McDonnell Douglas 1991 high-speed rotorwing/tiltwing projects

[flateric]

McDonnell Douglas 1991 high-speed rotorwing (Ground Attack Role) and tiltwing (Military Transport) projects

 

[hesham]

Hi,


also from the same source;


http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/3.48272?journalCode=ja

 

[Stargazer]

These seem to be labeled "NASA", not "McDonnell Douglas"...
The rotor wing was a Hughes design, so it is possible that these as MDD after all, but one is never careful enough with these reports, which often contain merely notional designs and not necessarily company projects, even if the report itself was commissioned from a certain company by NASA!

 

[yasotay]

These seem to be labeled "NASA", not "McDonnell Douglas"...
The rotor wing was a Hughes design, so it is possible that these as MDD after all, but one is never careful enough with these reports, which often contain merely notional designs and not necessarily company projects, even if the report itself was commissioned from a certain company by NASA!

NASA commisoned McDonnell Douglas to do the study.

 

[Stargazer]

NASA commisoned McDonnell Douglas to do the study.

True, but as I said, sometimes the drawings in those commissioned reports do not necessarily depict company programs. They can be generic/notional designs, NASA-produced designs submitted as a template for manufacturers to follow, even designs by other manufacturers used as examples. That's why it's important to be careful and not just grab the pics but also browse the report a bit to see which is what.

 

[Stargazer]

After going through the report in a little more detail, it appears that these were studied by McDonnell Douglas under contract from NASA:

In order to not restrict concept selection and creative thinking, NASA only specified the concepts to be of helicopter-like disk loading and capable of forward flight in the 450-kt range.

The report states clearly that this study (notably the rotor-wing configuration) rely heavily on research done by Hughes 25 years before:

Due to the amount of initial concept exploration in the mid-60s, including whirlstand, wind tunnel, dynamic model conversion, and transonic tests, much is known about this configuration. The XH-17 and XV-9A technology demonstrators incorporated reaction drive rotors in their designs. (...) Data from the 1960s wind-tunnel tests, completed by Hughes Tool Company, determined the lift and drag characteristics of various centerbody shapes.

 

[hesham]

My dear Skyblazer is right,


this project was from NASA and co-operate with MD company,please see reply 45;


http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,5474.45.html
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19910013823.pdf

 

[Stargazer]

From the National Archives, the McDonnell Douglas Rotor Wing, Tilt-Wing Convertiplane and Tilt Rotor concepts:

Original images:

National Archives NextGen Catalog

The online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records.

catalog.archives.gov

National Archives NextGen Catalog

The online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records.

catalog.archives.gov

National Archives NextGen Catalog

The online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records.

catalog.archives.gov