ZEro Length Launch (ZELL) Systems

[sandiego89]

Love ZELL aplications.  Here was my completed Mirage III ZELL build for the Viva La France Group build. 

[GTX]

Just some fuel for ideas - mainly of the trailer in this case:



Regards,

Greg

[Mossie]

Hmmm, ZELL would work for a VTOL/STOVL type, get it into the air quickly without using up the usual vast amounts of fuel, you don't have to worry about a strip to land on.

[Weaver]

Hmmm, ZELL would work for a VTOL/STOVL type, get it into the air quickly without using up the usual vast amounts of fuel, you don't have to worry about a strip to land on.

May I cordially refer the right honorable gentleman to post #4 on page one of this very thread? 

Something that always struck me was that ZELL would actually be very apppropriate for the Harrier....


WHAT!!!!!


Yes it sounds mad, but consider this:

Limitations of ZELL: 1. needs a runway to land back on, 2. zero pilot control until sufficient airspeed reached for aerodynamic control.

Limitations of vectored thrust VSTOL: Max take-off weight limited by engine thrust. Vertical landing isn't generally a problem because the fuel/payload weight is much reduced by then.

A Harrier-style aircraft could ZELL launch at much higher weights than would be possible in VTO, yet still need no runway. It would be safer than a normal aircraft during ZELL because it's reaction control system could be used to control the aircraft & rocket combination from the moment of launch. It's high thrust-to-weight ratio would also considerably assist the rocket allowing the latter to be smaller or the the payload larger. On return, the aircraft could do a vertical landing next to (or even on) the launch vehicle wherever it's sited.   


I have something like this in mind if the Gerry Anderson GB ever gets going.....   

Note that VTOL does not use vast quantities of fuel: the range limitations of VTOL aircraft are due to their restrictive max take-off weight.

[rickshaw]

Just some fuel for ideas - mainly of the trailer in this case:



Regards,

Greg

Greg, whats the aircraft meant to be?  I assume it has rocket engines in the fuselage rear?

[jcf]

Just some fuel for ideas - mainly of the trailer in this case:



Regards,

Greg

Greg, whats the aircraft meant to be?  I assume it has rocket engines in the fuselage rear?

Looks like the Bell D-188a, it had three sets of propulsion engines: podded on the wingtips and mounted in the rear fuselage

[rickshaw]

Superficially, I'd agree, except that the wingtip engine pods are much more individually defined and there appears to be three engines in the tail and a much broader tail plane with considerable anhedal, compared to the D188 drawings I've seen.

[Mossie]

Hmmm, ZELL would work for a VTOL/STOVL type, get it into the air quickly without using up the usual vast amounts of fuel, you don't have to worry about a strip to land on.

May I cordially refer the right honorable gentleman to post #4 on page one of this very thread?  

A case of great minds thinking alike or fools seldom differing???

[GTX]

Folks,

The aircraft shown (though I was more interested in the 'launcher') was a North American 1950s VATOL (vertical attitude takeoff and landing) concept (don't know the proper NA designation).  Here is another image of the aircraft:



regards,

Greg

[jcf]

That is bonkers. 

[sandiego89]

Launcher is similiar to that of the CONVAIR POGO trailer that they used to transport it around and move it from the horizontal to the veritcal. 

http://www.aerofiles.com/convair-xfy1.jpg

[rickshaw]

Thanks, Greg.  I thought it was different to the D188.  Another of those crazy "nutcracker" designs.   

I don't think the trailer is as much a ZELL launcher as a means of moving the silly aircraft which doesn't have wheels of its own, around on an airfield.

[GTX]

I don't think the trailer is as much a ZELL launcher as a means of moving the silly aircraft which doesn't have wheels of its own, around on an airfield.

Never said it was - I said "fuel for ideas".

[rickshaw]

I don't think the trailer is as much a ZELL launcher as a means of moving the silly aircraft which doesn't have wheels of its own, around on an airfield.

Never said it was - I said "fuel for ideas".

I wasn't suggesting you had.  I was pointing out what I believed it was for.  It could form the basis for a ZELL launcher but I think it would need a bit of beefing up to do it.

[saintkatanalegacy]

ZELL = Myasichev