Convair XB-46, Convair XB-53 Mock-up, Goodyear MX 779 Missile Study, Saunders-Roe Nuclear Princess

Описание: The October 2022 document release from patreon.com/retromechanix features 108 pages of material with 69 pages of images covering the following subjects:

Convair XB-46 - A pair of early documents about the Convair XB-46, the elegant but unsuccessful medium jet bomber which lost out to the North American B-45 and Boeing B-47. The first document appears to be the incomplete original proposal brochure dating from October 23, 1944. The second document is a mock-up brochure dated January 5, 1945 with numerous drawings of the main features of the aircraft; unfortunately, no mock-up photos are included. Both documents depict the XB-46 with an early nacelle design featuring two separate intakes, which would be changed to a single elliptical intake after wind tunnel testing. In total, there are 27 pages of material with 24 pages of images. More reports covering the construction and testing of this medium jet bomber to follow in the months ahead.

Convair XB-53 Mock-up Photos and Correspondence - Thirty-three pages of photos and correspondence concerning the Convair XA-44/XB-53 forward swept wing bomber, including 7 rare photos of the mock-up of the bombardier's compartment; behind it may be the main mock-up of the entire aircraft.

Goodyear MX 779 Missile Progress Report 2 - A 20 page Goodyear report from August 1946 covering progress made on the MX-779 supersonic air-to-ground missile contract. The document includes 7 pages of drawings; more MX 778 & MX 779 reports to follow in the months ahead.

Saunders-Roe Nuclear Princess - A pair of Saunders-Roe reports related to the conversion of the giant Princess flying boat into a nuclear-powered aircraft. The first report from December 1958 covers water tank tests undertaken to investigate spray interference with a model of the aircraft equipped with jet engines. The second report, dated January 1959, analyzes crew compartment requirements dictated by the installation of a nuclear reactor in the aircraft. In total, there are 31 pages of material with 17 pages of images. More nuclear Princess reports to follow in the months ahead.

Sources: NARA Archives II, RG 18, 72 and 342

Retromechanix is scanning, restoring and publishing rare aerospace photos, illustrations and documents covering lesser known American aircraft from the first half of the 20th century, such as forgotten prototypes and secret projects which remained on the drawing board. These documents originate from various US government repositories, such as The National Archives, The Naval History and Heritage Command, The Air Force Historical Research Agency, and other institutions. We believe that the bulk of the collection has not been published before.

Every month, we are uploading at least 100 pages of material in PDF format. Previews of these documents can be viewed here on our Youtube channel. Patreon subscribers may choose to download the documents with photos and drawings reproduced at 150 dpi or 300 dpi, depending upon your subscription tier. By the end of the project, we estimate that subscribers will have access to an archive of over 20,000 pages of primary documents shedding light on secret aircraft projects, prototypes, and lesser known aspects of US aerospace history.

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