From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V4 #135 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Tuesday, 1 February 1994 Volume 04 : Number 135 In this issue: News report! Can you confirm? Re: Optical camoflage two canopies, one a/c Re: Optical camoflage Helmet colours Helmet colours Helmet colours Design your own stealth 8)>> Re: Optical camouflage Re: Optical Camouflage Re: Helmet colours cammo, again Re: Optical camouflage Re: Helmet colours Re: Optical Camouflage Re: optical camouflage Re: Optical Camouflage ;-) Re: Optical Camouflage Re: Optical camouflage RE: Optical Camoflage F-14 Ferris picture... Ramjet technology fallout Stealth, Helmets, etc. See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: I.Wraith@sheffield.ac.uk Date: 31 Jan 94 09:10:18 Subject: News report! Can you confirm? Hello all Having come back from the pub on saturday night I could not find anything interesting to watch on the local TV channels so began to switch through the satellite TV channels.I turned onto Deutsche Welle TVs news in English halfway through a report in which the newsman said the Albanian government had given permission for U.S reconnaissance aircraft to be based in their country to give them better coverage of the former Yugoslavia. I thought this was quite hot news given that until a couple of years ago Albania was the last Stalinist country in Europe.So I watched news programs from CNN,Sky,BBC and Euronews for more information but there was no mention of this item at all. I presume if it is true then either RC135's or TR-1's currently here in England will be based there.Can anyone out there confirm this story? or fill me in with any further details. Thanks for your time. Ian Wraith I.WRAITH@SHEFFIELD.AC.UK PGP 2.x public key available on request ------------------------------ From: mangan@Kodak.COM (Paul Mangan) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 09:25:23 EST Subject: Re: Optical camoflage The Canadian F18's are painted with the canopy on the bottom, etc. Saw it on Wings. Paul Mangan > > > On the topic of naval 'dazzle' camoflage, in the early 1980s the US > Navy painted some of their aircraft in a similar scheme designed by > aviation artist Keith Ferris. They used 3 colors and most had a phony > 'canopy' on the underside of the nose painted black (or dark grey) with > white circles for helmets. I don't think anything ever came of the > experiment, though. If I remember, they used the scheme on 2 or 3 F-14s > and on at least one F-4. > > They looked cool, which is why I remember them. > > Jeff Clark > clark@acs.bu.edu > > ------------------------------ From: I am the NRA Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 07:10:06 PST Subject: two canopies, one a/c The fiorst place i saw the "canopy painted on bottom" trick was in a 60 minutes (US TV News Show) piece on the Israeli AF. OH, may have been 10, maybe 15 years ago. Not, strictly, camo, as in the "invisibility paint" routine, but confusion. The theory was that in manouvering combat (aka furball) anything to add to the confusion of the opposing pilot was a good idea... regards dwp ------------------------------ From: Mary Shafer Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 11:05:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Optical camoflage I didn't know there was any question or I would have chimed in. I arranged a tour of Dryden for about 50 people from the Canadian Armed Forces a few years ago and they gave me a lovely framed picture of a CF-18 in return. It's rolled away from the camera a bit and the faux cockpit on the belly is very visible. It't a dark (either grey or black, I'm not certain from the photo) oval. I asked about it and they told me it was very effective. The lack of detail was not a problem at all in confusing them. Regards, Mary Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR shafer@ursa-major.spdcc.com On Mon, 31 Jan 1994, Paul Mangan wrote: > The Canadian F18's are painted with the canopy on the bottom, etc. > Saw it on Wings. > Paul Mangan > > > > > > > > > > > On the topic of naval 'dazzle' camoflage, in the early 1980s the US > > Navy painted some of their aircraft in a similar scheme designed by > > aviation artist Keith Ferris. They used 3 colors and most had a phony > > 'canopy' on the underside of the nose painted black (or dark grey) with > > white circles for helmets. I don't think anything ever came of the > > experiment, though. If I remember, they used the scheme on 2 or 3 F-14s > > and on at least one F-4. > > > > They looked cool, which is why I remember