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GIGANTIC Aviation Week story, Pentagon has been flying 2-stage orbital spaceplane throughout 1990s&#
Guest_BruceMoomaw_*
post Mar 6 2006, 02:24 AM
Post #1





Guests






It may even have been manned:
http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/chan...ws/030606p1.xml

My God, what a story -- if it's even partially true. And, judging from this article, they are absolutely certain they have proof (along with proof that the thing, although it works, has recently been mothballed as not
cost-effective).

It's important to keep in mind, though, that this thing is NOT a workable prototype of the originally planned 2-stage winged Space Shuttle. The second stage -- the spaceplane that actually achieved orbit -- was relatively small and probably very inefficient as a cargo carrier; its advantage lay in allowing the US to get a military reconaissance (or weapons) satellite into orbit surreptitiously, with no advance warning of the launch going to other countries. Even at that, as I say, AW reports that the thing has been recently canned as not worth its (doubtless huge) black-budget expense.
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_*
post Mar 11 2006, 11:31 AM
Post #2





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Bell, having now read the two other Aviation Week stories on this subject, has developed a new theory of what the eyewitnesses were really seeing:

"The second article on the orbiter has a detailed description of the
vehicle as seen by an F-15 pilot at Holloman AFB (NM). He describes the
four main engine exhausts as having a gridlike or 'radiator' appearance.

"Now this is not typical of aerospikes or any rocket engine. But the air
intakes on the F-117 do have grids over them to keep radars from seeing
the compressor blades (which give a strong radar return and a
distinctive modulation).

"So, if one was designing a high-subsonic or transsonic stealth recon
plane, one might well use grids to keep radars or IR systems from
looking up the tailpipe and seeing the turbine blades. Probably there
would still be a narrow spike of high detectability along the thrust
axis, but with a little care this axis will never point directly at a
ground radar or hostile aircraft.

"This article also describes two circular ports flanking the engines
and white cylindrical objects seen on the ramp alongside the
'spacecraft'. AvWeek interprets these as solid-fuel booster rockets that
fit into the stern ports.

"But a stealthy recon plane might want to shoot missiles backwards at a
pursuing fighter. There is a naval version of the Sparrow/AIM-120 family
that steers by vectored thrust at low airspeeds. With a little work it
could steer at negative airspeeds. Back in the late 50s the Navy worked
on backward firing missiles for P6M and possibly A3D.

"So if there is any truth to this story at all, I think it refers to a
super-stealthy but otherwise conventional peacetime strategic recon
aircraft that sneaks over key sites between passes by imaging
satellites. This operational concept makes far more sense than the
blatantly obvious orbital or boost-glide scenario advocated by AvWeek.

"Holloman would be a logical emergency landing site for this aircraft
because it hosts the F-117 wing and has a lot of secure hangars:
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp...man+AFB%7cnm%7c

