US Lifting Bodies Studies - START (ASSET/PRIME), FDL, X-24, etc.

Canadair space vehicle ... ref. Canadair, the First 50 Years, Ron Pickler & Larry Milberry, CANAV Books, 1995

be interesting to see a ga. of the design
 

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Hi,
here is an unknown lifting body wind tunnel model likely from the late 1950s, found on the bay (item #352715830838).
Interesting shape.
Enjoy.

A.

Seller description goes as follow:
"RARE - METAL WIND TUNNEL MODEL - LIFTING BODY - PRELUDE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE, Circa 1959-60's
Lifting Body Technology was crucial to the development of the Space Shuttle Transportation System.
This wind tunnel model is made with an aluminum base and still wings. Approximately 6.25 inches.
A very fine space collectors artifact that is nearly impossible to find. It comes from the private collection of a space historian,
To learn more about Lifting Bodies - See: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/space-race/online/sec500/sec541.htm"

Holy-heck! It's the wind tunnel model for the "Boost-Glide Reentry Vehicle suitable for Operation as a Supersonic Aircraft” from Tech Memorandum X-656 dated 1963! It came in two flavors:
1) The first was a bit crowded 6 person RV which after the wings folded down and the fins deployed it would blow off the nose cap, (triangular bit on the front) to open an air intake to two turbojet engines for fly-back and cruise.

2) Version two was a four-turbojet single seat Mach 2 FIGHTER aircraft that could be delivered by sub-orbital trajectory anywhere in the world in under an hour! IIRC Scott suggested in might have been proposed/studied as a possible "secure-the-airspace" concept to clear the airspace for an incoming "Ithacus" troop transport ballistic rocket. (Neat I found a link to an original presentation :) )

It appears to be one of the models where the wings were not fully 'hinged' so that is only a single wing-position setting. The wings would normally fold over the 'top' of the vehicle and the forward area sealed with a cover that would be jettisoned once reentry was completed. The wing would then fold down to 'level' and the fins to upright.

I don't even have to look to know I can't afford this but it's neat that at least one model still exists.

Randy
Ithacus - 1200 troops in one ship! and jetpacks for the troops! wow.
 
Ithacus - 1200 troops in one ship! and jetpacks for the troops! wow.

Or as one illustration showed jetpacks AND a VERY long (and steep) inflatable escape slide... I have a suspicion that 'slide-out' at the end is going to be long, rough or both ::)
1600917021973.png

Randy
(Edit to add image)
 
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In this report,

what was the drawing on the tablet in picture No.3 ?.
 

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Multhopp was closely involved in Martin X-24A so it must be related... it certainly has a "X-24 look " to it. Exactly the X-24B with its extremely long and pointy nose (although Muthopp died in October 1972 so he didn't saw it fly).
 
Multhopp was closely involved in Martin X-24A so it must be related... it certainly has a "X-24 look " to it. Exactly the X-24B with its extremely long and pointy nose (although Muthopp died in October 1972 so he didn't saw it fly).
I didn't talk about the Model,I spoke about those Projects?.
 

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Also from air Force 1968,

to ID ?.
 

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Does any one have a photo of the M2-F1's removable center fin? I remember seeing film of the M2-F1's roll out 'ceremony' and it had a very large center fin. I'm curious if the aircraft was ever tow tested with the center fin installed.

Located video and took a picture of the M2-F1 during rollout with vertical stabilizer.
 

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Note: Due to NASAs incessant tinkering with their websites, these links are now long dead. However, at least for the moment they *seems* to be available here:


EDIT: Nope, I'm wrong. Those links are busted too. Frak. Anybody save all these?
 
Crgis is dead and also wasnt indexed by tge Internet Archive so yes we are out of luck unless someone downloaded them.
 
A section of this has been posted previously in the thread, but here is the full page as it's mostly relevant:
(TV Century 21 #105 released by City Magazines Ltd, January 21, 1967)

1642896738684.png
 
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Canadair space vehicle ... ref. Canadair, the First 50 Years, Ron Pickler & Larry Milberry, CANAV Books, 1995

be interesting to see a ga. of the design
 

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The article they are from.
 

