Art-Request: Scifi Aircraft Design

[CuttingEdge100]

I was thinking of a hypersonic aircraft design, and to start off with a basic conceptual sketch, I have a rather simple request.

Can somebody draw me a bullet with chines (i.e. blended laterally downward sloping surfaces off the sides of the bullet)? It's effectively a winged bullet shape.

The rest of the design would revolve around this very basic shape

 

[Bryan B)]

Might one of these 'real-world' designs help?

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/hypersoar_gallery.htm

X-30: The Great Experiment...
http://www.fas.org/irp/mystery/nasp.htm

A-9: The original space plane program
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/a9a10.htm


"Never draw anything you can copy, never copy anything you can trace and never trace anything you can cut out and paste in." -Wally Wood

 

[The Axeman]

I was going to suggest the A-9 as well, or possibly the D-21 spy drone.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bryan B & The Axeman,

Actually, he A-9 would be a good start actually! Preferably, I'd want to make the fuselage more tapered, kind of like this: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/design/waverider/figures/fig14.jpg and a broader chine, I'd like a sweep of something like 75 degrees in sweepback.

Sound good?

 

[Bryan B)]

That's a good webpage on waverider designs, which ride their own shockwave for extra lift and cruise range (hmm...reminds me of a Roddenberry warp drive...). And yeah, the D-21 is a particularly cool example, though not hypersonic... cruising at speeds above Mach 4 or so requires some really advanced thermal technology beyond what we use today.

75-degree deltas have been studied as cruise and re-entry shapes for decades. One of my favorites is the Martin X-24B (rebuilt from the classic X-24A, which inspired the NX-01 shuttles, among other designs):

Or you might be going for something like the X-20 DynaSoar, designed in part to 'skip' off the atmosphere for extended range. (Some Trekkers may not know that the first person to do this wasn't Jake Kurland at Relva VII, but actually Neil Armstrong in an X-15 somewhere over Pasadena...accidentally.)

To see more lifting re-entry designs, I highly recommend these books on the development of the Space Shuttle:
http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttledecision/index.htm (free online)
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Shuttle-National-Transportation-Missions/dp/0963397451

B)

 

[Birdog]

That's a good webpage on waverider designs, which ride their own shockwave for extra lift and cruise range (hmm...reminds me of a Roddenberry warp drive...). And yeah, the D-21 is a particularly cool example, though not hypersonic... cruising at speeds above Mach 4 or so requires some really advanced thermal technology beyond what we use today.

75-degree deltas have been studied as cruise and re-entry shapes for decades. One of my favorites is the Martin X-24B (rebuilt from the classic X-24A, which inspired the NX-01 shuttles, among other designs):

Or you might be going for something like the X-20 DynaSoar, designed in part to 'skip' off the atmosphere for extended range. (Some Trekkers may not know that the first person to do this wasn't Jake Kurland at Relva VII, but actually Neil Armstrong in an X-15 somewhere over Pasadena...accidentally.)

To see more lifting re-entry designs, I highly recommend these books on the development of the Space Shuttle:
http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttledecision/index.htm (free online)
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Shuttle-National-Transportation-Missions/dp/0963397451

B)

Lifting bodies are very sexy engineering. I've touched the x-24. It was a religious experience for an aviation nut like myself.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bryan B,

Yes, I'm well aware of compression lift characteristics. I need this drawing to start off with.

The idea is to start with the chined bullet, then ovalize the bullet (flat and wide), add depth to the underside and give it the oblique shape for wave-riding, flatten the top a little, area rule it and so on in stages. I'm not good enough to make line-drawings for this thing, so I really was looking for assistance, and working in stages seems to be the easiest way to go.

 

[Bryan B)]

Wish I could help... can't draw much better than I can Google, and you've got a much clearer idea of what you're going for than I ever will... but that's the nature of art, I guess. What's your end goal? 2D or 3D? Modern transport or future shuttle?

What I often do is find photos that roughly match the shape and perspective I want, arrange them in a 2D editor (powerpoint or paint will do), and then trace/draw over that as necessary. Here's one more good starting point (another favorite), the nose of the SR-71:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39168418@N00/2306347042/lightbox/
http://www.spaceelevatorblog.com/Images/2009SEGames/SR71_Blackbird_Frontview.jpg
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=812846
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/lofiversion/index.php?t178955.html

Hope that helps a bit, B)

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Bryan B,

Wish I could help... can't draw much better than I can Google

I wonder if there's anybody here who's a better artist who's willing to help?

What's your end goal? 2D or 3D? Modern transport or future shuttle?

Well, I'm going for 2D now to make it as simple as possible; it's predominantly a design that could either be a bomber or a transport

What I often do is find photos that roughly match the shape and perspective I want, arrange them in a 2D editor (powerpoint or paint will do), and then trace/draw over that as necessary.

That's actually not a bad idea...

Here's one more good starting point (another favorite), the nose of the SR-71:

Correct, as it's an ogival chine

 

[Bryan B)]

Lifting bodies are very sexy engineering. I've touched the x-24. It was a religious experience for an aviation nut like myself.

Just gotta add, I had a similar experience recently at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum- walked around the corner and there sitting on a trailer was the X-38 131R, a glide-test version of an ISS crew lifeboat, based on the X-23/X-24A shape. Might as well have been the Galileo parked there. Couldn't get enough photos.

Today, even the X-24B seems almost ordinary in the USAF museum, tucked under the Valkyrie's left wing, next to the X-15A-2... unless you look at these craft as the Falcons and X-Wings of the 20th century... Hopefully the 21st century versions are even closer.

So best of luck with the new design, CuttingEdge! As the late, legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield once told me, "Devil take the hindmost!"