Avro Canada space threshold vehicle

[fredgell]

Came across this at

Never Was An Arrow

A little bit of aviation, a little bit of religion…and a little bit of everything else –

neverwasanarrow.blogspot.com

AVRO CANADA "STAT", yes… long before the Concorde, and long before the "Concordski", there was…

The Avro Canada STAT … and there it is above— And something called a Space Threshold Vehicle. Goodness! What the hell was that?? PROGRESS l...

neverwasanarrow.blogspot.com

and another picture at

http://www.cahs.com/NewsAndViews/FlypastJun2002.pdf

Does anyone know more?
Couldn't see any reference to this elsewhere on site.

Cheers

Fred

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

I'm pretty sure I saw a similar craft in this book- http://www.amazon.com/Dyna-Soar-Hypersonic-Strategic-Weapons-System/dp/1896522955 ,in the illustrations pages. It was teeny-tiny. But I did think it a bit odd the Avro would be involved with this program. It all makes sense now.

 

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Here's another image:

Note other sizes are available here. The image description says:

[quote author=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/4136522033/]
This VISUAL reflection (graphic) is courtesy of Jim Floyd.

[...]

JIM FLOYD was Avro Canada's former Chief Design Engineer. Back in the 50s, Jim received aviation's prestigious Wright Brothers Medal for his groundbreaking work on the Jetliner and became the first non-American to receive it.
[/quote]

 

[Bentmol]

Avro Canada's 1950s concept for a Mach 8.5 Space Threshold Vehicle can be seen in at http://neverwasanarrow.blogspot.com/2009/11/

I have some questions which I hope that this forum's members can comment upon. I have been unable to find the answers in Avro literature.

1. You can see that the plane has no tail assembly. I do not know if it was omitted from a mere design sketch, or if the plane was really intended to be tail-less. I am aware that tail-less supersonic planes are now being designed these days, though I am not aware of any from 1958. I can see how the wing tip flaps could serve as the rudder for the plane, but I can’t see if they would work as elevators. Would a tail-less supersonic/hypersonic plane have been able to fly in a stable manner without the benefit of today’s avionics?
   
   
2. There are no windows on this plane that a pilot could look out of. Could that be because of aerodynamic heating concerns or just a simple omission of such detail from a mere design sketch? I suppose that a tiny opening for a periscope or television camera might not be shown on a design sketch. Does this seem plausible?
   
   
3. Also, there is no door for the pilot’s entry into and exit from the plane, unless that door is at the back of the plane next to the liquid fuel rocket engine nozzle. (The 6 other engines – actually 2 engines at 3 different engine pair locations - are ramjets, possibly the Curtiss-Wright ramjet that Avro had access to). Is it possible for the door to be next to the rocket nozzle, at the back-end of the fuselage? The rocket nozzle would be cold before take-off and would be cold when the plane landed, because the rocket motor would have been switched off hours earlier to let the ramjets take over. Also a door at the back of the fuselage would be good for aerodynamics, because it would lead to a smoother fuselage. I am curious to know what you think.
   
   
4. There is no landing gear or a cutout in the fuselage where a landing gear could retract into. Could this be because this plane was intended to be drop-launched from a carrier aircraft? But it seems to me that the Rocketdyne rocket engine with its 67 tons of thrust would be enough to let this Avro plane take off from an airstrip and reach Mach 2, when the 2 ramjets could take over and accelerate the plane to Mach 8.5. Was the Avro supposed to be drop-launched or if it was intended to take off under its own power?

Thank you for your attention.

 

[TsrJoe]

Looks like it didn't get as far as detail design ?

 

[Nik]

Um, wind-tunnel phase ? The entire nose was probably intended to open / eject...

 

[Yellow Palace]

Looks like it didn't get as far as detail design ?

The whole thing looks like the Aerodynamics and Propulsion departments came up with a bright idea, and it hadn't gotten around to everyone else yet.