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Old 04-18-2012, 11:39 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironnerd
Thanks, blackshire!

I have always favored the PRIME and X-24B - but they flew like polished bricks. In the NASA book on the Lifting Bodies, one pilot even states that if one of the lifting bodies and a brick were dropped at the same time, the lifting body would touch ground first.
Did you mean the X-24A? In a "Popular Science" article at the time, John Manke (if memory serves) said that the long-nosed X-24B--to his pleasant surprise--had positive lift after separation, while the X-24A, M2-F2/M2-F3, and HL-10 all dropped like bombs after release from the B-52's wing pylon (I'd also read that comment regarding the brick).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironnerd
I did not know about the Alpha Drago - pretty slick. Could almost be a nose for a Nike Smoke ... hmmmm ...
For an Alpha Draco scale model, the glide trim ballast could be placed in one of the four conical fairings, and the gliding second stage could be built so that the upper stage's motor (or motor mount, which could use streamer recovery) would eject itself to lighten the glider.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironnerd
My "SCALE" lifting body of choice is the FMX-4 "Facetmobile"
I remember that 'un...like Vincent Burnelli's flying wings, the Facetmobile is very crash-resistant. Its stall speed is also quite impressive--just 33 miles per hour! With its large exposed area, it would lend itself to solar cell-charged Li-Po electric battery power, which some full-scale motorgliders are already using (without the solar charging).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironnerd
One of the things I wanna try with the X-24 is staging. TIR-24 shows an X-24 being launched on a Little Joe. If the booster is under 10" it can be simply gap-staged. This would allow me to two of my favorite rocket things (Stage and Glide) at the SAME TIME! My Rubicon might work for this.

1: I gotta get building
2: I'll post pics
Yes--a BT-5 "stuffer tube" could help direct the burning propellant particles from the first stage motor up into the second stage motor's nozzle.
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