Aircraft - Wings of War - WIP - Mook

[Mook]

Hey lads!
Apologies for this taking so long. As it stands I haven't done much; just a few doodles and concepts.
The current plan is to build a heavy gunship, to replace the A-10 Warthog. I was partly inspired by the look of the gunships from the second Terminator movie.
Here's what I've got so far:


Alternatively, I was thinking of doing something rather Crimson Skies/Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow -esque. I've always liked that era, and I've wanted to model something from it for a while now. Just trying to decide how much I like my gunship...
Anywho, please feel free to leave comments, thoughts, ideas...
Until next time!

[DELTA]

Good to see you in the game Interesting Idea, cant wait to see it in 3D.

[BillS]

Replace the A10.. Thats some mighty big boots to fill!

[Mook]

Thanks guys!
Hehe, yeah... gonna be tough for sure, especially since the A-10 is one of my favourite aircraft anyway...

[ALp]

Originally Posted by Mook

Thanks guys!
Hehe, yeah... gonna be tough for sure, especially since the A-10 is one of my favourite aircraft anyway...

It can be easier if you keep in mind the warthog mission. It was created to stand against and counter heavy armor assault of Warshaw pact countries in Europe.In those conditions of landscape and weather you have to be able to shoot as you pass, because if you try and make a second pass you might be dead.
Centerline high caliber gattling gun was just the weapon for the job. With high rate of fire and different munition types it could penetrate armor with relative ease, not to mention soft trucks and lightly armored troop carriers.

* If you look at the plane closely you will see it was simply built around the gun. And I know it does not look centered, but it is the barrel on the side that actually fires . Even the front wheel is moved aside to make space for the gun!
* Also the rudders protect the airframe by shielding the hot air that comes out of the engines.
* Large set of wings provide high stability and maneuverability close to the ground and also serve as an excellent place to carry 11 pylons of heavy weaponry, be that bombs, missiles , gun racks or anything else.

So basically A10 is a ground-hugging heavily armed forward shooting cruiser That is what makes it so cool

[Mook]

Wicked, thanks for the info mate!
Apologies that I've not updated for a while; I've been crazy busy so I'm currently on an update spree while I have a spare moment.
Based on ALp's suggestions and info, and my own dislike for my original design, I've gone ahead and rejigged the design.
Even this will probably change again in the near future; at least the side view will definitely. I'm quite happy with the top design, despite my wonky drawing skills.
Basically the Leviathan (did I tell you that's what I was calling it?) is a low level gunship, primarily for urban combat. However, it is also capable of making high speed, low level runs for anti-armour support.
Anywho, enough waffling, here she be:

[Rigel]

So, Mook, where's the clock?

[ALp]

I personally like the "fan inside the wing" idea , very much, and was thinking about it myself for a long time, outside the contest. In the urban environment the safer your props are the better and what can be safer than putting them inside a hole in the wing!. There is, however a tiny problem with the current design:
You see , from aerodynamical point of view it FEELS that though the design WOULD provide an adequate lift for Leviathan, it would interfere with the wing's function during forward flight by reducing the lift, increasing the drag and creating allot of turbulence over the area of the wing immediately after the fan. Plus, in forward flight the fan would get allot less air to push through because, by definition the lift of the wing is created by higher pressure under the wing and lower pressure over it.

One of the solutions might be adding sliding doors on top and under the fan that will close them and let the function as a real wing surface , filling up the turbulent holes in the wing area while in horizontal flight.

The other solution, which I was toying with myself, is to add a movable air scoops on top and under the wing where the fan is. What I mean is, just like in a turbo-powered hotrod, a half-spoon scoop picks up the air above the wing and brings it down through the fan when the opposite scoop under the wing takes the outgoing air of the fan and throws it backward. I hope you can see what I mean or more so, probably have an even better idea cause other than that, my mind is blank right now

[BillS]

Originally Posted by ALp

* If you look at the plane closely you will see it was simply built around the gun. And I know it does not look centered, but it is the barrel on the side that actually fires . Even the front wheel is moved aside to make space for the gun!
* Also the rudders protect the airframe by shielding the hot air that comes out of the engines.
* Large set of wings provide high stability and maneuverability close to the ground and also serve as an excellent place to carry 11 pylons of heavy weaponry, be that bombs, missiles , gun racks or anything else.

