it was basically a thought exercise and never meant to be proposed in any real way.
Concept would have relied on some kind of nuclear powered propulsion system, fighters stored in on board hangars, crew rest and relaxation, and bunk areas, flying 24/7 for very long periods of time so they could project force in goofy ways
but then they figured out that with good tankers and global power projection via carrier groups, stuff like this would never be needed.
an aircraft of that size would be nearly impossible to hide for 30 years, both physically and financially. Far more likely they were flights of A-10's from DMAFB, or F-16s from Luke. Either their nav lights or flares.
Well I do think there is still something to it... In 1991, in the Antelope Valle, home to Phantom and Skunk Works and a cooridor to Edwards AFB and Groom Lake further north, people reported seeing a massive black flying wing shaped object that would float silently overhead at night. It would go verticle, stop and hover, reverse.... It was massive. Anyways, here's a Popular Mechanics mention about it - titled the Big Wing:
Weird how people would comment about a giant black flying wing over Edwards AFB in 1991, when a B-2 has been based at and tested there as far back as 1989.
No, this doesn’t exist anywhere other than on paper and on internet posts. This was never built. It would’ve been at LEAST 4x heavier than the heaviest aircraft ever built. And like 10x too wide for most runways.
From Wikipedia: Crew of 400–845? 182 Vertical-Lift engines to get it into the air? Guess it was the product of an era when 3-Martini lunches and chain-smoking were considered normal. Also mentioned, a third variant besides the airborne aircraft carrier and logistics support craft, that was never made public. Maybe accounts for those triangle-shaped UFOs people have claimed to see……
It's like 4x the weight of an Antonov An-225, if it's payload capacity scaled with weight, it could transport the entire global law enforcement seizure of cocaine per year in just 6 flights, roughly 1,700 tons.
Your graphics don't do this thing justice cuz there's no sense of scale. A 340m wingspan is almost three times Stratolaunch's, the widest aircraft ever built, and more than a Nimitz class carrier is long! 6000 tons is almost 10x as much as an Antonov 225!
HAH!! LOOK AT THAT! That third image, i made that one!! That's a screenshot from the game SimplePlanes! That's the replica I made of the CL-1201 from a few years ago, complete with deployable F4 Phantoms! That's so funny, what a cool coincidence.
As a "beginner" blended wing body, this would've been interesting to see. The current straits the USAF is in as far as transports go and the idea that a BWB plane would be the next-generation of transport is really a reference to this plane. The only problem is that there's no money for developing this in reality. OTOH, all the talk about recreating the C-17 project line is a bit of a joke too. Stuff's going to be expensive all around.
agha0013@reddit
There's a great Mustard video about this sucker
it was basically a thought exercise and never meant to be proposed in any real way.
Concept would have relied on some kind of nuclear powered propulsion system, fighters stored in on board hangars, crew rest and relaxation, and bunk areas, flying 24/7 for very long periods of time so they could project force in goofy ways
but then they figured out that with good tankers and global power projection via carrier groups, stuff like this would never be needed.
Spacebotzero@reddit
I really do think a variant of this flew over Phoenix in 1997.
AzureBelle@reddit
an aircraft of that size would be nearly impossible to hide for 30 years, both physically and financially. Far more likely they were flights of A-10's from DMAFB, or F-16s from Luke. Either their nav lights or flares.
Spacebotzero@reddit
Well I do think there is still something to it... In 1991, in the Antelope Valle, home to Phantom and Skunk Works and a cooridor to Edwards AFB and Groom Lake further north, people reported seeing a massive black flying wing shaped object that would float silently overhead at night. It would go verticle, stop and hover, reverse.... It was massive. Anyways, here's a Popular Mechanics mention about it - titled the Big Wing:
https://books.google.com/books?id=puMDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA32&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q&f=false
6 years later the Phoenix Lights incident would happen. Personally, I think it was an LTA craft.
MisterGlo764@reddit
A black flying wing huh? Yknow that reminds me of the b2 that flew in 1989
YesMush1@reddit
Gotcha spacebot, I’m aware of these probable LTA’s. Wasn’t something similar around the Hudson Valley also.
