Hi Everyone and compliments for the upcoming season.
Not sure if this should be in civil aircraft or her so if its wrong would the moderator kindly move?
As the Shuttle could not actually achieve powered flight in the atmosphere, it could only glide essentially, NASA decided the best way to move them around after initial construction or upon returning from a mission to Edwards Air Force Base was to piggy back them on a Boeing 747. To this end they bought a used airliner from American Airlines ( and later a 2nd from Japan Airlines ) which were gutted and substantially strengthened by Boeing to accommodate a Shuttle. After commissioning it was noted that a Boeing engineer had stencilled at all 3 mounting pylons " MOUNT SHUTTLE HERE - BLACK SIDE DOWN". Initially the Shuttle was taken up to + 35000 feet on the 747 and released to assess the glide capabilities of the spacecraft. This proved very successful and the the pilots reported no major difficulties flying the combination with the added lift provided by the enormous delta wing on the Shuttle offsetting drag issues. The Shuttle had a rear aerodynamic rocket cover fitted and stabilizer end plates fitted to the tips of the tailplanes. There are rumours that some military equipment which ejected heat sources were fitted to thwart heat seeking missiles - seen a photo of one but beyond my skill set to replicate. This plane is an exhibition in California now and used to pinch parts for the 2nd aircraft which is still airworthy I believe.
The kit has a few problems with some poorly formed parts, ill fitting fuselage halves and gaps at the wing roots. No provision is made for the 2 rearmost Shuttle support pylons so its all my guesswork. The paint ( all Tamiya acrylics ) scheme was very vague so using internet images I approximated the finish. Lost the front landing gear and 1 Endeavour decal to the great abyss and the long blue decals were a PITA and broke in several places but turned out ok.
This is my first build of a wingy thingy for 50 years so please bear that in mind when commenting however constructive criticism is welcomed in case I get tempted to do another aircraft.
Next non car build is the Revell 1/144 Saturn 5 with all its known faults but that will take some considerable time as this little baby ate up 58 hours.
Thanks for reading this long missive and now some images.
Regards
Stefan,
Not sure if this should be in civil aircraft or her so if its wrong would the moderator kindly move?
As the Shuttle could not actually achieve powered flight in the atmosphere, it could only glide essentially, NASA decided the best way to move them around after initial construction or upon returning from a mission to Edwards Air Force Base was to piggy back them on a Boeing 747. To this end they bought a used airliner from American Airlines ( and later a 2nd from Japan Airlines ) which were gutted and substantially strengthened by Boeing to accommodate a Shuttle. After commissioning it was noted that a Boeing engineer had stencilled at all 3 mounting pylons " MOUNT SHUTTLE HERE - BLACK SIDE DOWN". Initially the Shuttle was taken up to + 35000 feet on the 747 and released to assess the glide capabilities of the spacecraft. This proved very successful and the the pilots reported no major difficulties flying the combination with the added lift provided by the enormous delta wing on the Shuttle offsetting drag issues. The Shuttle had a rear aerodynamic rocket cover fitted and stabilizer end plates fitted to the tips of the tailplanes. There are rumours that some military equipment which ejected heat sources were fitted to thwart heat seeking missiles - seen a photo of one but beyond my skill set to replicate. This plane is an exhibition in California now and used to pinch parts for the 2nd aircraft which is still airworthy I believe.
The kit has a few problems with some poorly formed parts, ill fitting fuselage halves and gaps at the wing roots. No provision is made for the 2 rearmost Shuttle support pylons so its all my guesswork. The paint ( all Tamiya acrylics ) scheme was very vague so using internet images I approximated the finish. Lost the front landing gear and 1 Endeavour decal to the great abyss and the long blue decals were a PITA and broke in several places but turned out ok.
This is my first build of a wingy thingy for 50 years so please bear that in mind when commenting however constructive criticism is welcomed in case I get tempted to do another aircraft.
Next non car build is the Revell 1/144 Saturn 5 with all its known faults but that will take some considerable time as this little baby ate up 58 hours.
Thanks for reading this long missive and now some images.
Regards
Stefan,
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