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AS ULTRALIGHT WAVERIDER VEHICLES |
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A CONCEPTUAL STUDY
BY
GORDON J. ROSS
Waverider Should you wish to contact the
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refer to references. It would appear from this preliminary
study, that the application of Flexwing technology to
Hypersonic and Megasonic Waverider design, may hold the key
to the successful development of Waverider, as an enabling
technology for interplanetary exploration. The underlying
simplicity of the Flexwing structure, and its remarkable
shape-changing abilities, make the concept well worth
further study. The enormous weight savings and
packageability available with these vehicles makes their use
in the future exploration of the planets a very attractive
prospect. By reducing the quantity of special materials
required in the aircraft's construction for a given mission,
the cost of manufacture may be drastically cut, permitting
many such aircraft to be built; low-cost test flights; lower
launch costs; and perhaps even multiple-vehicle missions to
collect data from several different locations at
once. Since these "shape changers" can be
either AGA vehicles, aerocapture devices or manned reentry
gliders, their potential for future missions can only be
guessed at. Some possibilities include shuttle and space
station escape vehicles, and low-cost cargo deliveries to
Earth. A Flexwing could be stored in the Space Shuttle cargo
bay and mated to the "escape ball" emergency crew person
sphere to allow an emergency descent to the Earth's
surface. Problems of heat transfer and
carbon-cloth sail material will require research and
experimentation to solve, but the future of the Waverider
concept could be very exciting if this can be
achieved. The author would be interested to
hear all comments and criticisms from other researchers on
this subject, and would be happy to discuss any part of this
paper with any interested party. 1.
Morris Rasmussen, 'Analysis of Cone-Derived Waveriders, by
Hypersonic Disturbance Theory', "Proceedings of the 1st
International Hypersonic Waverider Symposium",
NASA/University of Maryland, 1990.
Back
to Point 1 in Text 2.
Douglas Tincher, 'Application of Viscous-Optimized Waverider
Technology for Evader Manoeuvring Reentry Vehicle and
Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Missions' , "Proceedings of the 1st
International Hypersonic Waverider Symposium",
NASA/University of Maryland,1990. Back
to Point 2 in Text 3.
James
E. Randolph, 'Enabling High
Energy Interplanetary Trajectories with Waveriders' ,
"Proceedings of the 1st International Hypersonic Waverider
Symposium", NASA/University of Maryland, 1990.
Back
to Point 3 in Text 4.
Gordon
J. Dick &
Duncan
Lunan, 'Amateurs' View of
Waverider Application', "Proceedings of the 1st
International Hypersonic Waverider Symposium",
NASA/University of Maryland, 1990. Back
to Point 4 in Text 5.
Duncan Lunan et al, 'Report on ASTRA 1988 Waverider
Conference', Space report ,8,3,1-16, Association
in Scotland to Research into
Astronautics, July 1988.
Back
to Point 5 in Text 6.
L.H. Townend, "The Waverider", APECS Limited,1983.
Back
to Point 6 in Text 7.
Gordon J. Dick & Duncan Lunan, 'Flight in
Non-Terrestrial Atmospheres' , Asgard 2,4, Association in
Scotland to Research into Astronautics April 1992.
Back
to Point 7 in Text 8.
'Equations, Tables and Charts for Compressive Flow' ,
National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics Report no. 1135.
Back
to Point 8 in Text 9.
' The Design of Practical Waveriders Is Made Possible Using
a MDSSC Hybrid Maryland Viscous-Optimized Technique' ,
McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company/University of
Maryland Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, June
1991.
Page
Six
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