Some other little known goodies on the Hog.

*It is NOT a stressed skin design. ie. the skin of the plane is there for airflow only. The frame carries all the weight. So you can blow huge holes in it and it will simply not fly as well.. but it will still fly. You can also repair holes with just about any sheet of aluminum or metal since its not carrying any load just there to aid in airflow.

*The canopy glass can take a direct hit from a 55 mm AA shell and not break.

*Everything on the aircraft is symmetrical. This was done specifically for field repairs. If you have an A-10 with the port fin and stab blown off. you can take the Starboard ones off of another plane and bolt them on the other side. Same with all body panels, even wings both the inner and outer panels. Even the mains can go on the port or starboard side.

I know a guy that used to ground crew them and he just adores them. Says that you can tell that there were maintenance crews involved in the design since you can get at anything quickly and easily. You can even swap out an entire engine pod in a little over an hour.

[DELTA]

In Iraq I saw one come back from a war patrol. I was amazed it was still airborne. They say it had over 1000 holes in it and several sections were for lack of a better word, Missing! It was fixed and returned to service in a very short time.

[ALp]

Yep, this is just like IL-2 of the WW2 , perfect robust and easily fixable flying battletank

There is this old russian WW2 jazz song and if I translate it right it says:
"what a night , we had hit them right, fuel tank raptured, tail on fire , but the bird flies on, on some good words and one wing"

[Mook]

Originally Posted by BillS

Some other little known goodies on the Hog.

*It is NOT a stressed skin design. ie. the skin of the plane is there for airflow only. The frame carries all the weight. So you can blow huge holes in it and it will simply not fly as well.. but it will still fly. You can also repair holes with just about any sheet of aluminum or metal since its not carrying any load just there to aid in airflow.

*The canopy glass can take a direct hit from a 55 mm AA shell and not break.

*Everything on the aircraft is symmetrical. This was done specifically for field repairs. If you have an A-10 with the port fin and stab blown off. you can take the Starboard ones off of another plane and bolt them on the other side. Same with all body panels, even wings both the inner and outer panels. Even the mains can go on the port or starboard side.

I know a guy that used to ground crew them and he just adores them. Says that you can tell that there were maintenance crews involved in the design since you can get at anything quickly and easily. You can even swap out an entire engine pod in a little over an hour.

Wow, that's pretty damn cool! Incredible... I can only hope I build something worthy!
Another little known fact, and one that is rather important to my design, is that the pilot sits in a titanium bathtub, to protect them from AA fire. Now THAT'S funky.
I knew the glass on the windscreen was bulletproof, but a 55mm AA round? That's freakin insane!
Thanks for the facts, it's amazing to learn about this, plus it's helping me make my design more functional!

[ALp]

Originally Posted by Mook

Another little known fact, and one that is rather important to my design, is that the pilot sits in a titanium bathtub, to protect them from AA fire.

Yes, during WW1 many of the pilots sat on their frying pans when flying. Didn't help the red baron though

[bmckain]

Anxious to see this in progress. Hint.

[Mook]

Originally Posted by Rigel

So, Mook, where's the clock?

Lol! Smartypants. Maybe my company logo?

Originally Posted by bmckain

Anxious to see this in progress. Hint.

Lol alright, hint taken... I'll play with my concept drawings a little to get a decent look, then I'll start nutting things out. I might use Maya, not decided yet...

[DELTA]

Tic Toc Tic Toc --- no presure!

[BillS]

Hands Delta the pointy stick...


watch him...


Puts on his best innocent look.

[DELTA]

ZAPPP Ouch!!!!!!.... Never hand it to someone that way!!!