them. > > > > Jeff Clark > > clark@acs.bu.edu > > > > ------------------------------ From: jason@minster.york.ac.uk Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 16:08:57 Subject: Helmet colours Okay, I know its only loosely skunky, but I'm interested in knowing about peoples favourite "bone-dome" artwork. Anyone with any gifs or jpgs? My reason for asking is to liven up a kit I'm building (F16D, if your interested). If this is too way-off charter, email me direct. Thanks, jason ------------------------------ From: Rick Pavek Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 10:51:20 -0800 Subject: Helmet colours I for one, think it's slightly out of bounds... but then this is probably the loosest charter there is for a mailing list run by a private individual. :) I suggest you find a copy of the Board Wargame Hornet-Leader or Apache-Thunderbolt leader... or whatever the name of the sequal game is called. In it, they have cards that represent pilots. Nice full color drawings with lots of nice schemes. If anyone has some info on the helmets and their marking patterns... I'd like to know, also. As a sidenote... Would a bright red helmet have any impact on the camoflage? I mean... The cammo is designed to make the plane less visible. At what range is a bright colored helmet visible? I would guess well within the range of being able to see the aircraft. Thanks, Rick SR-75/XR-7 _|_*O*_|_ | Rick Pavek \ __|__ / | HA!! kuryakin@halcyon.com \_______/_(O)_\_______/ | Ruby - \___/---\___/ | Galactic Gumshoe ------------------------------ From: Rick Pavek Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 10:51:20 -0800 Subject: Helmet colours I for one, think it's slightly out of bounds... but then this is probably the loosest charter there is for a mailing list run by a private individual. :) I suggest you find a copy of the Board Wargame Hornet-Leader or Apache-Thunderbolt leader... or whatever the name of the sequal game is called. In it, they have cards that represent pilots. Nice full color drawings with lots of nice schemes. If anyone has some info on the helmets and their marking patterns... I'd like to know, also. As a sidenote... Would a bright red helmet have any impact on the camoflage? I mean... The cammo is designed to make the plane less visible. At what range is a bright colored helmet visible? I would guess well within the range of being able to see the aircraft. Thanks, Rick SR-75/XR-7 _|_*O*_|_ | Rick Pavek \ __|__ / | HA!! kuryakin@halcyon.com \_______/_(O)_\_______/ | Ruby - \___/---\___/ | Galactic Gumshoe ------------------------------ From: I am the NRA Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 11:58:52 PST Subject: Design your own stealth 8)>> As they say in the Wall Street Journal, this is "neither an offer to sell or a solicitaion of offers to buy". I know nothing of this software, except i saw the ad (ECN): Electromagnetic Analysis Software Does analysis of open/closed 3D Radar Cross esction Cosmic is offering MOM3d, a program that implements a method of moments electromagnetic algorithm for analysis of 3d Surfaces that are resistant or pefectly-coupling. The program is designed for routine radar cross section pattern prediction with plane wave illumination. .... Unix versions for Sun or SGI... along with an IBM compatible version for ... MS/DOS. Cosmic 382 East Broad St Athens, GA 30602 Remember: I know NOTHING about this SW. Posted for amusement value only... regards dwp ------------------------------ From: TOM PETRISKO <0004343121@mcimail.com> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 12:13 EST Subject: Re: Optical camouflage I really might be missing something about this, but what does it matter about having a cockpit illusion. With all of todays modern defensive weapons, you are only interested in visually or electronically identifying the aircraft. Even in a dogfight, you just want to shoot the plane down, not see where the pilot is. ------------------------------ From: Rick Pavek Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 12:36:37 -0800 Subject: Re: Optical Camouflage The point about the fake cockpit painted on the bottom of the fuselage is that you are trying to fool your opponent into thinking your aircraft will potentially maneuver in a direction opposite to what you would actually do. Hmmm... let's see. If the opponent is able to see the bottom of the aircraft at a distance the opponent may be fooled into thinking the aircraft is facing him/her differently. They would make tactical decisions based on the aspect of the aircraft and plan their