What if I suddenly found I had some extra disposable income? What if I obtained the plans to an M2-F1 Lifting Body and built it? Would I be nuts to fly it? Isn’t that a good kind of “nuts”?
Remember the crash at the start of “Six Million Dollar Man?” That was a lifting body landing, poorly. But he didn’t need no $6m to get put back together.
But I don’t believe I answered your question. Yes and do you care? Dying with a joystick in your hand is a good way to go.
Ah, but that was the M2-F2!
Well, I know squat about aviation, but that thing looks like it has to work *awfully[/] hard to stay airborne.
Why was it built? What’s the application? Or was it one of those things that was built just to prove that it could be done?
Can someone tell me again why edit is turned off?
The lifting body program was developed to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. The lifting body projects ended in 1975 with the X-24B. The data gained from the program was applied to the Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle).
I’ve always liked the M2-F1. It has a simple tubular-steel structure covered with a plywood body. The structure was built at NASA and the body was built by a glider maker at El Mirage. The first tests had the M2-F1 towed behind a souped-up Plymoth Bonneville, and IIRC achieved an altitude of 20 feet. It was later carried alloft by an R4D and released from altitudes of 10,000 feet.
Tubular steel, plywood, no engine… might be fun, if I ever found I had some extra disposable income and some time on my hands.
Gatsby, you are very observant. The lifting bodies weren’t really designed to “fly,” as such, but were built in shapes that had glide paths somewhat better than rocks. A minimum of wetted area for a maximum of lift, so you didn’t lose cargo space or have to lift lots of wing area into space. I don’t know if any of NASA’s were even powered, although they were talking about it back in the early days of the program.
I thought a Rogallo wing, as used on many hang gliders, was a better choice, but I don’t work for NASA. I don’t think Rogallo does anymore, either.
Thanks; all I know about these things is what Popular Science was publishing in '64.