 

[TomS]

A wise spy confirms - or denies - new evidence from a wide variety of angles. You can be certain that Chinese spies were also digging through dumpsters and plying Darkstar engineers with too many beers.

But a wise satellite ops manager doesn't use up delta-v unless he absolutely has to. Every burn that isn't a reboost is time off a satellite's service life.

 

[sferrin]

A wise spy confirms - or denies - new evidence from a wide variety of angles. You can be certain that Chinese spies were also digging through dumpsters and plying Darkstar engineers with too many beers.

But a wise satellite ops manager doesn't use up delta-v unless he absolutely has to. Every burn that isn't' a reboost is time off a satellite's service life.

Hell, they probably have people inside Northrop Grumman who'd already let them know it's a movie prop.

 

[quellish]

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ producer says Darkstar looked so real, China moved spy satellite to see it - Sandboxx

The long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” will fly into theaters later this month, and while most of the movie features very real U.S. Navy aircraft, there’s one exotic platform aviation buffs might not recognize: the hypersonic Darkstar. Darkstar may not be a real airplane, but it certainly looks...

www.sandboxx.us

This will be pretty high on the list of ‘things that didn’t happen in…’ whatever year it was.

This is a sea story.

How would the Chinese know to redirect a satellite in the first place? On the rare occasion that observing satellite orbits do get changed, it's because the owners have advanced knowledge of something of extreme interest. But if China already had knowledge that this model was sitting out in the open, they would also know what it was and why it wasn't worth bothering.

It’s typical to see something and retask to get additional coverage,ie additional passes

 

[Yellow Palace]

Conspiracy hat on: a satellite got diverted to look at something else, which happened to line up with the film activity. At least one involved party sees some benefit in putting it out there that the diversion was because of the movie prop, and not the real Very Interesting Thing. Whatever that might be.

 

[sferrin]

Conspiracy hat on: a satellite got diverted to look at something else, which happened to line up with the film activity. At least one involved party sees some benefit in putting it out there that the diversion was because of the movie prop, and not the real Very Interesting Thing. Whatever that might be.

Why would they have a movie prop near anything remotely interesting? So it could accidentally appear in a movie?

 

[Yellow Palace]

Conspiracy hat on: a satellite got diverted to look at something else, which happened to line up with the film activity. At least one involved party sees some benefit in putting it out there that the diversion was because of the movie prop, and not the real Very Interesting Thing. Whatever that might be.

Why would they have a movie prop near anything remotely interesting? So it could accidentally appear in a movie?

Wouldn't even need to be nearby - might well work out that for that particular satellite, capturing what's happening at (say) Diego Garcia meant coincidentally overflying the filming location some hours earlier or later.

 

[Bounce]

The satellite story is just that, a story to drum up movie hype ie advertising.

 

[Foo Fighter]

If there was anything to know I am pretty sure the relevant PSi Corps rep was there to nose around. Not as if this is B5 after all.

 

[sublight_]

I am pleased to tell you the "Mach 10" goodness happens about 6 minutes into the movie.

 

[Michel Van]

Like NG's role in Stealth, the objective is to make a plane that is plausible looking but definitely wrong

i had the chance to talk with Oliver Scholl the production designer for Stealth in 2011.
He told me a different story:

There were barely any interaction with Northrop and movie production.
The Director wanted something in style of Macross/Robotech VF-1 Valkyrie (we laugh allot about that).
Scholl look for data and Inspiration in the Internet and found some of Northrop stuff in a Forum
Sadly i not ask him what Forum he had found...

bonus
why you should run to cinema:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEwCne2vnFc

 

[fightingirish]

Meet Darkstar's Creators - Jim
As a conceptual designer, Jim gets to merge his artistic and technical skills on a daily basis. When the Top Gun: Maverick team needed a head-turning design to feature in the film, Jim was ready to deliver and Darkstar was born.

Video:

View: https://youtu.be/-OEDYnqN_aE

https://youtu.be/-OEDYnqN_aE

 

[Deino]

Also nice!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1529726542011461634

View: https://twitter.com/Fighterman_FFRC/status/1529726542011461634

 

[GTX]

Lockheed advert:

 

[fightingirish]

Sources:

Skunk Works On How They Brought Top Gun: Maverick's Darkstar To Life

Skunk Works says Darkstar isn't necessarily real, but that the capabilities depicted are not necessarily "mere fiction."

www.thedrive.com

Skunk Works Release Details About Top Gun: Maverick’s Darkstar Hypersonic Aircraft

There’s an enigmatic hint in their words: “Darkstar’s capabilities could be more than mere fiction. They could be reality…” About a week after the

theaviationist.com

Video:

View: https://youtu.be/j4qwMGd2wmQ

 

[fightingirish]

I wonder, which company will make the first plastic model of this aircraft?
Revell, Testors, Renax or the well-known Scott Lowther for fantastic-plastic.com ???

 

[Desert Watchdog]

I didn't see it mentioned so I thought I'd toss it in... Darkstar is available to fly in the free Microsoft Flight Sim Top Gun DLC. It's also available in Ace Combat 7's Top Gun DLC as well.

I'm also hearing that Lockheed only built the first third of it in full scale with a "functional" cockpit for the movie. I haven't seen anything about any sub-scale mockups made. I really hope they didn't scrap them after wrap-up. Would be fun to see them given back to Lockheed or put on display somewhere, even if she is fictional. The full-scale 1/3 and cockpit would be a fun thing at a place like Blackbird Airpark.

 

[Moose]

Now....where do we put the laser?

 

[siegecrossbow]

Now....where do we put the laser?

Canopy since it is the closest forehead analogue on a plane.

 

[aonestudio]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nSTLYBCW0E

 

[bobbymike]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r786IHwb84U

 

[T. A. Gardner]

My first thought on seeing it was it's an updated XF-103, particularly because it has that near windowless cockpit (no doubt done to conceal the "bad guy" within and avoid movie credits).

 

[Forest Green]

How likely is it that someone could survive an ejection at Mach 10.3? I'm thinking not very.

 

[Dynoman]

The X-15 seat was designed to allow for ejections up to Mach 4 and 120,000 feet. Mach 10 is significantly faster. An encapsulated seat design may allow higher ejection speeds, however the decelerations and heating issues experienced may be too much to survive. I did not see an encapsulated seat in the movie or pictures. If, after the Dark Star broke up and decelerated, Maverick was able to ride the cockpit to a lower speed and altitude for a safer ejection then possibly. Also, if the Dark Star was designed to separate the forward fuselage section and then eject at a lower altitude then there's another possibility.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

 

[Dew]

from HYFAC, Vol. IV, Part 1, Ph. III :

"The encapsulated seat extends the open seat envelope only slightly and at an increase in cost, weight, and complexity, which is not considered to be Justified."

Preferred M12 Escape systems identified as:

• Crew Module
• Seperable Nose Cone
• Seperable Nose with Open Ejection Seat

 

[The K2]

I would go for nose separation with stabilizers for control like the F-8 concept:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/vought-f-8-projects.548/post-95283 but with the pilot ejecting as in Dynoman’s entry:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...lane-from-top-gun-2-maveric.39358/post-548838 due to size considerations of Darkstar’s nose section.