Beyond The Sprues
Modelling => Ideas & Inspiration => Aero-space => Topic started by: The Big Gimper on November 07, 2016, 01:18:15 AM
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Found this on Facebook:
(https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14925371_2167768953447596_594133270273810558_n.jpg?oh=0133acf48255d92f34ceb08e7e64f7b2&oe=589E5848)
(https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14940161_2167768956780929_3889412634458289998_o.jpg)
Jon, any comments?
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Some more details for you:
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/GTX_Christmas/Boeing%20ac%20carrier.jpg)
And the fighters themselves:
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/GTX_Christmas/Ratineau%20art%20Le%20Fana%20Ndeg509%20small.jpg)
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/GTX_Christmas/Fig41.gif)
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/GTX_Christmas/Fig41.gif)
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Now that I know what this is, more pictures can be found:
(http://alternathistory.com/files/resize/users/user4907/Boeing_AAC-03-680x271.jpg)
(http://a133.idata.over-blog.com/600x435/2/75/05/00/Image-2/Avion-boeing-747-AAC-couleur-copielgt.jpg)
Officially it was known as an airborne aircraft carrier (AAC) (http://www.boeing-747.com/special_boeing_747s/boeing-747-aac.html).
Here is a very poorly scanned 75 page report from 1973 (http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/529372.pdf). Presented in the standard Top Secret Report Courier font.
The 747 website is here (http://www.boeing-747.com/).
Now we need both aircraft to be available in 1/72 and 1/48 scales. The 1/72 747 is already available (http://www.aim72.co.uk/page145.html)at AIM.
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Ooo, now that's cool!
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It would have taken some balls by the fighter pilots who would have conducted such operations, if it had eventuated - regardless of technological advances!
M.A.D
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That looks like a perfect opportunity for some international cooperation with BAE's "Skyhook" being used to lower and raise the aircraft. Be nice to see one and its fleet in RAF markings (or would that be FAA markings since it's an aircraft carrier?).
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What a great fuselage for basing a ballistic missile submarine model on.
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The 1/72 747 is already available ([url]http://www.aim72.co.uk/page145.html[/url])at AIM.
Hmmm...that is tempting. Maybe combine with this proposal slinging out cruise missiles as well to give an all round capability.
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--KWNZkWoQ--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/nrhyi2whzivtnsw5tciy.jpg)
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--VtgwfcDa--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/jqpnexme8siuimsknw4a.jpg)
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/01/21/22/306FA1F700000578-3410999-image-m-4_1453416221523.jpg)
Maybe 3D print out some of the Microfighters
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Of course if you wanted to go for the heavy hitter, there is this:
(http://cdn.wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/747-Missile-Launcher.jpg)
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/images/MC747.jpg)
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Some more Microfighter images for you:
(http://66.media.tumblr.com/33f6e97bade1b02b1a6745fc1e665bd7/tumblr_n6diuoGVpH1txx6x7o7_400.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/glitterboy2098/RIFTS/Aces%20Wild%20-%20air%20combat%20in%20the%20golden%20age/aircraft/concept/AD529372-Boeing-Microfighter-06.jpg)
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/sandglasspatrol/blog/micro-figther747carrier-15.gif)
(http://abload.de/img/1415748418623791e2ka4.png)
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Now we need both aircraft to be available in 1/72 and 1/48 scales. The 1/72 747 is already available ([url]http://www.aim72.co.uk/page145.html[/url])at AIM.
Anigrand also do a variant:
(http://www.anigrand.com/images/items/AA9002_VC-25/AA9002_VC-25_real_boxtop.gif)
(http://www.anigrand.com/images/items/AA9002_VC-25/AA9002_VC-25_real-6.gif)
Of course, if you wanted more options, look smaller such as 1/144 or smaller. In fact, if you really wanted something to play with one could go for the 1/400 dragon Boeing B747-400 LCF
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5ioAAOSwAYtWG1WO/s-l300.jpg)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MjYxWDUwMA==/z/wKUAAOSwuAVW1HWA/$_1.JPG?set_id=8800005007)
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Anigrand also do a variant:
([url]http://www.anigrand.com/images/items/AA9002_VC-25/AA9002_VC-25_real-6.gif[/url])
Got two of the AiM 747's in the stash, one will be a Shuttle Carrier and the other will be the YAL-1 (as soon as AiM release the conversion)
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I have always thought a combined AEW/AWACS tanker would be a good idea and if I recall correctly the USAF has experimented (or actually uses) some of the current tankers as command posts, if not command and communications nodes.
