Can't get much better... T-38 in Thunderbirds paint! (photo: unknown)
There are some creations of mankind that are so far ahead of their time, and so perfect in their design that it's hard to believe they are the work of mere mortals. The Northrop T-38, first flown in 1959, is one of them. 1959? Really? It still looks so awesome that you could totally believe is was something fresh for 2015 from the sharpest designers in the world.
The T-38 has been a valuable asset to NASA... and a fun toy too! (photo: NASA)
So you can tell where I stand on the T-38, it's about as close to avgeek perfect as we get. But I wondered if you agree with me, so I put this poll together to see what your thoughts are. Often I find that about 70% of you agree with my line of thinking, but I'm pretty sure the numbers will be much higher this time around : )
Lean, mean, supersonic machine... the Northrop T-38 Talon (photo: Air Force)
So, what do YOU think? Is the Northrop T-38 Talon one of the most beautiful airplanes ever built?
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I admit that I don't follow modern manned-spacecraft development very closely, and you can tell because I didn't even realize Boeing was developing a 7 seat spacecraft to serve as a low Earth orbit taxi!
This video released yesterday gives a nice overview of the CST-100 project... and the one I found below shows a capsule drop-test from an Air-Crane where systems like the very critical parachute system and the air bag cushioning system used for terra firma landings were put to the test.
Video screenshot: Boeing CST-100 manned spacecraft capsule recovery drop test
If I understand the information correctly, these drop tests actually took place in 2012, and they appear to have been very successful. The CST-100 is part of the NASA Commercial Crew Development program which is investing money in various projects from several manufacturers, and it shows that at the very least America is headed the right direction in having some form of successor to the Space Shuttle for getting our people up into space and back. Looks like I need to be paying more attention to what's going on!
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If you're short on time and just need an under-a-minute avgeek experience, you'll wanna go here instead of watching the video above... but if you like awesome, cool, and truly amazing examples of modern tech being used to make extremely difficult aircraft designs fly great in model form, then please take 15 minutes to watch this.
The real XC-142 was a remarkably successful VTOL design from the early 1960's. However, even tho it proved capable of vertical takeoffs and landings along with over 400mph maximum speed, mechanical complexities and aerodynamic problems in certain phases of flight prevented it from moving beyond the prototype stage. Five XC-142's were built, and the only remaining example is the one turned over to NASA in 1966. It's on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and I have spend quite a lot of time looking this unique aircraft over on each trip I've made to Dayton.
The December 2013 video above of the all-electric RC model XC-142 begins with northern California builder and pilot Ran D. St. Clair explaining a little about the design, then sharing some details on the open-source OpenAero2 flight controller software, and then showing the wing pivot process and interconnect with the horizontal tail. The first of the flying begins at the 3:10 mark. The flying footage is very impressive.
As the inflight pic above shows, this model is extremely well built, but the really impressive work is how well the programming has been done to create a very controlled VTOL flying machine. Transitions from vertical to slow-forward-flight and then full-forward-flight and then back to vertical for landing are done with relative ease. The video is also very well done which gives you a really great opportunity to see this remarkable little model at its best.
And in case you think that little vertical prop in the rear is a nod to the pitch-control tail rotor found on modern electric toy helicopters, think again... the real XC-142 has one there too for pitch control when in vertical mode.
Bravo Ran D. St. Clair for some very impressive work!
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Well here we are turning another number over on our way toward the end of time. I hope your new year is off to a good start... or should I say a good launch? As a unique way to fight the gravity of the day, I'm sharing a video I found this morning on youtube that's full of fabulous views of Atlantis on her final flight, STS-135, the Shuttle-era-ending journey into the lesser heavens back in July of 2011. You'll notice that some of the sequences are also from STS-134, Endeavour's last flight.
If your ADD is stronger than your avgeekery, I expect you'll move on after just a minute or so. What a pity. This video is an hour long and is full of views that'll stir your soul, and most of them are directly related to the final shuttle flight.
