Introduce Yourself

I'm a serious hypersonics NUT !!

I've been published in AW&ST.

I've met a lot of industry leaders in this field, which has been awesome.

I've helped restore an M-21 and a D-21 drone.

I like to read aerospace engineering textbooks on subjects related to hypersonics
just for fun.

I am not an aerospace engineer but a microprocessor designer. I enjoy that too.
I work for the comany that is the BEST in that field! As an engineer, I have
been very fortunate that the designs I've worked on have all been built and sold.

This site is about dreams that engineers have had that haven't always seen the light
of day. I think this is a wonderful endeavor to find these interesting ideas and discuss
them and share them and do their creators justice.

I will contribute as much as I can.
 
Hey Larry! Nice to see you here! Your chips is still working good in all of my PCs till 1993=)
 
Thought I'd say hello before I start posting. My name is Tom S. (hence the handle). My background is actually in international relations an security policy, but I've spent a lot of time over the years working on navy programs in various capacities. I'm mainly interested in post-war projects, both air and naval. My collection is not nearly as extensive as some here, but I'll try to pitch in where I can. Looks like a top-notch group of contributors.
 
sferrin said:
JPC said:
Hello, my name is Jean Philippe, I live near Lyon, France. I am a aircraft project fana. I am the webmaster of these web site :
Prototypes.com : http://xplanes.free.fr/
X-15 : http://jpcolliat.free.fr/x15/index.html
Click to expand...

I've been there many times. NICE website!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah nice websites, both X-15 and prototypes.com.
But what happened to the latter ? no upgrade since november 2005... ??? I miss the new subjects, for example I've seen something was planned on the Arsenal VG-90...
 
Hi,

my name's Francesco Giannini, I'm a 31-year old aeroautical engineer from Italy working for an aerospace company in Virginia. I am currently working in advanced concepts (I will eventually send the links to some public domain stuff we have out there, some seriously WEIRD designs! VTOL, STOL, solar powered, manned, unmanned, optionally-piloted...you name it). Everytime i was performing research, i would end up on this site, so i finally joined.
You would be surprised how much of what i find on this site ends up in my solid models. This forum litterally makes my life easier.
Anyway, looking forward to join the discussion.

Ciao!
 
Francesco, can we look at your Scourge morphing UCAV?
 
Flateric,

The Scourge UCAV was desiged in reply to an AIAA student design competition some four years ago. It's definitely public domain stuff! :)
I worked on it with four other students from CalPoly when i was still in school. I can definitely look in my files stash and see if I can dig up at least a three view.
I remember being very frustrated, as well as all my friends, for the design called for a SEAD UCAV armed with four HARMs. Those things are huge! we figured that our only chance of taking out a double-digit SAM site was to have an LO platform (the range of a HARM is maybe one tenth of the engagement range of an S-300), so that pushed us to internal weapons carriage. The weapons bay had to be large, so the overall vehicle size spiraled up. Oh, it was also supposed to land on an aircraft carrier - no - one of the Tarawa class amphibian assault carrier - even smaller!
The use of morphing technology was just the last straw. Back then, and even today, there isn't much publicly available to try to guess how much an operational system would work. So we were basically pulling numbers out of thin air, a very frustrating situation to be in. I don't hear as much interest in morphing these days, maybe it's because it was the pet project of someone at DARPA, and that person moved on since.
Be that as it may, the truth is that unless revolutionary progress in materials is achieved (maybe nanotubes and shape-memory alloys on steroids), you can probably get a cheper-lighter-better airplane by using a fixed geometry and compromising.
Of course somebody will prove me wrong tomorrow when they unveil the latest Skunkworks design! :)
 
Hello everyone....

I can be considered a lurker here (since about 2006 off and on), but Flateric (Grigori) knows who I am. We have corresponded since 1989 or 1990, when he sent me a letter (unbeknownst to me at the time) that had two Black-and-white photographs of the manned Lapot testbed at the Zhukovskiy airfield (?) museum. It was a grand case of synchronicity. I was looking for such photos for about ten days, and then, and then, a letter arrives from Russia in which the photos magically appeared! (I still have this letter.)

True story.

