Project FDL-5MA

CigDriver

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I had seen this when researching the HyperDart (based on the FDL-7) and put it in the back of my mind for another day, well the great work I saw on the MiG-105 brought it back up near the front. While checking out images, mostly one model of it...not much out there, I stumbled across a bunch of tech documents about the wind tunnel model and demonstrator that was planned. Well, what modeler can't jump into a project with full specs on the real thing :) Ok, not the real thing, but the unmanned demonstrator, close enough ;) Best of all there was a set of blueprints with hull cross sections and what how far back they are from the nose of the craft, we have a very accurate hull shape here :)

I've got the exterior model built and rough maps done for almost all of it. the interior is roughed out, and will be a good start for a proper VC. Anyway, on to some pics:

Here is the manned version parked next to the HyperDart for scale.
fdl-5-01.jpg




Here is a wireframe shot from the back. One nice thing about such a clean smooth design is the polycount, just under 10K right now. And before you ask, yes, you have to extend the wings before you can lower the gear.
fdl-5-02.jpg




Here is a screen capture from 3Ds Max with it in launch/entry configuration.
fdl-5-03.jpg




Landing configuration (with the hatches open, doubt you'd want to do that while landing!) the tail markings (HV)are for Vandenburg, the 101st Space Group is fictional ;)
fdl-5-04.jpg




Side view in orbiter, only a simple config to get the model in and see how she looks. Looks speedy for sure:)
fdl-5-05.jpg




Rear 3/4 view. The OMS engines aren't final (or mapped) I need to do a little research to figure out the right size, these were just eyeballed.
fdl-5-06.jpg


The real one was envisioned dropped from a B-52 flying itself to orbit using two strap-on tanks. I'm thinking more of launching it with a ELV, it fits under the fairing of Delta IV heavy ;) the real one also was envisioned with blow-off window covers, I like to be able to see out the windows on orbit, so I made them retractable, probably not very realistic, but much nicer for fun/realism balance.

It will have a custom dll with flight dynamics based off the info in the tech documents and some playing around with javafoil to see if I can get close results. Full, interactive VC with MFDs, some systems modeling (not sure what yet), various needed buttons and switches, etc. I've got heating rates and expected tempreatures in the tech docs, so hopefully i can close to real values. And, for the peanut gallery, uMMU ejection seats, it is a military craft after all. Atmospheric slight should be interesting, reentry is done at 11 degrees AoA(!) that will require retraining some pilots!


Work/life is always crazy so it might be weeks, days or years before an update (not to mention VC2.0 for the HyperDart is still on the radar!)
 

Grover

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looking good man! looks like it wants to be at mach 40 at 60km with a pointy nose like that, perfect for lightning recon work ;) (ie fly past them taking photos and be outta there well before they hear the boom)
 

CigDriver

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Got time to do a little more work on the FDL-5. I originally planned to do this like the HyperDart, a modern take on an old design, but as I thought about it I thought it would be cooler to do it full 60's tech :) So I started building out the VC.

fdl-5-07.jpg

Overview of the cockpit. It is cramped! Each pilot has a full suite of instruments and backups, then the center console has common items that both can reach. For the pilots panel (same for both) working left to right top to bottom we have:

  • Top row
    • Altimeter (top), airspeed (bottom)
    • Vertical speed (the long thin one)
    • Compass (top), attitude and slip (bottom)
    • Elevon position (top left), Temp displays(center triangle), rudder position (top right)
  • Bottom row
    • Back up instruments for the "main six" instruments
    • g-meter (top), roll rate (bottom)
    • acceleration (top), pitch rate (bottom)
    • blank for now(top), yaw rate(bottom)
for the center stack:

  • Environment controls
  • Main and RCS fuel gauges with transfer switch
  • gear and wing levers (gear is restricted until the wings are deployed)
  • Gear and wing indicators (next to gear levers)
  • nav1
  • nav2
  • Engine control computer
I'd like to the computer work similar to the Apollo computer. There is no throttles, everything will be done via the computer. The sticks and ejection seats are just stand-ins for now.

Pilot's view:
fdl-5-08.jpg

Everything will be analog except the nav radios and computer. The nav radios and computer will have a LED displays.

Since I decided to do it as an alt-history 1960s I decided to build a booster for it. 5 points for the first person to identify it (yes, there is one for orbiter already but last I heard it wasn't 2010p1 compatible):
fdl-5-09.jpg

This is just one piece of it ;)

More when i get some free time.
 

Gerdih

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Great job! About the Titan booster, I am curious, what is the purpose of the little tank on the side of the solid booster?
 

Axertan

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Nice, good luck with this project! :thumbup:

As for the booster, I bet it's Titan III SRB

(...)I am curious, what is the purpose of the little tank on the side of the solid booster?

I think it's the thrust vector control tank.
 

CigDriver

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AxerTan is correct. It for the thrust vectoring. I haven't read a lot about it yet, but it appears that they inject fluid into the thrust chamber that creates shock waves that vector the plume. Cool stuff, eventually I want to read more about how it works.
 

Urwumpe

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AxerTan is correct. It for the thrust vectoring. I haven't read a lot about it yet, but it appears that they inject fluid into the thrust chamber that creates shock waves that vector the plume. Cool stuff, eventually I want to read more about how it works.