If you doubt me, after you watch several of the close-up launch views in slow motion in the first few minutes, hop to the 19:45 mark and watch the slow motion ascension that starts with a view of the top of the main fuel tank. Or the unique launch perspective at 29:08. Or maybe the infrared view at 36:00... or maybe the stunning fused imagery experiment at 39:00.
It's a new year... and sometimes one of the best ways to look forward is to take a look back.
Video screenshot of Atlantis at launch on the final Shuttle mission in July 2011
It's true, I have too many ideas. Seems to be some sort of handicap actually... a steady stream of self-proclaimed great ideas without the resources to make them become reality. It truly drives me crazy. I desperately need a team of highly motivated and ultra sharp worker bees to help me make all this stuff in my head become real. But don't hold your breath on the ever happening, at least not until I make one of them very successful on my own. So I keep trying.
The graphic above is a teaser for a project I'm gonna try hard to make happen. It's a sliver of the website for the project that I'm working on the design for. And in case you're wondering, my FLY Energy Bar project is still in the works, but I've reached a challenging point dealing with the baked product long-term moisture content and retaining finished product texture quality over a long shelf life. I think I'll get it figured out, it's just that so far, I haven't.
So, Aerospace 9 is the reinvention of the AirPigz Photo Studio idea that I tried to launch over 2 years ago. My understanding back in 2011 was that I was going to be granted permission for AirPigz to effectively license the use of images I had taken at a particular aviation event, but that permission never came thru. I was even told more than once that it would. But it didn't. Without that permission I was unable to move forward.
Recently I figured out a way to head off in a different direction to create an even better concept for upscale high-quality avgeek art. I'm not giving details now but you should be able to get an idea if you look closely at the graphic above. I will say this to start the saliva flowing: X-15, SR-71, XB-70 and B-58. There's also one specific hand-built element to the project that stands the chance of generating some real income while also making the operation highly respected. I like both of those possibilities : )
(click pic for hi-res) An X-15 after landing in 1961 as the B-52 mothership flies over
I've been feeding a revived X-15 addiction here the last week or so, and this image from the early days of the program sure drips with 1960's aerospace awesomeness. I've even got a sideline project in the works that includes North American's rocket-powered speedster... the one that spent quite a bit of time at the edge of space while we marched our way toward the Apollo program.
No details on the sideline project for you now, but this pic hopefully does a great job of stirring up your avgeek juices as we get ready to head into December. Enjoy : )
This just released video shows the first free-flight test of the Sierra Nevada Corporation 'Dream Chaser' spaceplane on Saturday October 26, 2013. While the Dream Chaser will have the capability to carry up to seven crew members, this flight test was carried out with no one onboard using the automated flight control system. The video shows the lifting body space-shuttle-like vehicle being released from the Erikson Air-Crane helicopter and then flying extremely stable and right on glide path thru the short flight (less than one minute) and includes the approach to runway 22L at Edwards Air Force Base.
What isn't seen in this video is the aftermath of the touchdown when the left landing gear failed to extend. During the flare the right main and nose gear deployed properly but for reasons yet unknown, the left main did not deploy. Some reports indicate that the vehicle sustained significant damage due to loss of control after touchdown.
While the landing gear issue and subsequent damage to the test vehicle is certainly a setback, the team has much to celebrate with this test. A teleconference scheduled for later today will give insight into the damage to Dream Chaser and how the mishap will affect the program.
It's interesting to note that it appears that the landing gear on this particular Dream Chaser, known as the engineering test article (ETA) which is not intended for any space flights, is not the same design as will be on the flight test article (FTA). I'm sure we'll here more about these details before long.
I bought a cool NASA meatball t-shirt at Target last weekend and I was wearing it yesterday evening... gotta say it made me feel special. Seriously. And while I know there are great things done everyday by modern NASA, most of that 'special' feeling came from looking back to our stellar past. Those thoughts are magnified even more since I may be stopping by Wapakoneta Ohio and the Armstrong Air & Space Museum this Saturday while taking my roller-coaster-buddy (niece Madison) to Cedar Point on the season ending weekend.
I've never been to this little museum located in Neil Armstrong's birth town but my dad (1929-2009) had stopped by a few times and said it was definitely worth checking it out. If I do get to stop by on Saturday I'll get some pix to report back.