actions accordingly. Since the aircraft is actually 180 degrees from the longitudinal axis, one can assume that the targetted aircraft would suprise the foe with an unexpected maneuver. Rick SR-75/XR-7 _|_*O*_|_ | Rick Pavek \ __|__ / | HA!! kuryakin@halcyon.com \_______/_(O)_\_______/ | Ruby - \___/---\___/ | Galactic Gumshoe ------------------------------ From: Mary Shafer Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 15:44:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Helmet colours On Mon, 31 Jan 1994, Rick Pavek wrote: > Would a bright red helmet have any impact on the camoflage? I mean... > The cammo is designed to make the plane less visible. At what range is > a bright colored helmet visible? I would guess well within the range of > being able to see the aircraft. Bright-colored helmets are sufficiently visible that all helmets are currently grey. The fancy pattern, sometimes including reflective tape, are history. I noticed that everyone had converted in Desert Storm; all those boring grey hats.... The Air Force has also gone to low-contrast patches and insignia of flight suits and utilities. Regards, Mary Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR shafer@ursa-major.spdcc.com ------------------------------ From: I am the NRA Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 13:27:06 PST Subject: cammo, again Mary Shafer writes, in part: >On Mon, 31 Jan 1994, Rick Pavek wrote: >> Would a bright red helmet have any impact on the camoflage? I mean... >> The cammo is designed to make the plane less visible. At what range is >> a bright colored helmet visible? I would guess well within the range of >> being able to see the aircraft. Paint a dayglo red blob on the canopy on the bottom... >Bright-colored helmets are sufficiently visible that all helmets are >currently grey. The fancy pattern, sometimes including reflective tape, >are history. I noticed that everyone had converted in Desert Storm; all >those boring grey hats.... The Air Force has also gone to low-contrast >patches and insignia of flight suits and utilities. I noticed that the F117 driver i saw, some years back, at an air show, had much of the "trim" held on his flight suit with velcro. I ASSumed this allowed the patch, name tag, etc, etc, to be left at base. regards dwp ------------------------------ From: megazone@WPI.EDU (MegaZone) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 16:35:22 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Optical camouflage Once upon a time TOM PETRISKO shaped the electrons to say... > I really might be missing something about this, but what does it >matter about having a cockpit illusion. With all of todays modern It makes a big difference. Planes (and pilots) take positive Gs better than negative Gs. So, is that plane right-side up, or up-side down? When you are in a furrball and turning in a fight, you need to anticipate the enemy, a wrong turn means death... If you can confuse the enemy, it is a definite advantage. And the F-18 has small tails and a basically semitrical shape top to bottom, so it works well on the Hornet. Especially in the heat of combat. - -- megazone@wpi.wpi.edu megazone@world.std.com megazone@hotblack.schunix.dmc.com "I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Use your mind, think!" Moderator: WPI anime FTP site, 130.215.24.1 /anime, the anime FanFic archive; rec.arts.anime.stories, questions to anime-dojinshi-request@wpi.wpi.edu GTW d-- -p+ c++(++++) l u+ e+ m+(*)@ s++/+ !n h- f+ !g w+ t+@ r+@ y+(*) ------------------------------ From: megazone@WPI.EDU (MegaZone) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 16:38:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Helmet colours Once upon a time Mary Shafer shaped the electrons to say... >those boring grey hats.... The Air Force has also gone to low-contrast >patches and insignia of flight suits and utilities. Coming soon, radar absorbing flight suits! ;-) (Oh, THAT could get toasty...) - -- megazone@wpi.wpi.edu megazone@world.std.com megazone@hotblack.schunix.dmc.com "I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Use your mind, think!" Moderator: WPI anime FTP site, 130.215.24.1 /anime, the anime FanFic archive; rec.arts.anime.stories, questions to anime-dojinshi-request@wpi.wpi.edu GTW d-- -p+ c++(++++) l u+ e+ m+(*)@ s++/+ !n h- f+ !g w+ t+@ r+@ y+(*) ------------------------------ From: MP%MPA15C@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 31 JAN 94 13:51 Subject: Re: Optical Camouflage >If the opponent is able to see the bottom of the aircraft at a distance >the