Aerospace Planes: A New Technical Arena for the Homebuilder

1. Aerospace Planes: A New Technical Arena for the Homebuilder EAA Oshkosh Airventure '99 John A. Bossard

2. What Happened to Aerospace Development? • Aviation Saw Continuous Increases in Speed and Altitudes until WWII • Natural Evolution of Aerospace Planes for Orbital Travel was curtailed by the Space Race • Significant Consequences of the Aerospace Development Path are: • Space Travel has left the Average Person Behind • Manned Spaceflight remains exceedingly limited • If we want to get into space, we’ll have to do it ourselves

3. Aerospace Development Path Characterized by Discontinuous Changes Aerospace Homebuilt Aerospace Planes Military Aviation General/Commercial Aviation

4. Homebuilt Aerospace Planes:A New Path for Aerospace Development • Homebuilt Aerospace Planes are Achievable • Aerospace Planes = Airplanes + Rocket Engines • Homebuilt Aerospace Plane Development Synopsis

5. Homebuilt Aerospace Planes are Achievable • Homebuilt Aerospace Planes are not Impossible • They should be considered as merely another aerospace design optimization problem • High Speed Aerospace Planes have already been flown • Manned Orbital Space Transportation has already been achieved • A Huge Data base for Aerospace Planes Already Exists • Aerothermodynamics • Materials • Atmospheric Properties • Fast Information Retrieval Methods

6. Aerospace Planes = Airplanes + Rocket Engines • Synergize Vast Experience Among Builders: • Aircraft builders and Rocket Builders • Merging the efforts of these two talent pools is a powerful approach to building aerospace planes • Extending the Performance of Aircraft seems a more sensible approach than man-rating artillery rockets • Utilize Vast Array of Existing “Know-How” • EAA has been a continuous source of aviation advances • ARS et.al. has been a continuous source of rocketry advances

7. Rocket Propulsion for the Homebuilt Aerospace Plane • Solid Rocket Motors • Liquid Rocket Engines • Hybrid Rocket Motors • Combined-Cycle Engines

8. Liquid Rocket Engines Fuel Oxidizer Pressurant Gas LOx/RP-1 Engine Test, 12,000 lbf Thrust Photo courtesy of Space America, Inc. http://www.spaceamerica.com/

9. Hybrid Rocket Engines Oxidizer Pressurant Gas N20/HTTP Hybrid Engine Test, 1300 lbf thrust Photo courtesy of HARC

10. Combined-Cycle Engines The Air Turbo Rocket • High Thrust-to-Weight, Specific Thrust, and Isp • Zero to Mach 5-6 Operating Range • Simple • Integrates with Rocket Systems Nozzle Gas generator Combustor Compressor Turbine

11. Propulsion Options Available to the Homebuilder Acceptable with Further Development Key Good Poor

12. Development Synopsis for the Homebuilt Aerospace Plane • Design Principles • Characteristics • Significant Design Considerations • Building and Operating Costs • Example Vehicles

13. Design Principles for Homebuilt Aerospace Planes(KIS3S) • Think Small • Keep it Simple • Design for Safety

14. Aerospace Planes have a wider Range of Characteristics relative to General Aviation Planes • Aerodynamics Characterized by: • Compressible Flow • Real Gas Effects • Slip Flow (high Altitudes and Speeds) • High Propellant Fractions • Rocket Propulsion • Additional Systems: • Reaction Control • Life Support

15. What Are the Significant Design Considerations? • How to You Achieve Sufficiently High Propellant Mass Fractions? • Aero-thermodynamic Properties: • Vehicle Aerodynamics • Material Compatibilities • The “Up” Problems ( Burn Up, Blow Up, Break Up -> Toes Up) • Human Factors • Unknown Problems

16. Materials structure TPS Rocket Engine Systems Propellant tankage Controls Life Support Navigation/Comm. Propellants Operating Expenses Maintenance Fees and Licensing Homebuilt Aerospace Plane Costs Non-Recurring Costs Recurring Costs