Today's post is about experiencing the launch of the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket, which of course Neil was the Commander of. The video above does a great job of capturing the massive power generated by the five Rocketdyne F-1 engines in the first stage... 7,648,000 pounds of thrust!
So take 4 minutes and experience what three Americans did back on July 16, 1969 sitting on top of the most powerful machine ever built by mankind... blasting off for a visit to the moon to put human footsteps there for the very first time.
We were amazing.
Video screenshot: 7,648,000 pounds of thrust on Apollo 11 launch on July 16,1969
The mysterious Apollo voyage to the bottom of the sea is really a by-product of every Apollo mission that left the Earth... the engines and booster stage returned to Earth after burning for approximately 165 seconds, reaching about 205,000 feet. Interestingly, the momentum carries the booster up to about 360,000 feet before it begins to descend. While falling, the booster stage assumes a semi stable engines-down position until impact with the ocean. The pieces and parts then make their way on down to the ocean floor.
And now, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (who also founded the low-cost spaceflight development company Blue Origin) along with a very skilled team of deep sea searchers has located two of the Rocketdyne F1 engines used to launch an Apollo Saturn V rocket. These two engines might actually be from the Apollo 11 mission according to this page on the BezosExpeditions website. The info on that page is from nearly a year ago tho, so we may find that these engines are from a different Apollo mission. Makes no difference to me... spent F1 engines that can be recovered and restored for viewing are awesome no matter what mission they were on!
The engines were located 14,000 feet below the surface in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral, and as the video shows, they were viewed and recovered by Remotely Operated Vehicles. It's quite stunning to see these F1 engines in the cold blackness of the ocean so many years after they spent a brief amount of time in the cold darkness of the edge of space.
(click pic to enlarge) F1 rocket engine thrust chamber on ocean floor (Bezos Expeditions)
The Saturn V first stage (known as the S-1C) had five of the F1 engines mounted, one fixed engine in the center and four gimballed around it for controlling the flight path. These were, and still are, the most powerful rocket engines ever built: creating over 1,500,000 pounds of thrust on an empty weight of just 18,500 pounds. But just imagine the weight in the fuel tanks! 318,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 203,400 gallons of kerosene - wow! Each F1 engine stands 19 feet tall and has a diameter of 12.3 feet. The total liftoff thrust produced by the S-1C and its five F1 engines for the Apollo 15 mission was 7,766,000 pounds!
Jeff Bezos has said that the recovered engines remain the property of NASA but is hopeful that after the National Air & Space Museum most likely gets one of them that maybe the Museum of Flight in Seattle might get the other one. Time will tell. Plus, they may be able to locate and recover more engines as well.
(click pic for hi-res) Shuttle Endeavour during one of her 25 missions: 1992-2012
I could say a lot about the decline of the United States of America since the 1960's... the decline in our accomplishments in the space program, along with the dramatic weakening of our wealth and super-power status. I could also say a lot about the diminished prospects for our future as we continue turn our back (under the influence and manipulation of the government and the mainstream media) on nearly all of the qualities and characteristics that made us stand apart from (and above) the other countries of the world. I could, but I won't. With the game nearly over, what's the point of it now?
So instead, I'm just taking time to point out something beautiful. While the Space Shuttle Program seems a rather simple achievement compared to Apollo's moon mission, it was still a remarkable human accomplishment. This hi-res NASA image of Shuttle Endeavour during one of her 25 missions (1992-2012) definitely speaks to the wonder and beauty of putting the shuttle into orbit. And, now that I've seen Shuttle Discovery up close and personal at the NASM Udvar-Hazy facility during the recent AirPigz Museum MeetUp, seeing this image of Endeavour has a far greater impact on me.
I miss the days when the United States of America was sending shuttles into space.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 09:03AM 
Can't get much better... T-38 in Thunderbirds paint! (photo: unknown)
The T-38 has been a valuable asset to NASA... and a fun toy too! (photo: NASA) 
Lean, mean, supersonic machine... the Northrop T-38 Talon (photo: Air Force)