Pretty much like that - the injection changes the pressure and pressure changes result in changes in the shock wave pattern that accelerates the exhaust in the nozzle. Contrary to one might believe, the exhaust is deflected to the side in which you inject. The exhaust simply accelerates better on the side without injection.

I have a early NASA PDF somewhere on my external HDD, about the most effective way to deflect thrust by fluid injection. maybe I can find it again.
 

perseus

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Fantastic


The arrangement of windows resembling Icarus (Planet of the Apes 1968), maybe this is based on FDL-5MA
Icarus.jpg


And reentry studies and rocket launcher interesting forFDL-7
silver-dart-2.jpg

silver-dart-1.jpg
 

CigDriver

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I wouldn't doubt the Icarus was based on the FDL studies. Although 1968 wasn't that long after they were being done. I'm not sure when they were declassified.

Nice find with the heating of the FDL-7, my HyperDart is based on that design. I'll have to check out my hull heating code and see how close I guessed.
 

CigDriver

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Its has been a while since I had time to work on the FDL-5, stupid world of tanks ;) anyway, I coded the gear animations, and reworked the nose gear doors on the 3D model since I never liked the big door that followed the nose strut. It now opens sideways. I also added hinge detail to the nose doors to make them look nicer. I coded rotating wheels, they look pretty nice. I always wanted them on the HyperDart, but never got around to it. Once I back-date the HD to block 0 standards (to fit this alternate history timeline) I'll add them in. Here is a little video I threw together, it does an overview of the FDL-5, then zooms in to see the gear sequence (2X speed in the video) then rolls out to show the rotating wheels.

 

CigDriver

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Noobish physics question: I thought pointy noses were a really BAD idea for reentry procedures?

That seems to be the general consensus. I'm not an aerospace engineer by any means, I thought the craft looked cool and I found a ton of documentation on the wind tunnel studies:
http://contrails.iit.edu/resources/BiblioGraphySearch3.asp?lineNumber=42
It appears to me that the idea is to fly into the atmosphere and stay at hypersonic velocities while you bleed off energy instead of crashing in to it like current craft do. The 72 degree angle appears to be a key element of the design and it does have a small blunt nose on it. The documentation indicates around 5000F for nose temperatures and an insulated and cooled metal fuselage structure made up of aluminum with heat shields made of "coated columbium, Inconel and coated tantalum". I'm not making that up, really, it is on page 2 (page 10 in the pdf) of AFFDLTR68-024part1.pdf (at the link above).

Maybe someone here with deeper knowledge can share with the rest of us :)
 

Urwumpe

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Generally speaking: More pointy nose = higher heating at the nose, but also, depending on the Mach numbers, a lower total heating, because the effective area gets smaller and the drag drops as well.

It is not generally bad. A more pointy nose than needed for Mach 25 could for example permit using heat pipes for spreading the heating from the nose cone to the rest of the nose.
 

CigDriver

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I spent a little time working on my Titan III. I've got a full stack now :)
fdl-5-10.jpg

Textures are still a wip, but the basics are there.
I've been digging through the Atlantis source a bit exploring how it works, and it seems doable with my abilities, I just have to give it a try :) I'd like the whole stack to be one dll so you have full control from the vc, but if i can't get it to work right I can always fall back on an attachment.
I also worked out the ejection system for the pilots. It is a zero/zero system. So far it works pretty good. When you hit the eject button the hatch blows off and the pilot ejects, 1.5 seconds later the co-pilot joins him. I do have a problem with my hatch code, though. On the ground at zero speed they pop off nicely, but in the air they make a run for the outer solar system. :( Obviously there is some problem with velocities, I think I'm multiplying when i should be adding...I should have paid more attention in math:facepalm:
 

vchamp

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Cool renderings, look like real life models. Love the VC mockup. I hope you'll find enough time to finish the project.
 

jangofett287

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I'd sat that a pointy nose is ok here, as you have no wings for the wake edge created by your nose to collide with.
 

Tacolev

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It all looks great, and sweet jebus that titan is one sexy number!

Hell throw in a centaur and a fairing and it'd be a pretty complete standalone add-on in its own right.
 

CigDriver

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It all looks great, and sweet jebus that titan is one sexy number!

Hell throw in a centaur and a fairing and it'd be a pretty complete standalone add-on in its own right.

I may just do that :)

I scavenged a bit of time the other night and decided to play around with this project a bit. After sitting down and looking at code I decided I wasn't in the mood for that ;) So, I decided to do a quick and dirty multistage build of the titan. It came out pretty nice!

tt-01.jpg

Pardon the default launch pad, this is my testing orbiter :)

tt-02.jpg

Lift off!

tt-03.jpg

Using the default multistage shuttle autopilot it acts a bit wonky. I never tried the shuttle, so maybe it does the same

tt-04.jpg

Booster separation. I was trying to get a better camera angle for this shot and took a bit too much time:facepalm:

tt-05.jpg

Core separation.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how she looks. The FLD will fit under a reasonably sized fairing, so I might build one. One thing this little "exercise" did do is get me excited about actually coding the Titan's dll. I can't wait to see stage separation with the separation motor firing.

More as time allows
 
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