opponent may be fooled into thinking the aircraft is facing him/her >differently. Caveat: I'm not a fighter jock and I don't play one on TV. I wouldn't think that when determining the attitude of an enemy a/c that the location of the cockpit is the first thing to look for. The location of the horizontal stabilizer(s), fuel tanks, weapons/pylons, engine intakes and exhausts, etc. would be more obvious things to look at/for. ________________________________________________________________________ Mark Perew (714) 380-5484 | To know Unisys Mission Viejo, CA | That which before us lies in daily life, mp@mpa15c.mv-oc.unisys.com | Is the prime wisdom; what is more is fume. cb103@cleveland.freenet.edu | -- Milton, Paradise Lost, VIII ============== "All opinions are mine," sayeth the poster ============== ------------------------------ From: brndlfly@MIT.EDU Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 17:09:41 EST Subject: Re: optical camouflage >I wouldn't think that when determining the attitude of an enemy a/c that >the location of the cockpit is the first thing to look for. The location >of the horizontal stabilizer(s), fuel tanks, weapons/pylons, engine intakes >and exhausts, etc. would be more obvious things to look at/for. You have to remember that if you get in close enough to see the other guy that well, you're already too close, and could be dead in a matter of seconds if you don't react. Pilots, knowing this, rely on a number of things to make a decision to maneuver: 1) knowledge of the opponent's position, speed, altitude, and attitude, 2) knowledge of the opposing aircraft's weaknesses, and 3) knowledge of the other guy's tactics (as judged by the flag he flies). From a visual ID perspective, the airplane's edges and the contrast between various parts of the airframe are the first things to look for. While things like vertical tails and underwing stores do not necessarily determine attitude, the big dark spot on the front of the airplane definitely does. In this sense the false canopy is a defensive measure (keeps the other guy from knowing if you're coming or going), but it can very easily be turned into an offensive tool as well. -T T Velazquez MIT Aero & Astro brndlfly@athena.mit.edu "Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that never has been." -Theodore von Karman ------------------------------ From: naa2254@dsacam.dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 17:06:44 -0500 Subject: Re: Optical Camouflage ;-) In reply to the mail from ... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > [...] Since the aircraft is actually > 180 degrees from the longitudinal axis, one can assume that the targetted > aircraft would suprise the foe with an unexpected maneuver. And just what kind of maneuver by a Hornet would you call "unexpected"? ;-) Tom Ohmer, Computer Specialist, DSAC-AAA 1 614 692 8059 DLA Systems Automation Center, P.O. Box 1605, Columbus, OH 43216-5002 tohmer@dsac.dla.mil ...osu-cis!dsac!tohmer "Sorry, we're closed." -- Sam Malone ------------------------------ From: megazone@WPI.EDU (MegaZone) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 17:23:15 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Optical Camouflage Once upon a time MP%MPA15C@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM shaped the electrons to say... >I wouldn't think that when determining the attitude of an enemy a/c that >the location of the cockpit is the first thing to look for. The location >of the horizontal stabilizer(s), fuel tanks, weapons/pylons, engine intakes Stablizers and tail fins are TINY edge on, and they are the same shade as the aircraft, weapons usually are shielded by the airframe or hidden by the low-vis background. Engine intakes are usually symetrical (except on the F-16, etc) little help. The cockpit contrasts nicely, and it is asymmetrical, so it gives a great reference. The idea of the fake cockpit is to make it hard to be sure at a quick glance. A long look will give it away, but you don't get a long look in combat. - -- megazone@wpi.wpi.edu megazone@world.std.com megazone@hotblack.schunix.dmc.com "I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Use your mind, think!" Moderator: WPI anime FTP site, 130.215.24.1 /anime, the anime FanFic archive; rec.arts.anime.stories, questions to anime-dojinshi-request@wpi.wpi.edu GTW d-- -p+ c++(++++) l u+ e+ m+(*)@ s++/+ !n h- f+ !g w+ t+@ r+@ y+(*) ------------------------------ From: TOM PETRISKO <0004343121@mcimail.com> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 12:13 EST Subject: Re: Optical