[Mook]

Originally Posted by BillS

Hands Delta the pointy stick...


watch him...


Puts on his best innocent look.

Originally Posted by DELTA

ZAPPP Ouch!!!!!!.... Never hand it to someone that way!!!

Lol Bill, you're supposed to hand it to him HANDLE first...
Did a wee bit more concepting, getting very near a design I like. Currently at MK III... lol.
I think I may have put my notebook in the scanner a bit wonky for the second picture!
I won't be able to get much done this weekend as I'm doing the 48Hours Film Festival; I get to do editing/camera/directing, so it should be fun!
Enough waffling, on with the pictures!


Sorry for it being so light; hopefully you can all still read it! I plan on doing a fancy schematic picture when I've got some spare time, just compounding the views and making it all neat.

[CrippledPidgeon]

Originally Posted by Mook

Attachment 9219
Sorry for it being so light; hopefully you can all still read it! I plan on doing a fancy schematic picture when I've got some spare time, just compounding the views and making it all neat.

Just something to think about, but where do those iris bits go when they're open? There doesn't appear to be enough room in the wing.

[Mook]

Ah, good point! I should probably fix that. Thanks for pointing that out!

[DELTA]

Looks like it'S starting to take shape, at least on paper. Can't wait to see it in 3d...


Reminds BillS about the dangers of handing anyone a loaded pointy stick, especially me!



Walks away with burnt hands looking for a lawyer...

[Mook]

Hey lads!
I'm finally back in the land of the living!
Had a rather insane weekend (it was the 48Hours Film Festival), getting about 4 hours sleep over the whole time. Enjoyed it though, so it was worth it!

Slept on the Monday, did this Tuesday, finally got around to taking it to course and scanning it today. My scanner currently has no power plug...
So, I present the MkIV Leviathan!


I'm happy with the design, though it'll probably change during the process anyways.
I've decided to give up planning, I really should start modeling!

[CollyWolly]

Good one Mook.

Now comes the fun bit. 3 dimensionilising it. (That a word by the way. It's in Colin's dictionary)

[Mook]

As I believe the saying goes, it's about damn time.
To be fair I've been hiving off doing my assignment, so haven't really had a chance to get this under way. I'm still SUPPOSED to be doing my assignment, but I finished half of it and the other file got corrupted when I was transferring it. Don't worry, I'll be sure to post it in the 3D Art section when I'm done.
Anywho, I decided to start on the turbines, mainly because they're my favourite part of this.
Just tell me if you want any close ups or specific views.



Cheers
Mook

[Rigel]

Nice start. Lots of vehicles with turbine lifters in this contest.

[BillS]

Yaaaaaaaa

he's off

[Mook]

Thanks lads!
Figure I should give a brief speal about this next update.
I've (We've?) designed the Leviathan to be switchable between VTOL capability and straight flight at the push of a button, in flight. However, the design I'd already come up with presented a rather large problem; with the turbine pushing out that much thrust, the aerodynamics of straight flight are impossibly impractical. Thus, I came up with an iris system, made from flexible, light weight material, to be able to folded into a very small space, and yet extend over the entire turbine. This would stop the turbine interfering with the aerodynamics, however it did present another problem in itself; the amount of pressure the turbines would exert on the flimsy metal skin of the iris would blow them apart, maning I was back to square one. However, I just thought of the solution (as I was writing this, ironically enough...!). If there was an air vent leading out the back of the wing, also covered by an iris (on the inside to prevent loss of thrust from the turbine and disturbacne of air flow), that opened when the other iris' closed, it would stop the turbine tearing itself apart, and also provide additional thrust.
There is a wee gap at the bottom of the nose-cone of the turbine for the iris' to slot into, but it doesn't lock. This means the turbine can keep spinning during straight flight, and allows a speedier change between the two modes.
I think that about covers it, any questions just holler.
Iris Open:

Iris Close:

[Rigel]

Interesting concept. Get a patent on it before someone steals it from you.

[DELTA]

Hmmm I just had a great idea for my...... LOL


Great concept.