Gerry Anderson B-52 Query

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, i was doing some thinking when a Question Hit me:would the B-52 have worked for gerry Anderson or be Suitable for a Gerry Anderson Style WHIF? I've Always wanted to get my hands on a BUFF, but Price,Availability, and Scale hav eKept me from getting one. Would A B-52 work for a Gerry Anderson style Whif? If ANY who do Profiles want to, be my Guest if You want to do a Gerry Anderson style B-52 profile. What Say You? Thanks For Looking. Dan

[sandiego89]

Plenty of WHIF potential in the B-52, mild to wild. 

Even if it not a scale you commonly work in, I offer that several 1/144 scale B-52's are around, affordable, and pretty decent. I have done the minicraft "H" and found it a good kit.  1/144 is a good scale to WHIF a B-52 given it is a big aircraft.  Even the 1/300 scale giant wings model is a good place to start and experiment with.  I did a "flight of the old dog" verison.     

[pyro-manic]

Not really futuristic enough for Gerry Anderson, IMO. Too conventional, not pointy enough.

[martinbayer]

You could use it as a carrier aircraft for a more Anderson style design, e.g. as was envisioned in the early sixties for the Junkers RT-8-01 Raumtransporter two stage spaceplane shown here:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSxqDzNdIxsQlq9bg_TSwoICUIiGjgswyuivTURzgPb93fc5pZ-Q

More information and larger pictures (though you have to be a member to see them) can be found here:

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2334.0/all.html

A more exotic variant would be to turn it into a twin fuselage design, once again as a carrier for a shuttle/reusable launch vehicle, as was envisaged in the seventies for the Conroy Virtus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conroy_Virtus

Such a configuration could also be used for launch operations, analogous to the twin C-5A conceived for RLV deployment by Robert Salkeld or the current Stratolaunch carrier aircraft:

http://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld039.htm

http://www.gizmag.com/stratolaunch-systems-air-launch/20839/

Martin

[martinbayer]

More/larger pics of the Junkers concept can also be found here: http://www.fandom.ru/about_fan/zubakin_25.htm

Martin

[martinbayer]

Another variation of the B-52 as the basis for an outsized transporter was the Colossal Guppy concept from the same source as the Virtus design:

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=1221

Martin