I eventually used some of his contributions in a series dealing with the Soviet space shuttle projects that appeared in the mid-1990s in Spaceflight magazine (UK), and I think that was maybe the first time anyone attempted to collate together information that had been released at that time, up to that time. It was in four parts.

Since that time, I have considered him one of my best friends from abroad.

I am from the USA.

I am interested in a lot of things relating to aerospace history, so this is a good forum to haunt.

I usually write about things that relate to Soviet space history in my freelance work, but my spectrum of interests go far beyond that.

So, hello once again to everyone. And also to Grigori (especially).

[exit stage left]
 
I love how the web makes it easier to find like-minded people, but it's good to recall it still happened sometimes before all this technology :)
 
flateric said:
Francesco, can we look at your Scourge morphing UCAV?
Click to expand...

sorry it took me a while to find it, but one of my fromer team members sent me the link to another team member's site that has the 100-page Scourge report

http://www.aeronauticaldesign.com/experience.html

There is also a report for a tactical STOL transport, "Stormcrow". For those who are interested, both are typical of what student reports for AIAA design competitions look like.
 
my name is Kevin, I work in Industrial Security, along with doing technical writing in the Role Playing Game industry. my specialty is taking a real world or hypothetical vehicle and figuring out how to work in various game systems.

I am one of the co-authors of Traveller Hero from com-star games.
 
Greeting to all.
My name is Konstantin Udalov,52. live in Moscow.
My subject is history of soviet/russian aviation. I am author more than 30 aviation books, owner of small publishing house Avico Press, have huge archieve.
I am very happy to join such professional team of amateurs and have foung here many people whom I know many years.
Welcome to my site - www.avicopress.ru - where you can find some interesting info about soviet/russian aircraft. We do not use rumours and provide information directly from OKB (= Design Bureau). Especially full info about Myasishchev and Ilyushin aircraft. Don't be shy to ask any questions.
Regards
PS. Sorry for my poor English and many mistakes.
 
Welcome and спасибо Konstantin, your posts already have been most informative and your English is perfectly understandable.

Your website is tantalising for non-Russian speakers as it can be hard to navigate without understanding Russian!
 
Greetings to all & sundry

Somewhat belatedly (since I've already posted a few times here), here's a quick bio: My name is Thomas L. Nielsen, Danish, born 1970, self-confessed weapons geek, living near Copenhagen.

I'm a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, and I've worked with quality management (years back, just after that asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, when ISO 9000 was fashionable ;)) a few years back. For the past 10 years, however, I've worked for the Danish Defence Forces (as a civilian) doing quality inspection work, system safety management (weapon systems as well as explosives transport & storage) and since January 2007 I've been employed as Technical Case Officer, Small Arms.

My interests cover the whole spectrum of weapons (small arms to ICBM's) as well as other assorted military and general aerospace technology and pretty much anything else sufficiently geeky.

I'm very happy to be here, I've already learned much (granted, also some things I wish I hadn't) from this website, and I hope to be able to contribute in some small, positive way.

Added 07 SEP 2009: OK, I'm no longer in Denmark. As pr. 30 August, I've made the move to Luxembourg, to take up new duties.

Regards & all,

Thomas L. Nielsen
Denmark Luxembourg
 
As we say here in Australia " G'day all " Jim's the name, and l have been looking for a site like this one for yonks.

Yes l live here in the most beautiful city on Earth, Perth Western Australia. Scottish by birth born in 1945 ( yes some of us are that old. )

Served 15 years in the RAF, followed by 2 years with BAC in Saudi Arabia. Follow that with 2 more years working for Airwork in the Sultanate of Oman.

Now run my Own pest control business here in Perth assisted but my son. I retire in two years, and plan to move to the Philippines with my wife. Then l can fly flight simulators all day long. ;D
 
Hi Jim
and a big welcome.
Its a great site with lots of help and advise from the sage and the wise plus a very friendly atmosphere.
Like you I can't believe my luck in finding a site like this.

Cheers
Peter
;D
 
Hi there;

I' m Erdem, from Turkey. I' m a M.Sc. student in math. The reasons I joined this website are improving my English, and my interest in military issues. I' ll take toefl test on November 14th in Poland. I have to pass it because I try to be a Ph.D. student in an another country. I' ll take it in Poland since I was accepted as an erasmus student.