Actually a step further could be an internal weapons bay for air launched SM-6 or even SM-3 that when linked through CEC to other systems could be a highly effective airborne AMB node as well as AWACS, tanker and command post for its own escort force that could include UCAV missile carriers.
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With something the size of a 747, you could combine the proposed E-10 (combined AWACS and JSTARS) and tanker functions; though that may make the resulting aircraft heavily targeted resources.
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Subtle difference:
(https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-faa17db332e71d230e5b92c85c7b8a7d-c?convert_to_webp=true)
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Subtle difference:
(https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-faa17db332e71d230e5b92c85c7b8a7d-c?convert_to_webp=true)
Ah, yes, the 747-FUD (Full Upper Deck). A technothriller from the Seventies or Eighties had one of these, with a fifth engine in the tail, ala' L-1011; IIRC, the title ws Down to a Sunless Sea.
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Give the job of designing the micro fighter to Burt Rutan!
The airborne ICBM launch was tested from a C-5 IIRC.
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([url]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/glitterboy2098/RIFTS/Aces%20Wild%20-%20air%20combat%20in%20the%20golden%20age/aircraft/concept/AD529372-Boeing-Microfighter-06.jpg[/url])
I kinda want to build a 1:1 Microfighter in my garage.
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Regarding the AAC, I'm just wondering, how long would it be safe or practical to keep a 747 airborne with aerial refuelling? Because if it could stay on-station a couple of days even, then I'd drop a couple of microfighters for more munitions to generate more sorties (as fuel to the 747 which it could then give to the microfighters could be replenished with tankers, of which probably several would be needed).
Although, I don't quite get the idea, just nearly so. Microfighters are at a disadvantage to proper fighters except in WVR, and can't carry that much mud-moving equipment either. True, they have a shorter turnaround time than if a "proper" fighter had to fly all the way back to base and/or carrier (thus also being less tiresome for the pilots - and flying a combat flight over intercontinental distances in a single-seater would be a bother even if refueling would allow it), plus an AAC could be on-station almost instantly compared to a carrier. Then again, a carrier is a lot harder to kill than a 747.
Basically, Falklands War would have been a tailor-made scenario for the AAC: rapidly provide at least some air support on the other side of the globe while real carriers are on the way. Plus even when flying in from Ascension Island, a 747 would not likely have needed eight tankers each to reach the Falklands unlike the Vulcan...
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(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vw3guv80-63bhpgu-tTlsYOGLUlZUkNv9R8ptsXXxNYSTAN7dYvL7x2by4KXCiPQ68Udnb1cpFLjKUV81cRbLfgaiVrvpy-fy_ejKQWM6ne55DJsCJGpwldE3evF-fwWg8hkEhONTuk=w900-h608-no)
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FncrJ4uaIAEZ4Jn?format=png&name=900x900)
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The last bird has been over the house a couple of times and IMHO the 747-8F is the prettiest of all of the 747s.
The stretched fuselage, short hump and the graceful lines of the new wing designed for the 8 series combine to
make a very elegant aircraft.
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Agree :smiley:
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Ve interesting to see the final color scheme on the new, 747-8 based, Air Force One if it ever gets completed. I wonder if the SUltan of Brunei already is looking to trade up?
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The final 747 is on her delivery flight, and they flew a crown in the sky on the way.
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You beat me to it Jon!!!
Here is a link an to online version.
(https://avgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/A21EC401-7107-4F39-B77B-8B1D8157C016.jpeg)
Atlas Air Draws Queen’s Crown in the Sky For Boeing’s Last 747
https://avgeekery.com/atlas-air-draws-queens-crown-in-the-sky-for-boeings-last-747/
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Sierra Nevada Corporation Will Build E-4B ‘Doomsday’ Plane Replacement
The new commercial derivative aircraft will replace the 1970s’ E-4B Nightwatch in the National Emergency Airborne Command Post role.
Sierra Nevada Corporation has been awarded a contract, worth more than USD 13 billion, for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC), the replacement for the U.S. Air Force E-4B Nightwatch, also known as the “Doomsday” plane.
Details are currently scarce, limited only to the ones divulged in the contract notice.
(https://i0.wp.com/theaviationist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Survivable_Airborne_Operations_Center_Contract_1.jpg?resize=678%2C381&ssl=1)
Source: https://theaviationist.com/2024/04/27/sierra-nevada-saoc-announcement/
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Little bit more information here: https://www.twz.com/air/job-of-building-the-air-forces-next-doomsday-planes-foes-to-sierra-nevada-corp (https://www.twz.com/air/job-of-building-the-air-forces-next-doomsday-planes-foes-to-sierra-nevada-corp)