#21
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The Navaho missile display is undergoing repairs at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Here's a picture I took of it during the NARCON 2019 tour.
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Bob S.A.M. # 0014 |
#22
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That's good to know. Maybe the damage was a blessing in disguise because it was in disrepair when I saw it years ago.
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I love sanding. |
#23
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Quote:
With today's modern "multiple, parallel light-lines" contourometers (contour-o-meters--they were in use as far back as the 1950s [if not earlier] to produce custom-shaped helmets for jet pilots; modern ones might use lasers), the Navaho could be "scanned" (if a full set of Navaho blueprints containing the outer mold lines isn't available), in order to create a set of new such drawings. The drawings could be used not only for any future restoration work on this one-and-only complete Navaho, but they would also enable exact duplicates--at any desired scale--to be made, so that other museums could have 1:1 scale (or smaller) Navaho displays. Plus: About thirty years ago, I won two high-end Miami restaurant meal tickets (which I gave to one of my sisters and brothers-in-law, who lived near the restaurant) for winning an invention suggestion contest--similar to the old "Popular Science" magazine's section called, 'I'd Like to See Them Make..."--on a local talk radio program. I suggested a laser contourometer (years before I learned of the existence of the 1950s-era, non-laser ones, let alone the name of the devices) that would scan a person's body while he or she stood still in a small booth, then--with the help of a computer--generate custom patterns for clothing that would fit that person perfectly, which could be automatically sewn.
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#24
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If I had thought of that before the dawn of computer laser scanners and whatever you call the digital/mechanical versions that are hooked into computers, I think I would have thought of dozens of uses, but never would it have dawned on me to make custom tailored clothing!
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I love sanding. |
#25
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Quote:
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#26
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As designed and fresh off the production line this "missile" is already in a state of "hideous disrepair".
Also a slightly less practical missile than using a CEMENT TRUCK as DAILY transportation. Many of the military devices/vehicles/weapons designed shortly after WWII were absurd concepts in the excess to the point of insanity.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!! Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't ! Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY. ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC ! Last edited by ghrocketman : 04-10-2019 at 12:23 PM. |
#27
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Yea - It Was GREAT!!!
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Web Site and Blog https://rocketryjournal.wordpress.com YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@AustinAerospace 3D Printing Designs https://www.thingiverse.com/austin_aerospace_education Software https://sourceforge.net/u/austinaerospace/profile |
#28
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Since the early atomic bombs were so heavy, intercontinental ballistic missiles that could have carried them (which would have weighed several hundred tons) were considered too big, too cumbersome, and (the pivotal argument) too expensive. So more than a billion dollars was spent developing large cruise missiles--some of which, like the Snark, had long, even intercontinental, ranges. They were abandoned for IRBMs and ICBMs after further research showed that much smaller thermonuclear warheads would soon be feasible--warheads that could be delivered over intercontinental ranges by ballistic missiles weighing about a hundred tons. But: The Navaho appeared in the middle of this paradigm shift, which in hindsight proved to be a blessing in disguise. Despite the fact that most of its flights ended in spectacular pyrotechnic displays, the Rocketdyne-built Navaho booster rocket engines--which were descended from the V-2 engine--provided the R & D know-how that was needed for the 135,000 pounds-thrust (later uprated to 150,000 pounds) engine that, with minor variations, powered the Jupiter and Thor IRBMs, and served as the Atlas ICBM's booster engines. The Navaho's inertial guidance system also provided the technological base that the IRBMs and ICBMs needed. Also: The Soviets, interestingly, were undaunted by the great size of an ICBM that could carry the old, heavy atomic warheads, and decided to go ahead and develop it. When it was perfected in the late 1950s, it gave them a huge advantage in lifting power, which wasn't overcome in the U.S. until the full (two-stage: the eight-H-1 [uprated Thor rocket engine] S-I, topped by a six-RL-10 S-IV second stage) Block II Saturn I flew into orbit on January 27, 1964. The R-7 ICBM (Semyorka, "Old Number 7") orbited the first three Sputnik satellites without any upper stages, and with an upper stage--and sometimes with an escape stage above that--it lofted Luna 1, 2, and 3, the Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz manned spacecraft, and numerous lunar orbiters and (relatively) soft landers, as well as Venus flyby and atmospheric entry probes (at least one of which, Venera 7, transmitted data from the Cytherean surface; later Venera Orbiter/Lander spacecraft were launched by the larger Proton rocket).
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#29
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I think the US was being a bit more practical than the Soviets. The R-7 certainly set the stage for legendary accomplishments, but it's operational deployment as a weapon system was limited to four pads of the type you still see at Baikonur today. The US wanted to avoid that kind of costly, exposed basing. The Soviets knew it was a crappy weapon and moved quickly to field the infinitely more practical SS-7 and SS-8 ICBMs (though the latter suffered from use of LOX).
Your narrative also omits the fact the R-7 has, in fact, evolved significantly over the years. We think of the design as static, but this chart shows the Soviets/Russians never stopped tweaking the engines for more performance: http://www.b14643.de/Spacerockets/S...nes/engines.htm Finally, don't forget the Soviets had at least two "Navaho" equivalents under development as a hedge against R-7 failure or a perceived US advantage from Navaho - the Burya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burya) and Buran (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS-40_Buran). If GH thinks the test version of Navaho in Florida is absurd, then the planned G-38 operational version (bigger, even more difficult to handle) is truly outrageous! |
#30
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