Post amazingly cool pictures of aircraft (Volume 2)
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Cross range issues would also be a lot less of an issue because the accuracy of re-entry would now be very precise with no need to refine the approach to landing by gliding left or right of the initial re-entry trajectory.
The crossrange requirement was driven by the USAF desire to be able to return to the launch site after a single polar orbit when launched from Vandenberg - due to the rotation of the Earth during the time the Shuttle would be in space this worked out to around 1000 miles crossrange capabilityDr Jekyll said:
Might this one have worked?
Probably not - knowing now the issues of having orbital craft mated side by side with the booster elements. An awful lot of the problems associated with the Shuttle Orbiter would not have arisen if it had been possible to mount it on top of its booster rather than mated parallel to it.The reusable space plane idea is not dead. Indeed, there is currently an orbital space plane in use (the X-
37) but the X-37 and any other future orbital space planes will sit on top of their boosters, not mounted on the side.
Eric Mc said:
The reusable space plane idea is not dead. Indeed, there is currently an orbital space plane in use (the X-
37) but the X-37 and any other future orbital space planes will sit on top of their boosters, not mounted on the side.
I wonder how long it will be before we see an X-37-like spaceplane on top of a recoverable booster like Falcon 9 to create a fully reuseable system.37) but the X-37 and any other future orbital space planes will sit on top of their boosters, not mounted on the side.
I know SpaceX intend to eventually land the Dragon back on land, but I suspect astronauts would prefer to glide back to land rather than rely on a suicide burn
"However, the aircraft did possess some amazing capabilities, as proved when several Crusader pilots took off with the wings folded. One of these episodes took place on 23 August 1960; a Crusader with the wings folded took off from Napoli Capodichino in full afterburner, climbed to 5,000 ft (1,500 m) and then returned to land successfully. The pilot, absentminded but evidently a good "stick man," complained that the control forces were higher than normal. The Crusader was capable of flying in this state, though the pilot would be required to reduce aircraft weight by ejecting stores and fuel before landing. In all, 1,261 Crusaders were built. By the time it was withdrawn from the fleet, 1,106 had been involved in mishaps"
LotusOmega375D said:
That's amazing (and rather worrying...)
How did the Crusader fare in combat?
It was highly regarded by those who flew it. The US Navy were less keen on it because of its single engine - which is why the Phantom was preferred. It was also planned that the Crusader would be the last gun equipped fighter with the US Navy. As it turned, that wasn't actually what happened.How did the Crusader fare in combat?
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