09-25-2017, 08:26 PM
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Master Modeler
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 6,507
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Doug Sams
FWIW, I want to point out that the fins are stock. It's been a while since I had read up on the Dynosoar so I took a look at the Wikipedia article on it which clearly shows the fins in its illustration.
Often when scaling rockets with active stabilization (via gimballed motors) modelers need to add fins, but in this case, it's completely legitimate.
This is a very well done project.
Doug
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Yes--the Titan II/X-20 suborbital test configuration and the earlier Titan I-boosted configuration both had large trapezoidal fins on the first stage. The Titan IIIC-boosted orbital version had no fins (at least not in any of the illustrations that I've seen of it). I guess that in the pitch plane, either the Stage 0 solid propellant motors (they were designated "Stage 0" to avoid confusion because the Titan IIIA and IIIB had no solid motors), along with the core first stage, provided enough aerodynamic force to overcome that of the X-20's wings, or the solid motors' thrust vector control system provided enough control authority (in pitch *and* yaw) to overcome the "head-end" forces of the X-20's wings and vertical stabilizers. |