"The third article about the 'Mothership' is less convincing. The author
claims that many reports of B-70ish aircraft have been sent to AvWeek,
but the only one he describes in detail is ludicrous. An 'experienced
birdwatcher' in Pennsylvania claims that a Mothership flew by her house
at only 2500' AGL, lit off its afterburners, and climbed away with
tremendous noise. Sure seems like a top-secret operation, doesn't it?"
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Posts in this topic
- BruceMoomaw   GIGANTIC Aviation Week story   Mar 6 2006, 02:24 AM
- - tasp   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 5 2006, 08:24 PM...   Mar 6 2006, 02:56 AM
- - mcaplinger   Interesting, but I don't think AW&ST's...   Mar 6 2006, 02:58 AM
- - BruceMoomaw   Whatever happened to the "donuts on a rope...   Mar 6 2006, 03:44 AM
- - deglr6328   Completely fascinating. Virtually all the details...   Mar 6 2006, 06:30 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   Jeffrey Bell is really worried about the threat fr...   Mar 6 2006, 11:44 AM
- - BruceMoomaw   Jeffrey Bell, that eternal party-pooper, caught no...   Mar 6 2006, 07:54 AM
|- - paxdan   The set up described reminds me of the Tagboard pr...   Mar 6 2006, 11:37 AM
|- - tty   Actually this is a rather typical Jeff Bell effort...   Mar 6 2006, 07:56 PM
- - Myran   Thats very insightful deglr6328, and without enoug...   Mar 6 2006, 11:36 AM
- - edstrick   ET Phone Area-51? Actually, I've recently rea...   Mar 6 2006, 12:00 PM
|- - Bob Shaw   Here are grabs from the AW&ST website: http:/...   Mar 6 2006, 01:25 PM
- - Ames   Where does the undercarriage go? doesn't ...   Mar 6 2006, 02:16 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   QUOTE (tty @ Mar 6 2006, 07:56 PM) Fortun...   Mar 6 2006, 10:53 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Footnote: the Titan 2 second stage weighed 29,000 ...   Mar 6 2006, 11:15 PM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 6 2006, 05:15 PM...   Mar 7 2006, 02:59 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   QUOTE (tasp @ Mar 7 2006, 02:59 AM) We ca...   Mar 7 2006, 10:23 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   One *possible* vehicle which may form part of a so...   Mar 7 2006, 04:36 PM
- - tty   Well, I’ve been doing some more figuring and I mus...   Mar 7 2006, 08:43 PM
- - dvandorn   Just a little gedankenexperiment, here -- anyone c...   Mar 7 2006, 09:48 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Mar 7 2006, 09:48 PM) J...   Mar 7 2006, 09:57 PM
|- - Bob Shaw   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Mar 7 2006, 09:48 PM) J...   Mar 7 2006, 10:08 PM
|- - JTN   QUOTE (Bob Shaw @ Mar 7 2006, 10:08 PM) C...   Mar 7 2006, 10:44 PM
- - dvandorn   Good point, Alex -- NRO probably would run such an...   Mar 7 2006, 10:02 PM
- - dvandorn   I'm not trying to imply conspiracies -- though...   Mar 7 2006, 10:32 PM
- - dvandorn   I have to admit, when I saw the Blackstar story, t...   Mar 7 2006, 10:57 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   According to the article, not even the nation...   Mar 8 2006, 01:26 AM
- - GregM   So let’s see here. To start with we have the Valky...   Mar 8 2006, 04:02 AM
- - tty   Also remember that there is a school of thought th...   Mar 8 2006, 07:24 AM
|- - paxdan   Lots of info about the XB-70 What an aircraft...   Mar 8 2006, 09:58 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   Jim Oberg on MSNBC.Com Space News summed up the Bo...   Mar 8 2006, 11:09 AM
|- - Steve G   QUOTE (paxdan @ Mar 8 2006, 02:58 AM) Lot...   Mar 17 2006, 02:56 AM
|- - GregM   QUOTE (Steve G @ Mar 17 2006, 02:56 AM) I...   Mar 17 2006, 03:45 AM
|- - dvandorn   In re the Avro Arrow: QUOTE (GregM @ Mar 16 ...   Mar 18 2006, 03:19 PM
|- - Steve G   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Mar 18 2006, 08:19 AM) ...   Mar 18 2006, 09:03 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   It should be remembered that there is still -- to ...   Mar 8 2006, 11:04 AM
