The Flying list

a reply to: Zaphod58

There is a reason in that we know what atmospheric density is , we can guess at SOFTA's weight and we know the weight to surface area and required air speed throughput calcs for rotors to achieve VTOL.

The sweet spot becomes less so at increased weights as the air throughout has to speed up (where power source weight becomes an issue) or rotor size has to increase.

Now I'm not saying you couldn't do it with enough time and money but where do you draw the line when "stealthing" battlefield tested conventional helos/tilts is also an option

Also, when you are on a mission to Boss Fight OBL with 30 mill dollars worth of seal team 6 onboard - why use (risky) helos if a scaled up Various is out there?

a reply to: Jukiodone

Yeah, you're right. They only way they could do it would be massive props so there's no way it's flying.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I said "no one knows for sure" because theoretically 3 or 4 F35 powerplant/ turbine configurations should be able to achieve that kind of VTOL thrust to weight in a craft the size as SOFTA....

Dont really know much about Various' supposed powerplant/ VTOL lift/thrust to weight ratio so I'll look into it based upon your advice.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Jukiodone

Yeah, you're right. They only way they could do it would be massive props so there's no way it's flying.

You have a good point. For instance the tr3b doesnt need big props to hover.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

We're going to do this in every thread, aren't we.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Naw. Im just razzing you. If it really bothers you ill knock it off.

With enough thrust you can get a brick to fly..

Ok did some corrections.
1.Green Lady is Fast Mover
2.Flying Dorito...Zaph will send a Drone to kill any Tr3B references
3.F1117 Companion
4.Brilliant Buzzard
5.Rq180
6.Wichita
7.Texas
8.
9. Boscombe Downs, (hesitant addition) Myth
10.North Sea sighting is kingfisher

a reply to: Blackfinger

I don’t think Brilliant Buzzard / Boscombe / North Sea sighting were active 5 years ago. I’d be surprised if more than one of these did actually exist at some point.

The list probably goes something like this:

- The Green Lady
- F-117 Companion
- ‘RQ-180’
- LRS-B Demonstrator (Northrop) / NGB Demonstrator / NGLRS-D
- LRS-B Demonstrator (Lockheed) /manned Quartz
- Wichita
- Amarillo
- Black Triangles/Flying Dorito/…

Amarillo might have been a LRS-B demonstrator. Or an VLO UCAV of some sort…

Id say F117 Companion is manned Quartz from descriptions.

a reply to: Blackfinger
Interesting thought, but i dont think so.
According to Boomer, the Companion was build 'within years' of the F-117. Work on Quartz officially begun in 1983 with the selection of Lockheed and Boeing to produce development concepts. The F-117 was already IOC at this point in time.
Even with record development times (and Quartz was anything but fast and focused), there is no way they would produce a manned operational platform until the end of the decade. Way too late if you ask me.

a reply to: mightmight
Looks like QUARTZ was the program name not the platform itself.My bad
Was some TierII or III platforms that could be contenders.

F-117 Companion is a twin engine, single pilot design that was flying in the mid 70s. It is roughly similar to F-19 model. Companion is longer than F-117 btw. As far as I understood it, it wasn't built for ECM originally but the project was later used and built as F-117 "helper".

a reply to: SpeedFanatic
Sounds like whatever everyone was mistaking for as Aurora.