Besides, I' m always interested in events which happened in WW2, and in Cold War. I don' t why, but these things always impress me. The real meaning of "Katyusha", the system of enigma machine, etc.

Anyway, thanks for having me :)
 
Hi guys,

I`ve been at the forum for a long time, since it`s inception as a guest, then as a member, but only now I discovered this "Introduce Yourself" thread ::)

I`m Carlos Henriques, history teacher, portuguese, living near Lisbon. My main interests are german 1930/40`s aviation subjects, but sometimes I pinch soviet matters in that same timescale. I love the possibility to share data on this fantastic theme.
 
mike brown 34 wast cost u.s.a. Concept design
work classified aircraft unspecific company

i have a.d.h.d so my types sucks my design rocks throw

just had two girls few weeks ago so im getting back to normal designing again
 
Hello everyone, just registered, live on the East Coast of the USA. Currently studying engineering and hope to one day make the sort of wonder jet that wows people on sites like this! ;D

Outside this sort of stuff, as you can tell from the, umm, motif of my profile...yeah. I'm a spirited visual novel fan.
 
Doug Gard a.k.a. "airrocket" some forums "retro" age 52....baby boomer....born at the dawn of the space age. Mechanical Engineer automotive industry by day UAV, RPV RC, high power rocketry model fabricator by moonlight. Live in quiet sleepy rural small town Atlantic Iowa USA. Love to fly high power rockets in god-forsaken locations in western USA. Collaborate with Paul Czysz, Rudy Opitz, William Escher and other old timer aerospace engineers, pilots, authors. I enjoy bringing some of the old projects to life in sub-scale form. I eat, breath and sleep X-planes (USA, German, Soviet), lifting bodies, and air-breathing propulsion. Love this site. My favorite movies are "Toward the Unknown", “Jet Pilot”, "The Right Stuff" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still".
 
A regular lurker around here, I thought I should say hello. I may not have much to add. However, I must say that the level of debate and courtesy is much better than the Key Publishing forums I used to regularly visit. That place used to be a decent forum to share ideas Whilst there are some good posts, it has now largely degenerated into a slanging match and a platform for petty political point scoring, pointless comparisons, insults and one-upmanship.
 
Hi Everyone

I'm Charles and have always been fascinated by engineering history and 'what might have been?' Therefore this site has now become a 'must go to' place for me. It's great to know these areas of history are being explored rather than ignored as has been done by most historians at my university.
 
Hi im scouse and i found this place whist mooching the web for information , nice to meet you all and i hope i can participate at some point :).
 
airrocket said:
Doug Gard a.k.a. "airrocket" some forums "retro" age 52....baby boomer....born at the dawn of the space age. Mechanical Engineer automotive industry by day UAV, RPV RC, high power rocketry model fabricator by moonlight. Live in quiet sleepy rural small town Atlantic Iowa USA. Love to fly high power rockets in god-forsaken locations in western USA. Collaborate with Paul Czysz, Rudy Opitz, William Escher and other old timer aerospace engineers, pilots, authors. I enjoy bringing some of the old projects to life in sub-scale form. I eat, breath and sleep X-planes (USA, German, Soviet), lifting bodies, and air-breathing propulsion. Love this site. My favorite movies are "Toward the Unknown", “Jet Pilot”, "The Right Stuff" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still".
Click to expand...

Hey Doug! :)

Anyway, Richard Burney's my name. Like Doug, I'm involved in high power and model rocketry; we both belong to the same rocketry club here in the US Midwest. Besides building rockets I have also written and taken photographs for several of the hobby rocketry magazines over the last decade. I also have a strong interest in military aviation, especially stealth and other "black" aircraft, that goes back over 20 years ago when I was a teenager. I work for a manufacturer here in Omaha, NE. Though I've never worked for an aerospace company, I've had the privelage of working for and being instructed by those who have worked for various aerospace/defense contractors.

I've been mainly just lurking here the last two years. I've really enjoyed some of the subjects and pictures that have shown up on this forum. :)
 

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Hi, I have to say I'm impressed at the wide range of backgrounds and interests sited in your comments. I think I'm the old guy here, but I can live with that. I've been interested in aviation since I was 16 and spent a day flying over populated areas, dropping balloons with coupons attached to advertise a shopping center in upstate New York.

