REFLECTOR: Rocket Racing in a Velocity

Tue Oct 4 13:55:08 CDT 2005

Waaaaaaaaaay back when I was in the RPV business the canard type aircraft was the choice of design for RPV's.  In the seventies the California Microwave company took the canard and made them into all kinds of payload carrying RPV's.  Then they even had Burt's company build the CM-30 and CM-40 aircraft.  I think Burt would like to forget that.  They gave a lot of head aches to lot of people.  They were also working stealth issues at the time.  I dealt with them dealing with a ground control station they had.  At that time they still had two of the planes.  Eventually they fell into civilian hands and have seen them for sale in resent months.  How I don't know but maybe as surplus.... maybe.   

But as far as a stable platform to be used as a RPV you can't match them.  The Velocity could make a perfect platform because of its way of being a pusher and body shape for payloads.  The key to a RPV is payload capability and powerplant configurations.  High attitude RPV's are another issues all together.  The autopilots that are out there now are even secondary when it comes to payloads.   If it can fly a GPS course and do even an auto landing and take off, even better, it will do just fine.  The weight of the A/P is so small now it is some times even lost in the noise of the payload. The servos are the most weight issue in the autopilot. 

Believe me a pusher is much more easily adaptable then any other configuration when it come to RPV's.  That is why the Velocity would be a good pick.  The only problem I would see would be the landing issues and landing gear problems that some one would have to resolve.   It can be done. On the Velocity that is.

The biggest issue in RPV's are not the aircraft so much as the problem of See And Avoid.  You can't fly them in controlled airspace with out it.  Fix this and a great deal of other issues go away.  There is a great deal of money and I mean lots of money being dumped into this issue right now.  It is one of NASA's biggest problems in this field.  My company worked it for two years and we were just scratching the surface related to issues in dealing with RPV's in controlled airspace.  We are getting close but right now it is cooperative system and it needs to be noncooperative. If you want more thoughts let me know.  You may want to write direct so it don't load up the airways with some old guy telling great stories of the good old days.  

We have the technology and the means, the only things that stops us from getting it done is politics, and a few environmentalist

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Keith Hallsten 
  To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list' 
  Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 6:32 PM
  Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Rocket Racing in a Velocity

  The bit that caught my eye was the statement that, "Next generation vehicles will be using an airframe provided by Velocity Aircraft of Sebastian, Florida."   Is the factory going to be providing finished airframes, a la the UAV project currently underway?

  I must admit this whole concept seems pretty "out there" to me.  I'll be surprised if this actually gets off the ground (so to speak).  I've been wrong about such things before, but I don't think I'll be investing any of my own money!

  Keith

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  From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Al Gietzen
  Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 10:48 AM
  To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
  Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Rocket Racing in a Velo

  The X-Prize founder announced Rocket-Racing as the new sport with a

  nationwide tour.  Take a look at the planes--all we're missing is the

  missle pod.

  http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=d3f621c7-557f-454c-b4d

  d-f8efea4fa6c7&#d

  Chuck

  The guys from X-cor came by a few weeks ago to take measurements on my fuselage as part of a plan to test a rocket on a Velocity.  Picture a large, spherical, liquid O2 tank in the back seat.

  Al

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