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From, Revista de Aeronautica y Astronautica 1964,
 

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EDIT: Nope, I'm wrong. Those links are busted too. Frak. Anybody save all these?
I have a bunch of them.

Folder "60s hypersonic research vehicles"
16fthallgraphicv4e.pdf
16ft_timeline.pdf
1970-2009_Test_Log.pdf
1974-04-26_Research_and_Development_at_Langley.pdf
19770017117_1977017117.pdf
1989-1995_Full_Scale_Tunnel_Log.pdf
1991-06_Overview_of_the_Applied_Aerodynamics_Division.pdf
1992-07-17_Happy_Birthday_Langley_75.pdf
1999_Spin_Tunnel_Models.pdf
Becker1983.pdf
Folder_Names_9.pdf
PEN00001_0001.pdf
PEN00002_0058.pdf
PEN00003_0073.pdf
PEN00004_0080.pdf
PEN00005_0138.pdf
PEN00006_0255.pdf
PEN00007_0277.pdf
PEN00008_0363.pdf
PEN00009_0473.pdf
PEN00011_0551.pdf
PEN00012_0001.pdf
PEN00014_0377.pdf
PEN00016_0658.pdf
PEN00017_0711.pdf
PEN00018_0730.pdf
PEN00019_0764.pdf
PEN00033.pdf
PEN00036.pdf
PEN00040.pdf
PEN00041.pdf
PEN00042.pdf
PEN00043.pdf
PEN00045.pdf
PEN00046.pdf
PEN00049.pdf
PEN00050.pdf
PEN00057.pdf
PEN00058.pdf
PEN00059.pdf
PEN00062.pdf
PEN00064.pdf
PEN00065.pdf
PEN00066.pdf
PEN00067.pdf
PEN00068.pdf
PEN00076.pdf
PEN00079.pdf
PEN00080.pdf
PEN00083.pdf
PEN00160.pdf
PEN00181.pdf
PEN00192.pdf
PEN00195.pdf
PEN00213.pdf
PEN00218.pdf
PEN00235.pdf
PEN00249.pdf
PEN00250.pdf
PEN00253.pdf
PEN00254.pdf
PEN00256.pdf
PEN00259.pdf
PEN00260.pdf
PEN00261.pdf
PEN00264.pdf
PEN00266.pdf
PEN00267.pdf
PEN00268.pdf
PEN00269.pdf
PEN00270.pdf
PEN00271.pdf
PEN00272.pdf
PEN00274.pdf
PEN00275.pdf
PEN00276.pdf
PEN00277.pdf
PEN00280.pdf
PEN00281.pdf
PEN00289.pdf
PEN00295.pdf
PEN00298.pdf
PEN00299.pdf
PEN00304.pdf
PEN00310.pdf
PEN00338.pdf
PEN00351.pdf
PEN00807.pdf
PEN00808.pdf
PEN00812.pdf
PEN00814.pdf
PEN00816.pdf
PEN00818.pdf
PEN00819.pdf
Quest2012.pdf
SPF
SpinTunnelModels.pdf
Test_Log_17.pdf
 
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Some in the West thought the BORs were scale models of a Buran sized lifting body to be called "Energia-Uragan" (Hurricane) by
the German magazine (GDR) "Freie Welt" in December 1987 (the author of the rightmost figure and article is Klaus Huhndorf);


"The most interesting thing is that our orbital ship " Buran " really could have been exactly the way the German artist presented it, if the Council of Chief Designers, headed by V.P. Glushko, at its meeting on June 11, 1975, accepted G. E. Lozino-Lozinsky to take as a basis for the Soviet reusable spacecraft project "305-1", developed on the basis of "Spiral" (and, accordingly, "BORa-4") with a "load-bearing body" layout at NPO Molniya (and EMZ named after Myasishchev )."

This could have been the largest lifting body built, though Mark Wade had "Uragan" as part of N1:

I wonder is Super Heavy could be configured thusly, so as to look something like the old ferry rocket:

Musk wasn't the first to suggest military applications for rockets beyond warheads ;)

I wouldn't take that last very seriously---though it makes a bit more sense than the last Fast & Furious movie.
 

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