gardiner@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (David Gardiner) (09/20/89)
From: gardiner@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (David Gardiner) >[The cruise missile engine is] a turbojet [and] can be bought in a >derated form from (I believe) Williams Intl. for general aviation use. From the display at the Air Force museum in Dayton, I understand that the cruise missile engine uses a special, high energy density fuel. Can the same engine run on more conventional fuels? Has anyone ever tried building an aircraft around one? I would assume that a mass produced engine like that would be relatively inexpensive (for a jet). Are the engines built to last, be maintained, etc.? Or are they built (as I would expect) to be disposable? David Gardiner U of MN CSci Dept.
djm@castle.edinburgh.ac.uk (D Murphy) (09/22/89)
From: D Murphy <djm@castle.edinburgh.ac.uk> In article <27376@amdcad.AMD.COM> gardiner@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (David Gardiner) writes: >From the display at the Air Force museum in Dayton, I understand that >the cruise missile engine uses a special, high energy density fuel. >Can the same engine run on more conventional fuels? Has anyone ever >tried building an aircraft around one? I remember seeing some years ago (on a BBC `new inventions' program called "Tomorrow's World") a new slant on the `man in a can' approach to flight. Basically they had a large dustbin with a cowling at the front housing one of these engines vertically. This provided enough thrust to lift a man, and movement was governed by the `pilot' leaning forward, backward or side-to-side. I've heard nothing more about it. >Or are they built (as I would expect) to be disposable? Like I said - they put it in a bin :-)
mmm@apple.com (09/24/89)
From: portal!cup.portal.com!mmm@apple.com djm@castle.edinburgh.ac.uk (D Murphy) says: > I remember seeing some years ago (on a BBC `new inventions' program called > "Tomorrow's World") a new slant on the `man in a can' approach to flight. > Basically they had a large dustbin with a cowling at the front housing > one of these engines vertically. This provided enough thrust to lift a > man, and movement was governed by the `pilot' leaning forward, backward > or side-to-side. I've heard nothing more about it. This sounds like the "flying pulpit" developed by Williams, maker of the cruise missile engines. Somewhat similar work is being pursued by Moller, in Davis, CA. Moller has been experimenting with "flying saucers" for at least two decades. You may remember seeing pictures of a large saucer he built in the 1960's with two large downward-directed fans. More recently, he built a craft which REALLY looks like the popular image of a flying saucer. It's disc-shaped, with a seat for the pilot in the center. Around the periphery are eight large ducts, each containing a fan driven by a small Wankel engine. About four years ago, a picture of Moller sitting in his saucer hovering a few feet above the ground appeared in the San Jose Mercury-News. Almost immediately, (so I've been told by someone in contact with the project) the military showed up and brought the whole thing under the cover of secrecy.