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Weapons Systems 118P called for high altitude reconnaissance aircraft proposals and was the forerunner of aircraft such as the B-70 Valkyrie and SR-71 Blackbird. Scott Lowther, a.k.a. Orionblamblam, had done a great deal of work to make the WS-118P proposals available on his blog and in his publication APR. Bell's proposals, for instance, are fairly well-known (and the subject of various posts on this very forum), but the North American designs for the same high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft program have not yet been covered here, so here goes.
Known design variants:
Sources online:
Other topics on Secret Projects dealing with WS-118P proposals:
Known design variants:
- A « Phase II 1/2 » design was submitted on May 25, 1956 with delta canards, clipped delta wings, slanted lateral air intakes and rectangular fuselage section.
- Under NAA designation S.O.2432, the company submitted on June 1, 1956 a « Phase III » design with oval fuselage section, ventral air intakes, full delta wing configuration and full delta canards.
Sources online:
- Aircraft Configuration Survey for Weapon System 118P
http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/AFD-080409-006.pdf
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/159176.pdf
- Phase 3 Preliminary Development Plan
http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/AFD-080409-007.pdf - Reconnaissance System 118P Phase 3
http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/AFD-080408-034.pdf - Standard Aircraft Characteristics, Phase 2 1/2, Weapon System 118P HIGH-ALTITUDE RECONNAISSANCE
http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/AFD-080408-039.pdf
Other topics on Secret Projects dealing with WS-118P proposals:
- Northrop's Weapon Systems 118P: N-165 and N-173
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,8947.0 - Aerospace Projects Review individual articles available
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9633.0 - Opposing Archangel: System 118P
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2795.0 - Re: Secret winged spacecraft projects
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,5419.msg43237.html#msg43237 - Bell System 118P: next issue of APR
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,3357.0 - APR issue V1N4, V5N6 just published
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,3397.0
- First two plans have been reworked by me from the PDF files for easy presentation.
- Third and fourth image reproduce original artwork from NAA depicting both proposals.
- Fifth image is my own attempt at offering a two-view plan of the « Phase III » proposal using the above plans as a basis.