camouflage I really might be missing something about this, but what does it matter about having a cockpit illusion. With all of todays modern defensive weapons, you are only interested in visually or electronically identifying the aircraft. Even in a dogfight, you just want to shoot the plane down, not see where the pilot is. ------------------------------ From: Rick Pavek Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 15:53:29 -0800 Subject: RE: Optical Camoflage I think it has been well put in the last few messages. However... Have you ever tried playing some of the flight simulator games? Like Falcon? You have to lead. You have to anticipate what direction the other is going. You have to outguess him. What happens when you guess wrong? (IE, he zigs instead of zags) You Die. Any advantage, however small, is going to find favor with the pilots. THAT is why they paint cockpits on the bottom of the airplane. Rick "One More Time" Pavek SR-75/XR-7 _|_*O*_|_ | Rick Pavek \ __|__ / | HA!! kuryakin@halcyon.com \_______/_(O)_\_______/ | Ruby - \___/---\___/ | Galactic Gumshoe ------------------------------ From: clark@acs.bu.edu (Jeff Clark) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 18:08:52 -0500 Subject: F-14 Ferris picture... I'd just like to repeat that the picture of the F-14s with Ferris camoflage scheme is on the current Skunk-works archive. That's the one that started the thread about decoy canopies, although you can't see them here. Anyways, IF you're real desperate to get this, and you can't use FTP I'll mail you a copy. PLEASE, don't flood my mailbox, I just thought it would be nice to all those .mil computer users. Let me know if I should split the file up, if at all (I prefer not to, I'm not all that handy at it) Jeff Clark clark@acs.bu.edu ------------------------------ From: garet.jax@nitelog.com (Garet Jax) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 05:51:00 -0800 Subject: Ramjet technology fallout An interesting article from the November 93 Airman magazine for your pleasure. Sorry, don't have a scanner for the images. - --- From Lab to Cab - by Sue Baker, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio During the past five years, the National Aero-Space Plane program has advanced the use of computational fluid dynamics as a computer-based simulation tool. This allows researchers to model and analyze characteristics of airflow around complex aerodynamic shapes such as this NASP design (right). Data gathered helps researchers understand effects of heating and cooling on proposed aerospace design long before the craft takes to the air. Additional benefits: improvements in CFD-generated fuel combuston models used for non-polluting automotive, aerospace and power applications. Technologies developed for eventual use in the National Aero-Space Plane aren't limited to the outer reaches of the atmosphere. That's good news for ground-bound taxi drivers, roughnecks and those in need of delicate eye or hip replacement syrgery. Although engineers are working on ways to build a plane that can reach speeds in excess of Mach 5, the seven-year-old research and development effort is spinning off advances that take technology from lab to cab, not tomorrow, but today. Spearheaded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, researchers have achieved significant techinical progress in hypersonic (Mach 5-plus speed) research. Jointly managed by the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASP's charter is to develop and demonstrate workable technologies for future operational, air-breathing, single-stage-to-orbit and hypersonic cruise aerospace planes. "NASP is reaching the lives of everyday Americans through such advances as improved V-8 auto engines, new materials on oil rigs in the North Sea, techniques for improving delicate eye surgery and artificial hip-joint replacements, for starters," said Terry Kasten, director of systems applications at NASP's Joint Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Such improvements are due to progress in materials sciences, manufacturing processes and compuatational techniques using large, high-speed super-computers plus advances in the U.S. technical infrastructure, civil (NASA) commercial space-launch capabilities and military utility, according to Kasten. "While some of these technologies will take time to implement - because of the need for refinement, industrial re-tooling, capital investment and regulatory approval processes - there are some very promising candidates, with tremendous potential to benefit the U.S. economy," he