Range instrumentation aircraft

Hobbes · July 29, 2011, 10:47:42 AM

In the 1960s, NASA developed an aircraft to be used as radio relay for their Apollo missions. The aircraft (8 were built) were modified C-135s known as ARIA (Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft). They used a dish antenna in a large nose fairing to communicate with spacecraft. The aircraft were used for various other telemetry and tracking duties as well (incl. testing of ballistic missiles).

Eventually, the ARIA aircraft were superseded by the TDRSS satellites.

If Europe (or Britain on its own) had developed a space program, something similar would have been needed. Ground stations can cover only part of an orbit; over sea you need either ships or aircraft. The Russians used ships (most famously the Yuri Gagarin) for this role.

You can guess where this is going, no?

Maybe I should do my AEW.3 with ESA markings?

lenny100 · July 29, 2011, 11:28:24 AM

now that right out of the box go for it

Gondor · July 29, 2011, 12:16:54 PM

Gondor

pyro-manic · July 29, 2011, 01:42:58 PM

Sounds like a grand idea! What about leaving the tail radome off, so you get a machine that looks very much like the ARIA? Or a Shackleton with a big dorsal hump like the EC-121 Warning Star? Alternatively a V-Bomber could work quite well too. For ships, a modified Type 82 destroyer? Remove the Sea Dart launcher and radars, add a hangar to the stern, and fit tracking and communications gear in place of the forward 909 and turret.

Steel Penguin · July 29, 2011, 02:07:08 PM

i was going to do a zoom climb version, 1:48 tsr2 with a pair of Jag recon pods under the wings and a recon belly pack, with NASA ids.. possibly a spine canoe as well

Weaver · July 29, 2011, 03:18:25 PM

For a ship version, how about an old pre-angled-deck RN carrier (Aoshima do some I think) with domes on the flight deck?

For a plane, how about a VC-10 with the radar nose?

Hobbes · July 30, 2011, 12:57:27 AM

I've seen a model of the VC-10 with a radar nose somewhere (basically the Nimrod AEW conversion grafted onto the VC-10).

I've been thinking about more aircraft etc. in ESA livery, I've got an Airbus Beluga that I want to do in alternate markings (initial thoughts were Heavylift, but ESA would be nice too). I'll have to see if I can find some real-world examples.

Rheged · July 30, 2011, 01:20:57 AM

Quote from: Steel Penguin on July 29, 2011, 02:07:08 PM
i was going to do a zoom climb version, 1:48 tsr2 with a pair of Jag recon pods under the wings and a recon belly pack, with NASA ids.. possibly a spine canoe as well

I am (very slowly) working on a Lightning that was to be used as a vertical chase plane for NASA.....its in another thread somewhere..... given the lightning's rate of climb its not totally alien space bat territory........ and this thread allows me to have UK Space Force Lightning based at Carlisle or Newcastle, acting as a chase plane for launches at Spadeadam.

Weaver · July 30, 2011, 01:49:22 AM

Quote from: Hobbes on July 30, 2011, 12:57:27 AM
I've seen a model of the VC-10 with a radar nose somewhere (basically the Nimrod AEW conversion grafted onto the VC-10).

I've been thinking about more aircraft etc. in ESA livery, I've got an Airbus Beluga that I want to do in alternate markings (initial thoughts were Heavylift, but ESA would be nice too). I'll have to see if I can find some real-world examples.

If you replaced the Beluga's cargo door with a fibreglass radome, that would probably work.

Hobbes · July 30, 2011, 02:22:43 AM

Nice idea; my thought was to use the Beluga for cargo, e.g. delivering rocket parts to the launch site.

This is a satellite being delivered to the Kourou spaceport, on an Antonov 124:

The only aircraft I can find that's actually operated by ESA is their zero-G Airbus A300:

So nothing like NASA's fleet. To be fair, ESA is a lot smaller; quite a few of the functions done by NASA in the US, can be found in national agencies in Europe. The national aviation authorities probably have the sort of aircraft I had expected. Still, that only gives more scope for what-ifs.

Hobbes · July 30, 2011, 05:07:56 AM

I haven't found the VC-10 model with radome I was looking for, but I did find this CGI:

PR19_Kit · July 30, 2011, 05:16:15 AM

Quote from: Hobbes on July 30, 2011, 05:07:56 AM
I haven't found the VC-10 model with radome I was looking for, but I did find this CGI:

Lovely looking device, even with the radomes!

How come they look good on a VC10 and not on a Nimrod?

Weaver · July 30, 2011, 05:50:28 AM

Your talking about this as a modern thing, which is fair enough, but my original suggestion of the VC.10 was based on the idea that it would be in the 1960/70s, since the ARIA-type aircraft would probably be superceded by satellites in the same way as the US ones at some point.

The Concorde program is often described as Europe's moonshot: what if we took that literally and had Britain and France spending the money on an actual moonshot, or at least a greatly enhanced space program, instead?

Steel Penguin · July 30, 2011, 06:04:30 AM

Weaver, Concorde to the stars.... rocket boost scramjet powered, a euro Orient express, UK to oz flight times slashed, the ability to reach and service "Falstaff" i like the idea.

PR19_Kit · July 30, 2011, 08:55:26 AM

Quote from: Weaver on July 30, 2011, 05:50:28 AM
The Concorde program is often described as Europe's moonshot: what if we took that literally and had Britain and France spending the money on an actual moonshot, or at least a greatly enhanced space program, instead?

Both the Governements would probably have spent so much on travelling to umpteen meetings that the project would run over budget and the next Government would have cancelled it...........

Me cynical? You bet!