No reverse engineered crafts, no UFO. Just black projects baby!
AzureBelle@reddit
Weird how people would comment about a giant black flying wing over Edwards AFB in 1991, when a B-2 has been based at and tested there as far back as 1989.
Spacebotzero@reddit
It's true. But the size and flight characteristics along with silence of this platform were very different than the B2.
InappropriateSquare6@reddit
No, this doesn’t exist anywhere other than on paper and on internet posts. This was never built. It would’ve been at LEAST 4x heavier than the heaviest aircraft ever built. And like 10x too wide for most runways.
MoeSzyslakMonobrow@reddit
Just that one time? And no one had ever seen it before, or has since?
agha0013@reddit
this thing would probably have been bigger than the phoenix lights.
the wing shape doesn't match, but you could arrange lights any way you want under that massive wing span
JanoJP@reddit
Couldve also been just a part of a huge money laundering scheme
pinkfloyd4ever@reddit
More like a huge money sink! Can you imagine how many millions of dollars this thing would’ve cost per flight hour?
JanoJP@reddit
No. I meant that the government funded for its research, and the result is that ridiculously huge aircraft which seemed illogical
InappropriateSquare6@reddit
Ok…but I don’t understand what that has to do with money laundering.
JanoJP@reddit
Used to funnel money for corrupt stuff. After all, even after 50 years, the funds that went for that is still classified.
cheese_engulfer5000@reddit (OP)
yah
algarhythms@reddit
Human shown for scale in the first pic
FlyingHounds@reddit
From Wikipedia: Crew of 400–845? 182 Vertical-Lift engines to get it into the air? Guess it was the product of an era when 3-Martini lunches and chain-smoking were considered normal. Also mentioned, a third variant besides the airborne aircraft carrier and logistics support craft, that was never made public. Maybe accounts for those triangle-shaped UFOs people have claimed to see……
Agent_of_talon@reddit
Wondering how many tons of cocaine must have been involved in this project...
SlightFresnel@reddit
It's like 4x the weight of an Antonov An-225, if it's payload capacity scaled with weight, it could transport the entire global law enforcement seizure of cocaine per year in just 6 flights, roughly 1,700 tons.
xrelaht@reddit
It was supposed to weigh 5400 tons, 9x as much as a fully loaded 225!
Empire_of_walnuts@reddit
It never got made, so not enough.!
xrelaht@reddit
Your graphics don't do this thing justice cuz there's no sense of scale. A 340m wingspan is almost three times Stratolaunch's, the widest aircraft ever built, and more than a Nimitz class carrier is long! 6000 tons is almost 10x as much as an Antonov 225!
Sha77eredSpiri7@reddit
HAH!! LOOK AT THAT! That third image, i made that one!! That's a screenshot from the game SimplePlanes! That's the replica I made of the CL-1201 from a few years ago, complete with deployable F4 Phantoms! That's so funny, what a cool coincidence.
Radioactive_Tuber57@reddit
I like your C-5A nose better than the diagram. 😎👍
Sha77eredSpiri7@reddit
Ironically I kinda prefer the diagram's look, if I were to remake this aircraft in SP I'd probably follow that design more closely.
Radioactive_Tuber57@reddit
😂👍
cheese_engulfer5000@reddit (OP)
cool
Hourslikeminutes47@reddit
Lockheed is built differently
joshwagstaff13@reddit
You say that like other manufacturers (such as North American Rockwell) weren't also built differently.
bane_iz_missing@reddit
I built one of these in KSP as part of a challenge to do so.
I hated it. It was a terrible plane and it flew like ass.
throwburgeratface@reddit
Imagine the "trauma" this video could've inflicted on the snowflakes had there been racoons in there.
ziper1221@reddit
what
bigloser42@reddit
No one is more fragile than a boomer.
Top_Investment_4599@reddit
As a "beginner" blended wing body, this would've been interesting to see. The current straits the USAF is in as far as transports go and the idea that a BWB plane would be the next-generation of transport is really a reference to this plane. The only problem is that there's no money for developing this in reality. OTOH, all the talk about recreating the C-17 project line is a bit of a joke too. Stuff's going to be expensive all around.