LCM & sails, red : hybrid aircraft/animals e.a.

[NARSES2]

That looks perfectly normal.

Indeed, a 1930's version of the Ilya Muromets 

Amazing stuff 

[ericr]

 

[ericr]

a quite popular saying goes that "Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings"

these wings are from a KC-97, which is essentially the same as B-29 wings

[Pellson]

Bloody hell!!  That almost deserves to be "properly " whiffed! 
(You know what I mean)

[Tophe]

Marvellous!

[ericr]

thanks !

Bloody hell!!  That almost deserves to be "properly " whiffed! 
(You know what I mean)

if the shape inspires you, please do it in the colours you like, I will be honored 

[steelpillow]

Now that is exceedingly beautiful, Eric. Your artistry blows me away - again. Already I must struggle not to drift into happyland and figure out its really rather long and involved backstory. 

[lenny100]

Now that is exceedingly beautiful, Eric. Your artistry blows me away - again. Already I must struggle not to drift into happyland and figure out its really rather long and involved backstory. 

start it as a replacment for nasa  RB-57F Canberra

[PR19_Kit]

That Ericr, is totally AWESOME! I'm most impressed, and you've taken my signature note to the limit. 

Not only that, but you can imagine they'd REALLY do it too! But it's a bit early for the 'Recce GB'.

I'm wondering what comes next in 'the chain', a swing wing KC-97? 

[ericr]

 

[McColm]

Looks great 

[Pellson]

thanks !

Bloody hell!!  That almost deserves to be "properly " whiffed! 
(You know what I mean)

if the shape inspires you, please do it in the colours you like, I will be honored 

Oh, it's so tempting! Your build is outright magnificent and the shape really yearns to get a backstory attached to it. But I would need to invest heavily in donors.

I shall see. This could, theoretically, be my ticket into my first group build, but I would need to start sourcing immediately. Hmm...

[steelpillow]

Now that is exceedingly beautiful, Eric. Your artistry blows me away - again. Already I must struggle not to drift into happyland and figure out its really rather long and involved backstory. 

Some hope.

Checking out my many notes on historical archives, the connection between this design and the soaring seagulls is inescapable. Gulls tend to tuck their tails in when soaring and only spread them out when manoeuvring. Many pioneers, such as JW Dunne, drew inspiration from watching seagulls. Even today, NASA architect of the PRANDTL-D, Jonathan Bowers, followed the same path. What we see here is the fruits of a NASA research project revisiting that long pedigree. (but whether it is Bowers' work or that of some predecessor, such as Robert T. Jones, I am unsure).

Anyway, to get back to the General Dynamics XU-3 "Albatross". Unlike the F-111, the wing is fixed but the tail plane is variable-geometry, sliding in and out like a fan. It is shown in part-extended position, as it might be for a modest course correction or a pause to collect oneself before diving on a tasty morsel. For high-endurance cruise it slides in to minimise drag. For takeoff, landing and those "WTF?" moments, it fans out to a broad semicircle.

Construction is primarily of ceramic-resin composites, for low EM observability. The engines make full use of structural ceramics. Control actuation is hydraulic, with pipework and major components of similar materials. Cockpit instrumentation is minimal, with all bezels, etc. of plastic. In consequence, its radar cross-section is principally that of its crew - and they wear special ferrite-loaded pressure suits. Finish is an optically reactive paint, which changes colour with the ambient lighting conditions. This is basically why you have never seen one before. The model here is shown in maintenance mode, when it is flooded with near-infrared but screened from UV, making it turn red.

[ericr]

 

[ericr]

invest heavily in donors.

I was lucky to find the KC97 for 20 EUR and the old Airfix F-111 for 10 
quite less I guess than most finebuilt models with extras