said. "According to an independent study by Princeton Economic research Inc., such technologies, over the next 10 to 15 years, could pump as much as $26 billion in product sales and live-cycle cost savings into many current and emerging industries." As executive agency for NASP, the Air Force works with five commercial aerospace companies: Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, North American Rockwell, Rocketdyne and Pratt & Whitney. There also are more than 350 subcontractors in 34 states working for the five-member joint venture partnership, the first of its kind in the Defense Department. Headquarters NASA, with its five U.S. research/test centers, academia and related industries, round out NASP's nationwide team. According to Kasten, NASP researchers have made impressive gains in six types of materials: titanium alloy/titanium aluminide (TiAl) metal matrix composites; TIMETAL 21S titanium; gamma titanium aluminides; beryllium alloys; thermosets/thermoplastics; and metallic coatings. For Example, technology developed for NASP is being used for metal matrix composite compressors in demonstration gas-turbine engines. They yield higher performance than engines with conventional titanium components. The new material reduces engine weight by 40 percent, raises temperature tolerance to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, increases engine speed by 15 percent and reduces fuel consumption by 1.5 percent. The program is sharing mechanical property and precessing information with Garrett Industries, General Electric Corp., and Pratt & Whitney for future military and commercial use. Another striking example of NASP technology transfer involves TIMETAL 21S titanium. It is 100 times more resistant to corrosion that "standard" aircraft titanium and has the same strength and temperature capability of current alloys. Because it can be rolled to foil-like thinness, Kasten said it's chaper to produce, has very high strength-to-weight ratio and better cold/warm formability than conventional titanium alloys. Projected uses for TIMETAL 21S titanium include piping for oil and gas wells, where sulfuric underground gases corrode ordinary piping. It also can replace bolts on offshore oil-drilling rigs, which are corroded by salt water and be used in parts for F404 jet engine tail cones. Another plus: It eliminates corrosion hazards and hot fuel leaks when used as a substitute for heavier super alloys in Boeing Aircraft Co's newest jetliner, the 777. According to Kasten, Boeing officials estimate life-cycle savings for the 777 fleet could reach almost half a billion dollars just by using TIMETAL 21S titanium. "With its higher oxidation resistance and low density, this new material - which didn't exist before NASP - could be used as armor plating for military ground vehicles, artificial hip-joint replacements, pacemaker components and orthopedic wire," he said. NASP research has also boosted manufacturing processes for beryllium specialty alloys in the form of AlBeMet, a new meterial being used by Brush-Wellman Inc. to produce rotary actuator arms for high-performance computer disk-drives. "The new device allows more rapid access to data stored on the computer's hard drive, as well as increased disk storage space and memory capacity," Kasten explained. Projected returns in the commercial market for NASP-inspired improvements could be impressive, according to Kasten. "Future business for AlBeMet is conervatively estimated at $137 million over the next three years, which represents a return on the initial NASP investment [$657,000] of 208 to one." he said. NASP has been a major factor in the growth and improvement of computational fluid dynamics and computational techniques in the last five years. "NASP challenged the U.S. expertise in CFD, mainly because until recently, there were no ground-based wind tunnels large enough to test NASP-like structures at hypersonic speeds and extreme temeratures," Kasten said. "The program also developed higher-order predictive tools to model complex fuel injection, mixing and combustion. These techniques are being applied now to improve combustion chambers for automotive, aerospace and electric power generation, producing higher efficiencies and less pollution." NASP inspired research is even helping an eye surgeon in Memphis, Tenn., use CFD to analyze patients' vision problems and plan delicate restorative surgery, according to Kasten. "Using computational fluid dynamics, an aerospace engineer from North American Rockwell has grid-mapped the entire surface of the