ZELL Jaguar Gr1, on MAN 8X8 transporter/launcher *finished*

[zenrat]

That boxing of the Airfix Jag just triggered some memories.

 

Nostalgia?  Scalemates has that as 1990 re-boxing of the classic Airfix kit, 1990 was not that long....ahh nevermind. 

The box art.  Same as this '79 release which is probly the one I remember building OOB way back then.

[perttime]

As long as you have enough thrust to take off with a decent payload! But if they did it with a Starfighter back in the day I'm sure it could have been done with a Jag. The plane, not the car.......

Ohhh damn 😳
I absolutely want to see a Jag ( the car ) launched with JATO rockets   

Are you aware of https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html ? 
Looks like the story is an urban legend, after all, but there is some reality behind it:

"Andy Granitelli ran the legendary STP Indy car racing teams of the 60's and 70's. This tale is from his book, They Call Me Mister 500. Granitelli had experimented with strapping a JATO rocket to a car back in the late 40's. They first tried just one JATO rocket attached to an open-wheel hot rod, with little success. (Later they discovered that the first rocket was a dud.) Thinking they needed more power, they tied multiple JATO rockets to a single start button. Fortunately for Granetelli, only one rocket fired, which still propelled the car well over 150 mph. That was enough to convince him to stop experimenting with JATO rockets. Why did Grantelli survive to tell the story? Because the JATO of the 40's was first-generation, designed to lift a single-engine Navy bomber off the deck of an aircraft carrier. The JATO rocket of today has significantly more thrust, and is typically used to lift a large four-engine C-130 transport off a short, primitive runway. A car just can't keep the modern rocket on the ground."

[sandiego89]

Work commenced

A simple Jaguar kit, but good fit. 

[PR19_Kit]

Your work bench always has some interesting stuff lurking in the background Dave, but I didn't expect a NISSEN HUT! 

[kerick]

Must be a diorama in progress.

[Gondor]

As long as you have enough thrust to take off with a decent payload! But if they did it with a Starfighter back in the day I'm sure it could have been done with a Jag. The plane, not the car.......

Ohhh damn 😳
I absolutely want to see a Jag ( the car ) launched with JATO rockets   

Well Elon did that with his roadster so why not?

Gondor

[jcf]

The F-104G ZELL tests were made from fixed stands as the intent was that they would be used in that way instead of being trucked around on trailers. This was because they were to be armed with nukes which were kept under US control. It was understood that it was most likely going to be a one way trip in a manned cruise missile.

The F-100 tests were done from trailers, they would have been armed with a nuke and a big droptank. As they would have been used by the USAF, driving around with a nuke wouldn't have been an issue.

Soviet MiG-19 based ZELL aircraft were launched from trailers as the intent was to operate them in the air defense role.

The length of the Jaguar versus the trailer isn't really an issue, nor is the rear of the fuselage hitting the ground as the aircraft wouldn't be sitting flat on the trailer and then simply tilted-up. It would be carried above the trailer on the erector arms which would raise it up and tilt it back at the same time.

The F-100D is 50' long.
F-100D ZELL on trailer. You cannot view this attachment.

Down in transport position.
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Beauty shot just for inspiration.
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[jcf]

As an aside the reason you use the landing gear to support the aircraft rather than building a carriage and rail system is that the landing gear are already designed to support the weight of a loaded aircraft. 
It's a good example of KISS. 

Attaching some sort of carriage means they'd have to figure out where to place it for structural reasons and then engineer a system to make sure it drops offs once you clear the rails.

The Russians went with the cradle and rail approach because of way they built their ZELL interceptors, the rocket and its fuel tanks were part of the airframe, rather than a disposable booster like the US/NATO experiments.

[Wardukw]

That last pic is a beauty Jon 😄😊

[NARSES2]

As an aside the reason you use the landing gear to support the aircraft rather than building a carriage and rail system is that the landing gear are already designed to support the weight of a loaded aircraft.
It's a good example of KISS.

Thanks Jon. I wondered why the gear was down 

[Pellson]

This is a really nice project, and I'll follow with great interest. Also I have fond memories of an early build of that Jaguar kit (maybe in 1981?). 

[PR19_Kit]

That last pic is a beauty Jon 😄😊

It sure is, but it needs SOUND really. 

[sandiego89]

Those ZELL photos are fantastic.  Perhaps surprisingly the pilots reported no special challenges on launch- guess they were along for the ride ready or not! 

Primer going onto the MAN 8x8 and trailer.  The detail is exquisite and crisp, and high parts count.  A far cry from the usual 1/72-1/76 classic vehicle kits I have built 





fine detail



trailer

[Wardukw]

Welcome to the world of super detailed small scale models Dave   

[Vulcan7]

Wow that is a lot of parts, respect    there's about five or six Matchbox kits worth