LTV / Scaled Composites SOFTA (Special Ops Forces Transport Aircraft) proposals

[flateric]

oh my...

 

[Mat Parry]

Really fascinating!


Some creative solutions there,


Model 223, would seem to be the most likely to get you 1000 NM into denied airspace unobserved but bloody hell... that would be an uncomfortable ride. Been trying to decide which of the 6 seats in the capsule would be the worst (my money is on lying on your back with your head as the lowest part of your body. Please, no one show this to Ryan Air, it will give them ideas.


Model 220 remindes me a little of the Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack"

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Many thanks to Stephane and his "distinguished forum member" for digging this stuff up and making it public.

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

220-3 reminds me of this.

http://retromechanix.com/article/research/naca-and-the-convertible-aircraft-1945-9/

 

[Matej]

:-*

 

[Matej]

It remains unclear if there is any relation between the program that resulted in the Scaled ATT and the SENIOR CITIZEN requirements. Infrastructure to support clandestine testing of vertical lift systems for a transport-sized aircraft was put in place during 1993-1994 at a sensitive location. Parts of this program filled in space that had just become vacant with the departure of a large program.

It seems likely, though, that ATT and what what we know as SENIOR CITIZEN were different sets of requirements. I believe ATT requirements are available on DTIC but I would have to go looking for them.

DARPA/SRS summary of ATT:
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a227498.pdf

I can not see how could ATT fulfill these requirements. Original idea that led to Senior Citizen was to transport a group of 12 troops plus one vehicle into the high threat enviroments with STOVL/VTOL/autonomous/lethal self defence vehicle.

 

[Maveric]

Thanks for posting, Stargazer2006. Great find!!!!

 

[VTOLicious]

Amazing designs! Thx for sharing stargazer!

 

[Mr London 24/7]

Yep - Great Research: Thank You

 

[cluttonfred]

I am fascinated by this one. Are there any other designs by Rutan or others for plenum/Coanda effect VTOL deisigns? Does this actually work?

MODEL 208 PLENUM FUSELAGE CONCEPT
Plenum fuselage, blown slot lip, tandem wing

The Model 208 concept consists of a tandem wing configuration with high aspect ratio wings optimized for cruise efficiency. The wings are not equipped with high lift devices or conventional control surfaces. The inclined mid-span hinge line for the rear wing provides outer panel twisting via internal actuation. The twisting provides roll and pitch control for cruise. Twin verticals provide yaw stability and control. The embedded aft engine is used for cruise. The other three engines‘ ducts are valved closed for cruise. For transition and hover operations, all four engines are running, providing pressurization for the plenum which occupies approximately half the fuselage volume. For hover, the aft thrust duct is closed. Control vanes and valves in the longitudinal slots on the fuselage sides provide a Coanda effect resulting in enhanced hover lift. The plenum side slots extend from just aft of the canard trailing edge to the leading edge of the main wing.

 

[bob225]

Hi all,
Is It just me or does the Model 215 look like the love child of scaled's proteus (mod 281) and Tacit blue??
Great find guys, gives me hope that there's still some cool, interesting stuff out there!!

 

[quellish]

A couple things,

has anybody other than Paul McGinnis said that Senior Citizen was a tactical airlift aircraft?

Paul was only repeating what DoD said it was. The PE code indicates what it is.

 

[aim9xray]

A quick (and I suspect, ignorant) question - are DARPA projects covered under the PE code system? If not, is it possible to MIPR out of a PE account to/from DARPA ("color of money" issues aside)?

 

[ouroboros]

Model 208 looks like a pain to get in and out of and stuffing volumetrically large-ish stuff is a no-go.

Model 209 looks great with a possible rear ramp, but the bicycle landing gear setup seemed odd. I guess there are unillustrated outrigger wheels at the turbine pods?

Model 212 is definitely different for a stopped rotor type, but if you have to do the aforementioned swoop-of-death to transition anyways, 213 is a viable alternative in the same family.I wonder if the tilt available to 213 might allow for expanded STOVL like the Boeing ATT SuperFrog? Still, swoop-of-death strikes me as a operationally limiting activity, especially when you want to leave faster.