I spent four years in the U.S. Navy as an aviation ordnanceman, mostly working around and flying in P2Vs. Years later I caught a hop in a P3V and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. After the Navy I moved to California and went to work for Hughes Tool Company - Aircraft Division, working on the Mk 4 Gun Pod. I worked for them in production test, R&D, as a tech rep (including 18 months in Vietnam), and in engineering. The last projects I worked on for Hughes were the proposed 30mm system that used an Oerlikon gun and was built to compete for the A-10 installation (we didn't ge the contract) and the development of the Chain Gun for the Apache helicopter (We did get that contract and the Chain Gun has become one of the great hits of the armament field.)

I left Hughes in 1974 and became a professor of English. Before I left I had accumulated experience with F4s, A6s, A4, and OV10s. Part of me, even after all these years, still resided in aerospace.
 
Interesting! Here's a patch from the Hughes GAU-9 program from http://www.usafpatches.org:

GAU-9A_Hughes_Gun_Systems.jpg


There's a fair few older members on the forum so you aren't alone ;)
 
I worked briefly on the GAU/9 project. The patch I wish I had was one I had made by Rex's in Iwakuni, Japan--they used to do custom patches for units in Vietnam--that showed Snoopy astride a Mk4, with the saying "Happiness is VC in the open" above and "Mk4 Gunpodder" below. They were hot items and I did such a good job I ended up saving only the one that had "happiness" spelled with one "s."
 
Hello, my name is Carl. I heard recently about an air dropped weapon called the Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW). Essentially a smart cluster bomb. Instead of being loaded with bomblets that would spread and explode over a wide area, the SFW is loaded with skeets that can independently target individual vehicles, APCs and tanks. I'm told the SFW has already been used at least once in combat and was wondering where and what company is behind the design.
 
Hi everyone. I'm Chris Berman and I live in Florida with my wife Larisa and our two daughters. I am a science fiction author who likes to use real space and weapons technology in my stories such as the NERVA nuclear rocket motor.

You can visit me on my site at www.freewebs.com/chrisbfla

I have a few article posted about getting back to the moon on the cheap, nuclear propulsion and the like.

This is a VERY cool forum!

Chris
 
Another new guy. I'm a long time modeler and technical illustrator, as well as a science fiction fan. I've been keen on military technology history and such, often straying into "what if" territory. Late WWII projects of all Nations and early/alternate rocket and space projects are my favorite subjects.
 
Hi, my name is William Roberts, 23 from Corpus Christi Texas. I have came across this site many-o-times but never registered. Well now I am a member and just spent a few hours looking at what I've been missing all this time. I have been in love with the FW-190 since birth but now I devote my time to Soviet xplanes. Mostly W.G.S. (Ekranoplans). I just started manufacturing my own kits. xcraftmodels. I figure Secret Projects would be a great source of info and a good chance to meat friends. Their are not vary many people in South Texas with the same interests as me(this side of Austin) Thanks
 
My name is David R Townend, and I hail from Markham, Ontario, Canada. I am currently 45 and, among other things, am an aviation writer and historian. My passion is aircraft designations and cancelled aircraft projects.

I found this site a few weeks back and hope to become an active member.
 

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Hi, Im Patrick, Im 27 years old,and i live in the UK .
I have been interested in aircraft as long as i can remember!
My main interests are ww1 warplanes- inter war -ww2 warplanes -and cold war jets- Luftwaffe xplanes/46 -.experimental stuff.
I also have been making model aircraft since i was very young, and have over 100 aircraft built, and...er well.. many (too many!) unbuilt ones safely packed away in the loft...an amazing collection, that "mysteriously grows in size every few months"...er..... idont have an idea how that happens!... "Another one?" my beloved girlfriend says, as the postman drops off a package the size of (another) 1.48 Me 262....
come on guys you know where im coming from!
I also enjoy Drawing and designing aircraft,i mainly draw them "old school" by pencil.
many some "fantasy 46!" aircraft as i call them, also some more realistic designs which i hope to share with other enthusiasts.
Looking forward to finding out lots more about this fascinating subject with some real experten!
cheers!
Pat
 

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