Heavier-Than -Air Craft

The ARES Mars Scout Plane got me thinking about the kind of aircraft which might exist in a Traveller universe. Look at the picture again, and imagine the 'NASA' letters on the logo are cockpit windows ... changes the scale considerably.

I've always been a fan of winged and lighter-than-air craft in SF settings. I suppose there wouldn't be much call for them with cheap fusion power and gravitics, but I like to have them in there if only for variety.

[« Spinward Scout »]

Here's a good one for you.

SeaWind

Heh, one of my favourites! There's lots of good stuff which comes out of the EAA - that's why they have the word 'experimental' in their title. [img]smile.gif[/img]

One reason I can see for continuing with aerodynamic flight is as a fail-safe. With vestigal wings or at least a lifting-body design, you won't fall down quite as precipitously if the gravitics fail. If you have a seperate propulsion system, as in the LBB3 speeder, you'd still have (possibly full) manouverablility

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

I can see something like the HiMat

http://it.geocities.com/aereicuriosi3/himat/himat.htm

I want one of those Mars ones... ok, Two please!

[DaveShayne]

Originally posted by the Bromgrev:
I've always been a fan of winged and lighter-than-air craft in SF settings. I suppose there wouldn't be much call for them with cheap fusion power and gravitics, but I like to have them in there if only for variety.

I suspect that on planets with dense atmospheres blimps and dirigibles would be more practical than they are on earth. Better lifting capabilities and the slower speeds are relatively less of a drawback since fixed wing planes will have increased problems with drag.

The HiMat! Last time I read about those, I was still in school (literally - my school library had copies of Flight magazine). Are they still messing about with them?

Good point about the dense atmospheres. Similarly, low-gravity worlds might have advantages, although they would probably have less dense atmospheres. Well, ok, not according to LBB6 they wouldn't. But at higher TLs, materials technology could give rise to some very lightweight-yet-strong materials, which might give aircraft a new lease of life.

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Remember the TV Martian Chronicles? They had an ultralight plane that they were scouting around in. That sort of thing is perfect for Trav.

Also I can see things like Goodyear's InFlatable Plane fitting in nice.

http://www.davidszondy.com/future/Fl...bber_plane.htm

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

also the Bv-141 is a good customer. I think you could do a TL7-9 "Kit" that could be setup with a minimal crew for a good spotter.

This plane was rumored to have excellent flight characteristics, but suffered from being "ugly", whatever that may be.

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

also the Xp-55

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/p55.htm

and XP-56

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/p56.htm

The Horten 9

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/19...etail_hoix.htm

The Skyrocket

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/p50.htm

The Sea Vixen

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.../gallery2.html

The Shinden

http://www.eagle.ca/~harry/aircraft/shinden/

The SeaMaster and Sea Dart

http://www.vectorsite.net/avcmast.html

[Timerover51]

A lot of the links are broken, but you can search Wikipedia or online for most of the aircraft. Of all of the experimental aircraft, my favorite is still the XF-85 Goblin.

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Vi...-xf-85-goblin/