Model 215 is as mentioned, a love child between Proteus and Tacit Blue, after taking some hits from their bong smoking ultralight friend. Though in principle, why do we not see more fabric lift enhancement devices such as this, now that modern synthetic fabrics are available? A fabric flap is easily doable if you have an outboard flap track pod already. 215 without the rockets makes for a pretty interesting STOL/SSTOL aircraft regardless. I wonder if that joined tandem wing transport Scaled made with the long turboprop pods would be useful for demonstrating the fabric wing?

Model 216 looks very similar to something I think I saw in a pre-war Popular Mechanics for some kind of flying bus, with the forward rotor tilting up and the rear rotor tilting down? The drooping poop tail to protect the rear rotors is a nice touch.

Model 217 reminds me of that freewing UAV. and the drop down cargo pod reminds me of that Convair proposal for a ducted tailsitter gunship with a ventral weapons bay that also drops down like this.

Model 220 reeks of Flying Flapjack Mk2. With Vought involved, this may not be a coincidence considering the Vought XF5U...

Model 223 is interesting due to the large payload bay. Many allegations regarding Senior Citizen say a B2-esqe shape. Up thread it was mentioned senior citizen also wanted to deliver a small vehicle with the troops. One way to satisfy that requirement is a flight of two aircraft, one carrying soldier drop pods, the other containing a vehicle drop pod/pallet (likely non-recoverable).

 

[Avimimus]

Model 212 is a real thing of beauty though.

The other thing I'd worry about is crash-landing - getting the stop-wings moving for autorotation doesn't sound good nor does attempting a conventional crash landing with such a small wing area.

It makes me curious - Does anyone know what V-22 Osprey crews are supposed to do in preference? Is it considered better to stop the engines and conduct a conventional crash-landing or to try to autorotate?

 

[Sundog]

It makes me curious - Does anyone know what V-22 Osprey crews are supposed to do in preference? Is it considered better to stop the engines and conduct a conventional crash-landing or to try to autorotate?

Somewhere in one of the V-22 threads F-14D or Yasotay addressed this issue.

 

[Avimimus]

Thanks - found it (http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,7180.msg63255.html#msg63255)!

So, a conventional crash-landing is preferred in the V-22, but autorotation is possible. There is still the question regarding whether either would be sufficiently reliable in a stop-wing (with such a small wing area).

 

[AeroFranz]

It'd be one thing to try to initiate autorotation with a rotor already spinning and an entirely different one with a rotor starting from standstill. I wonder how much energy (speed/altitude) you'd have to trade to get it to spin fast enough to be of use. you may not be able to do it at all.

 

[cluttonfred]

If the scenario in question is autorotation to an emergency landing, I don't see why the stop-wing system couldn't, for example, have small tip-mounted rockets to accelerate the wing to autorotation speed in an emergency.

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Tremendous work there - thanks! Mark

 

[Stargazer]

Many thanks to Stephane and his "distinguished forum member" for digging this stuff up and making it public.

I realize now that the name of said "distinguished member" does not appear in this topic... Since there is no reason to conceal it, my deepest thanks and appreciation to sublight is back for making all the necessary arrangements to access the documents at the University of Texas in Dallas, for scanning them and for contacting Burt Rutan personally on the subject.

Going over Burt's reply to him, I find that one of his sentences is a little more cryptic than I thought at first:

In the early 90s Vought did help me market my design concept for a new VSTOL configuration for a Special Operations infiltration mission.

Doesn't the phrasing "help me market" sound a little weird? Doesn't it imply that a contract (and presumably a flying article) resulted from it? Interesting also is the fact that although Scaled was subcontracting for Vought, Burt describes it as Vought helping him market his design as if THEY were acting on his behalf!

 

[sublight_]

I asked Burt if he would include a section of blank pages at the end of his autobiography representing each of the platforms he built or worked on that nobody has ever seen. That way when they got declassified, we could "fill in the blanks". I don't know what the ETA of his bio is, but I REALLY hope the blank section ends up in there....

 

[sublight_]

The relevant documents.

 

[Dynoman]

I wonder if these two projects (i.e. SOFTA TIDDS Model 233-3 and the capsule recovery projects) are related? The first image is from Lockheed tests at Edwards on a recovery capsule demonstrated with a C-130. The next image was from Stargazers website that shows art work that looks similar to the test capsule. Both projects occurred about the same time. However, the Rutan project associated with this capsule was Model 179 Rockbox. Any additional images of Model 179?

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/obscure-personnel-recovery-extraction-method-similar-to-fultons-skyhook.6831/#post-249457