human eye to help [the surgeon] better understand how the eyeball's varying internal pressures affect vision and how to modify surgical techniques to implove results," he said. The NASP program is even using 50 Air Force Reserve individual mobilization augmentees from 17 detachments across the country to spread the word about NASP technologies. These civilian scientists and engineers, who work in the commercial aerospace industry, are seeking ways to transfer the developing technologies to industry. "The total value of NASP can be viewed from many perspectives," Kasten said. "From the long-term benefits, centering around flexible, efficient access to space, to near-term benefits created by advanced materials research, development and manufacturing processes, NASP-inspired technologies are helping revitalize America's defense-industrial base today." * NASP Facts: Mission: flying testbed and technology demonstrator to improve feasibility of hypersonic flight while providing part airplane, part space-plane capabilities. When completed it will take off like an airplane, accelerate into orbit around Earth, then return through the atmosphere for a conventional landing. Speed: Hypersonic. Orbital speed of 17,500 mph Size: Approximately 150 feet long with a 75-foot wingspan Structural Materials: Revolutionary, space-age materials created to assure survivability in extreme conditions of low-Earth and space orbit: titanium aluminide, metal matrix composites, TIMETAL 21S titanium, beryllium alloys, thermosets/thermoplastics, and metallic coatings. Engines: Ramjet and supersonic combustion ramjet. Six engines with three separate flowpaths are fueled with slush hydrogen and ambient oxygen. A small rocket will be used for space operations. Weight: Between 350,000 and 400,000 pounds fully fueled without cargo. Crew/Passenters: Two/ None. Cost: Since 1986, about $2 billion spent on research and development activities to explore the feasibility of hypersonic flight. Requested fiscal 94 budget: $123 million. Benefits: Multiple technology transfer activities in materials sciences, manufacturing processes, and computational techniques using large, high-speed super-computers. Advances in the U.S. technical infrastructure, civil commercial space-launch capabilities, and military utility. Future Uses: Demonstrate technologies for future operational, air-breathing, single-stage-to-orbit and hypersonic cruise aerospace planes. Could provide efficient, flexible, cost-effective ways to access space and haul space-bound cargo - like communications satellites and other hardware. - --- ------------------------------ From: rb3@aol.com Date: Tue, 01 Feb 94 02:05:56 EST Subject: Stealth, Helmets, etc. I remember reading an account of early Have Blue FSD that stated that initial RCS flight produced very dissapointing results. It was soon determined, so my error prone memory serves me, that the "stealth" canopy glass had not yet been installed, and that the glass that was on the airframe was regular glass. After replacing that glass with RAM glass, the RCS plummeted to the point where it could not be accurately measured by the instruments at the range. (I guess Groom Lake) Later tests apparently determined that the pilot's standard issue helmet had a larger RCS than the whole Have Blue aircraft. This fits in with the story of the Lockheed crew upset over the supposed failure of their RCS range in measuring a F-117 model when a crow landed on it and registered a radar return orders of magntude larger than the plane itself. I heard that here, if I am not mistaken. I will try and find my story if this does not ring any body else's bells. Unlike my messages from school, I am home with my books so I can actually try and substantiate some of my rememberings. As for helmets and patches, I always was fond of VF-111 Sundowners pilots with their gaudy tails and helmets, but those days are gone. It seems from the pilots I have spoken with at airshows that bright helmets (a la Topgun) are beacons in the air. And if I am correct, all AF flight suits have their insignia affixed via veclro. This apparently simplifies the pilots' attempts at seamstressing (if that's a word). Some of the patches I have mooched at shows have been ripped off the shoulders of pilots who simply had to stick another velcro clad patch on to return their suit to normal. Cheers, Ran | /0\ \_______[|(.)|]_______/ o ++ 0 ++ o ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V4 #135 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. 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