17. Homebuilt Aerospace Plane Costs • 2-person, sub-orbital vehicle • 7000 lbm GLOW, 5000 lbm propellant, delta V=5000 ft/sec • Materials Structure $ 100,000 • Thermal Protection $ 40,000 • System Rocket Engine $ 250,000 • Propellant Tankage $ 150,000 • Pressurant System $ 90,000 • Reaction Control System $ 65,000 • Life Support $ 50,000 • Comm./Nav. $ 50,000 • on-board elec. Power $ 30,000 • Other Instrumentation $ 20,000 • Landing Gear $ 5,000 • Total Cost (dry vehicle) $ 850,000 • Propellants (per flight) • 3500 lbm Lox $ 700 • 1500 lbm RP-1 $ 400 Less than $1,000,000

18. Representative Homebuilt Aerospace Plane Reaction Control System Rocket Engine Pressurant gas Thermal Protection Control Surfaces (Wings and Empenage) Crew/Recovery Compartment Propellant Tankage Life support

19. Rocket-Powered Ercoupe • First Rocket-Powered Airplane test by U.S. Military; Aug. 12th, 1941 • 6 solid propellant rocket motors; 3 under each wing • operated with and without prop thrust • subsonic Photo courtesy Ercoupe Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3651/cfacts/jato.htm

20. Bell X-1 • Lox/Alcohol Rocket motor • 2000 lbf thrust • 1200 lbm onboard propellant • supersonic Photo courtesy of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Gallery

21. tgs Kitten Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company • 3-place Rocket-Powered Vehicle • 3 x 4880 lbf Liquid Rocket Motors; LOx and CH4 or C3H8 • 7000 lbm Gross Lift-off Weight (GLOW) • 4600 lbm Propellants • Sub-Orbital Image courtesy Cerulean Freight Forwarding Co. http://www.nvinet.com/%7Ecffc/page2.htm

22. Homebuilt Aerospace PlaneDevelopment Roadmap 2000 2020 Airframe Development TSTO Launch Aircraft Hypersonic/Sub-Orbital Airframe Orbital/Re-entry Airframe 1st Custom Airframe Orbital Flight X-Prize B-Prize 1st Homebuilt Aerospace Plane Orbital Aerospace Plane 2nd Gen. Aerospace Plane Existing Rocket Engines Custom Rocket Engine Next Generation Propulsion Rocket Development

23. Challenges to the Aerospace Plane Homebuilder • Building and Operating Costs will be significantly higher than for General Aviation Aircraft • Integrating into the Existing Regulatory System will require perseverance and fortitude • Builders will be told repeatedly: “You can’t do it”

24. Motivations for Building Aerospace Planes • Fun • Freedom • Wealth • Adventure • Challenge “For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible”

25. Conclusions • Homebuilt Aerospace Planes are Achievable • Synergy of Rocket and Aircraft Builders will make Homebuilt Aerospace Planes Possible • Aerospace Plane Designs Lie within the Realm of Existing Knowledge

26. acknowledgements • LOx/RP-1 Engine Testing Video footage: Space America, Inc. http://www.spaceamerica.com/ • Kitten Image and data: Cerulean Freight Forwarding Co. http://www.nvinet.com/%7Ecffc/page2.htm • Hybrid Engine Testing Video Footage: High Altitude Research Corp. (256)-683-7864 • Air Turbo Rocket Testing Video Footage: Dr. Jay Lilley U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

27. The Vision for Homebuilt Aerospace Planes • We can build Aerospace Planes if We Want to • We are at the dawn of the Age of the Personal Aerospace Plane • Homebuilt Aerospace Planes will open up the Space Frontier for the rest of us

28. "....For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,Saw the Vision of the World, and all the wonder that would be;Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;..."-Alfred, Lord Tennyson-