From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V2 #27 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Saturday, 12 December 1992 Volume 02 : Number 027 In this issue: Lockheed buys GD Military French Support Russian SCRAMJET Tests Re: Excalibur? Re: Excalibur? Re: Excalibur? Re: A-12 and F-23 status Re: Excalibur? See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 08:08:13 PST Subject: Lockheed buys GD Military MacDonnell, Rockwell, and General Dynamics are the three airframe companies on NASP. Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov Of course I don't speak for NASA "A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all." Unknown US fighter pilot ------------------------------ From: larry@ichips.intel.com Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 11:37:38 -0800 Subject: French Support Russian SCRAMJET Tests As described in an AW&ST story in the 12/14+21 issue, the Russians and the French have successfully launched an axisymmetric SCRAMJET atop a Russian missile. Russia's CIAM (Central Institute of Aviation Motors) designed the engine, the Soyuz Design Bureau manufactured the powerplant, and the Fakel Moscow Design Bureau modified the SAM missile that carried the test engine (there is a photograph of the launch configuration, with a close-up of the scramjet test package). The SAM missile was modified to give better flight trajectory. The scramjet was an axisymmetric one (a cylindrical-shaped engine with a cone shaped diffuser (inlet spike)) with an 8.9 inch diameter inlet and was 47.2 inches long. I couldn't make out any details of the nozzle (I had a poor FAX copy). The scramjet also incorporated an improved fuel control system that modified the flow rates used in the first successful Russian scramjet test. The successful test occurred Nov. 17 from a site near Priozersk in Kazakhstan. About 17 sec. before attaining a maximum altitude of almost 85,306 ft., at a speed of M3.5, the scramjet achieved subsonic combustion for about 6-7 sec. Immediately following this, about 10 sec. before reaching maximum mission altitude (this gives further proof that SAMs can reach this high and how fast they go at this altitude :) ), the scramjet transitioned to supersonic combustion which was sustained for about 15 sec. This beat the old Russian supersonic combustion record of 5 sec. set about one year ago. U.S. officials estimate that the French contributed as little as $200,000 to the effort. They did not provide any test hardware, nor did they participate in any pre-launch ground tests. The agreement between the Russians and the French was signed last September. Talks began in April. Eight French representatives were present at the launch made up of government and French aerospace company representatives. The agreement gives French aerospace industry access to the data generated by the launch. According to Francois Falempin, manager for hypersonic activities at France's Onera aerospace research agancy (which was the lead French agency in on the agreement and the only French concern directly involved) they are in the very preliminary stages of discussing additional flight tests with the Russians. In the longer term, tests involving a free-flying vehicle that would more closely resenble a real hydrogen fuelled scramjet that could be used for an aerospace plane, that would be almost 20 feet long, would seperate from its rocket booster at around Mach 8, and would fly in scramjet mode for as long as 1 minute (there is a drawing of such a scramjet test package, and also a drawing of how it might be mated to its rocket booster). I wish the U.S. to do more 'cheap' flight testing like this. This interesting incident prompted AW&ST to also write an editorial entitled: "U.S. Must Get Its Hypersonics Act Together". In this editorial they cite the recent successful Franco-Russian scramjet test. The most interesting part of that editorial is the following: "The appropriate response is to proceed with building the X-30 National Aero-Space Plane. Not the $10 billion, 350,000 lb lifting body preferred by U.S. aerospace contractors, but the riskier, faster-paced scramjet-powered vehicle - costing $5 billion and weighing 75,000 lb - originally envisioned by DARPA. Segments of industry support this plan and can pursue it." Larry ------------------------------ From: john@percy.rain.com (John Cavanaugh) Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 17:44:17 -40962758 (PST) Subject: Re: Excalibur? > >and they supposedly moved Excaliber from Groom Lake to Tonapah (I've got > ^^^^^^^^^ > Just the proverbial dumb question... what's Exclaibur? Excalibur is a futuristic plane from the book _The Flight From Winter's Shadow_ by Robin A. White (ISBN 0-449-14791-6). Good book, nice plane...:> - -- John Cavanaugh "There can be only one." ------------------------------ From: john@percy.rain.com (John Cavanaugh) Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 17:44:17 -40962758 (PST) Subject: Re: Excalibur? > >and they supposedly moved Excaliber from Groom Lake to Tonapah (I've got > ^^^^^^^^^ > Just the proverbial dumb question... what's Exclaibur? Excalibur is a futuristic plane from the book _The Flight From Winter's Shadow_ by Robin A. White (ISBN 0-449-14791-6). Good book, nice plane...:> - -- John Cavanaugh "There can be only one." ------------------------------ From: pfloyd@titan.ucc.umass.edu (BlackWing Restorations, Ltd.) Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 0:25:13 EST Subject: Re: Excalibur? The B-1B from Rockwell is titled the Excalibur... this is from seeing one up close and personal at an airshow at Westover AFB (MA) in 1990... pf - -------------===========**********===========------------- BlackWing Restorations, Ltd. Investigations, Personal Security and Restorations a specialty Can be reached via the following Internet address: pfloyd@titan.ucc.umass.edu No case to easy, no fee too large, no ammunition expenditure too gratuitous. no body count too high... call now for an inexpensive consultation. ------------------------------ From: gtephx!rakoczynskij@enuucp.eas.asu.edu (Jurek Rakoczynski) Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 14:21:24 MST Subject: Re: A-12 and F-23 status enuucp!nyx.cs.du.edu!dnadams (Dean Adams) writes: [some stuff deleted] > > Sounds a little far fetched, especially about the A-12. The Congress had > the Navy to *kill* that program and ever since the Navy has been fighting > very hard to keep some sort of "AX" project alive. There has even been > talk of scrapping THAT as well, and just giving them more F-18s. > > In addition, General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas are in the process > of SUING DoD over the terms of the cancellation. The Navy says it is > the contractors fault for being behind schedule and over budget, but > MD/GD claim that a major reason for this is because Dod withheld vital > stealth data derived from the F-117 and B-2 programs which had been > promised to them by the Navy... It seems pretty unlikely that the > "A-12" would still be going in such an environment. According to an article in Machine Design or Design News just after the cancellation of the Navy A-12, (from memory) the contractor claimed the the current technology of the stealth coatings did not meet the Navy requirements for salt protection (salt abbrasion? and maybe corrosion?), and that even with daily fresh water washings, it would be difficult *AT BEST* to maintain the intergrety of the coating. I probably can find the article if someones REALLY wants me to look. - -- Jurek Rakoczynski, AG Communication Systems, POB 52179, Phoenix, AZ. 85072 UUCP: ...!{ncar!noao!enuucp | att}!gtephx!rakoczynskij Voice: +1 602 581 4867 Inet: gtephx!rakoczynskij@enuucp.eas.asu.edu Fax: +1 602 582 7111 Inet: JUREK.RAKOCZYNSKI@gte.sprint.com ------------------------------ From: dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams) Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 00:54:57 MST Subject: Re: Excalibur? >The B-1B from Rockwell is titled the Excalibur... this is from seeing >one up close and personal at an airshow at Westover AFB (MA) in 1990 Actually the B-1B's name is the LANCER. I forget the "Excailbur" story off hand, but I think it either originated from a novel, or there was a particular aircraft given that name... I've seen a few of 'em in person as well. Pretty nice machine, even if it they are still working a few bugs out... ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V2 #27 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for anonymous FTP from harbor.ecn.purdue.edu, in /pub/skunk-works/digest/vNN.nMMM (where "NN" is the volume number, and "MMM" is the issue number).