|- - paxdan   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 8 2006, 11:04 AM...   Mar 8 2006, 11:11 AM
|- - tty   [quote name='BruceMoomaw' date='Mar 8 ...   Mar 8 2006, 11:18 PM
|- - gndonald   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 8 2006, 07:04 PM...   Mar 17 2006, 04:14 PM
|- - Bob Shaw   QUOTE (gndonald @ Mar 17 2006, 04:14 PM) ...   Mar 17 2006, 08:40 PM
|- - ljk4-1   QUOTE (Bob Shaw @ Mar 17 2006, 03:40 PM) ...   Mar 17 2006, 09:38 PM
- - edstrick   I believe "AirCraftFilms", the companion...   Mar 8 2006, 12:41 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   QUOTE (Bob Shaw @ Mar 8 2006, 11:09 AM) J...   Mar 8 2006, 01:27 PM
|- - ljk4-1   I found this post from the FPSPACE list very inter...   Mar 8 2006, 02:49 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 8 2006, 01:27 PM...   Mar 8 2006, 04:48 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   QUOTE (AlexBlackwell @ Mar 8 2006, 04:48 ...   Mar 9 2006, 12:39 AM
|- - ljk4-1   It is a known fact that the CIA and USSR "sup...   Mar 9 2006, 03:56 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 9 2006, 12:39 AM...   Mar 9 2006, 04:55 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Okay, but a magazine which (according to you) is c...   Mar 9 2006, 09:17 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 9 2006, 09:17 PM...   Mar 9 2006, 09:32 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   QUOTE (AlexBlackwell @ Mar 9 2006, 09:32 ...   Mar 10 2006, 05:24 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   From Wikipedia: "One notable variant of the ...   Mar 10 2006, 09:46 AM
|- - ljk4-1   Blackstar: False Messiah From Groom Lake http://w...   Mar 10 2006, 12:16 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Bell, having now read the two other Aviation Week ...   Mar 11 2006, 11:31 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   Is it a bad sign when Jeffrey Bell starts agreeing...   Mar 11 2006, 11:37 AM
|- - gpurcell   QUOTE (Bob Shaw @ Mar 11 2006, 11:37 AM) ...   Mar 12 2006, 02:23 AM
- - tty   Here it is Jeff Bell who is off speculating in the...   Mar 12 2006, 04:45 PM
|- - Bob Shaw   QUOTE (tty @ Mar 12 2006, 04:45 PM) If yo...   Mar 12 2006, 09:17 PM
- - ljk4-1   Six blind men in a zoo: Aviation Week's mythic...   Mar 13 2006, 05:13 PM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Mar 13 2006, 05:13 P...   Mar 13 2006, 05:25 PM
|- - helvick   QUOTE (AlexBlackwell @ Mar 13 2006, 05:25...   Mar 13 2006, 06:04 PM
- - gpurcell   Ouch, that's GOTTA hurt.   Mar 13 2006, 07:01 PM
- - tty   Just one small point. That nuclear-powered soviet ...   Mar 13 2006, 07:05 PM
- - ljk4-1   This Web page has excerpts from the 1958 AW&ST...   Mar 13 2006, 07:29 PM
- - Myran   Two US built nuclear jet engines at Idaho National...   Mar 13 2006, 09:53 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Having finally read all of Dwayne Day's story,...   Mar 18 2006, 03:51 AM
|- - Bob Shaw   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 18 2006, 03:51 A...   Mar 18 2006, 01:36 PM
|- - gpurcell   QUOTE (Bob Shaw @ Mar 18 2006, 01:36 PM) ...   Mar 18 2006, 01:58 PM
|- - BruceMoomaw   QUOTE (gpurcell @ Mar 18 2006, 01:58 PM) ...   Mar 19 2006, 01:16 AM
|- - AlexBlackwell   QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Mar 19 2006, 01:16 A...   Mar 20 2006, 05:13 PM
- - ljk4-1   http://www.janes.com/defence/air_forces/ne...60406...   Apr 12 2006, 06:23 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Four more Aviation Week letters on the BlackStar s...   Apr 21 2006, 01:20 PM
- - tty   Piggybacking on a B-70 would not be a good idea ae...   Apr 21 2006, 05:07 PM
- - ljk4-1   Black projects don't seem to be having any bud...   May 23 2006, 07:09 PM
- - climber   I heard this week on the radio that the whole USA ...   May 23 2006, 07:34 PM
- - ljk4-1   Looks like they had a plan similar to the one from...   May 23 2006, 08:15 PM


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