BAe HOTOL

the one item I'm after is a good 3-view. Does the brochure contain that?
 
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Il dig it out again, meanwhile iv copies of the pages posted on the IPMS. Project Cancelled Facebook page :)
 
What was the point of the small fin on the nose?
To steer it.
It was thought, at the time, that weight savings could be had by having a forward vertical stabilizer, rather an aft-mounted one.
However, shock-on-shock interactions made it less viable (modelling suggested it would burn off)
Which was a problem.
<I used to work on Interim-HOTOL>
 
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Images of HOTOL and the Antonov An-225 with HOTOL.
That third picture and the fifth is the Interim Hotol with the Antonov 225 first stage. I remember the day that a large wooden crate arrived at the Atrium of BAe Stevenage - we levered it open and were greeted by half a dozen of those models ensconced in shredded packing paper. I've still got mine and will post some details tonight.
<fifth pic by Mark Hempsall who worked in Future Projects>

Those models are pretty sturdy, and apart from some of the decals peeling, are really well-made. Resin and odd lengths of metal for the struts between the AH-225 and the orbiter. The paint's doing well too. No recollection as to who made 'em and I've seen the odd one on eBay over the years.
 

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What was the point of the small fin on the nose?
To steer it.
It was thought, at the time, that weight savings could be had by having a forward vertical stabilizer, rather an an aft-mounted one.
<I used to work on Interim-HOTOL>
[/QUOTE]

It was know that with the delta wing there was a significant Cp shift afterwards with increasing Mach number so a bit of leverage was required to counteract it;- hence some feathers upon the nose. However when they did the high speed wind tunnel work it was discovered the original estimates were wrong by, well, a lot. To address this a high lift system was proposed for the wing consisting of both flaps and droops. This put the weight up to such a degree there was no payload, apparently the comment was made that “HOTOL was a means to transport a complex wing high lift system into orbit”.

Ultimately this was the reason for the delta wing/aft engine being dropped and replaced by the Skylon’s short mid wing and tip mounted engines.
 
And for the truly dedicated, some cross-sections of Interim HOTOL (ie, carried aloft by dear old Mria: Antonov's modified AH-225), version 68c.
<yes, for they were legion in their numbering>

The dedicated might want to whizz this up into a modern CAD program.
The less dedicated might still appreciate that this was a 'chonky boi' (as the kids say these days).
 

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Earlier contributors to this thread may be interested to know that the final change of geometry, shown in the Flight International magazine with Bob's own painting, was the result of finding an error in the hypersonic drag calculation in the mission optimisation software. I found it when reviewing the software as part of my job as the performance engineer. The tapering shape was important in that calculation; it also shifted the hypersonic centre of lift back. I think I sketched the curve through the segments given by the software.

I have a copy of the painting signed by all the team members as a leaving gift. Somewhere.
 
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I have a copy of the painting signed by all the team members as a leaving gift. Somewhere.
I would like to see that.

O/T might there be a winged fly-back lighter than a Falcon Heavy core?

The upper bracing carrying a tail-wheel with a fold-out wing right above the engines in place of the landing legs...engine-block looking like a giant radial as it becomes the nose upon returning to land on an island, say?

BTW Gary Hudson will likely need your help on his latest spaceplane effort. Phys.org talks about a new alloy that becomes stronger in the presence of cryogenics. CrCoNi...a HEA.
 
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