Back in the Apollo program Hiller Aircraft proposed catching the entire 1st stage of the Saturn V under a giant helicopter. They called it the Rotary Wing System for Booster Recovery.The rotor diameter would be over 120 meters (400 feet). Empty weight would be over 200,000 kilograms (450,000 pounds), with a useful load of nearly 250,000 kilograms (550,000 pounds)for a gross weight of a whopping 453,000 kilograms (1,000,000 pounds) With internal and external fuel tanks the helicopter would be capable of loitering in the recovery area for up to six hours Epic Unease by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...Artist: http://incompetech.com/
Premiered Apr 9, 2022Don't miss an episode! Subscribe today!3d Model here: https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/ai...A giant helicopter with a rotor diameter bigger than the length of a football field. It would be capable not only of transporting a Saturn five S-1C first stage to the launch site - but of actually catching it in midair as it fell on a parachute - ready to be reused. This is one of the biggest mind-boggling space concepts that was never built - developing a reusable rocket technology - but in the 60s. Today on our new space channel, we will be covering one of my favorite yet unknown insane plans: the Hillers Air Tug, an aircraft built to play catch with a moon rocket. It was monstrous huge, with a rotor diameter over 400 feet, or 120 meters for our European friends. These rotors would have jet engines on the tips, which would allow them to make one rotation per second—which is very fast for something so wide. But I'll get to the physics problem in just a second. The vast engine would be situated vertically in its rotor stem, and it would have two curving sides to help stabilize the rocket in flight. This size would have a huge eight of 450,000 pounds (200,000 kilograms) and, with its huge rotors, be able to carry 550,000 pounds (250,000 kilograms)—a total gross weight of 1 million pounds for those playing along at home—impressive indeed. According to Hiller, it was technically not a helicopter but rather a Rotary Wing System for Booster Recovery. But if it looks like a helicopter and sounds like a helicopter—and it does —then it is, with the added nickname the Air Tug.The helicopter design, of course, made it also available for other operations It goes well beyond simple booster recovery, operating as a sky crane or aerial cargo transport in the military and civil markets. Perhaps this helicopter would have gotten revenge for the hillers contract loss to the Hughes OH-6A Cay-use helicopter to the army, a light scout helicoper used throughout the vietnam war. So... how exactly did this helicopter, or flying tug boat, - catch - a rocket in midflight... well hold on, because this ride is about to get real bumpy - yee ha!When the rocket was fired, the helicopter took to the skies from a nearby airbase. It flew to the zone where the booster, the S-1C, would land and loitered in the area for up to six hours with its large fuel tanks, hovering at around 15,000 to 20,000 feet (4,500–6,000 meters). When the booster separated and began its decent, it would deploy a sort of double tandem parachute; the upper section would have a hook. The air tug would approach the descending rocket and meet it at around 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). At this point, the rocket would be descending along a glide path with more forward than downward velocity, making it perfect for intercepting by the helicopter. The Air Tug would fly the same glide path, matching the speed and trajectory. It would deploy a grabbling hook, and with help from a viewing platform on the side, it would snag the upper parachute or pickup chute. Then, the helicopter slowly slowed its descent, taking on more of the booster's weight, and centered the rocket directly underneath it, assuming the same center of gravity. Once it was sufficiently slow and the helicopter was carrying the full load, the booster's parachutes deflated, and the fuselage suspended 700 feet below the helicopter. If the first pass was unsuccessful, sufficient time would remain for two more attempts before the booster was too near the ocean's surface for another try.But it's not over there. The helicopter would then reel in the booster using its powerful winch, which, again, was onboard somewhere. The winch would rotate the booster horizontally under the helicopter's U-shaped fuselage, fitting snuggly and more aerodynamically sound. The air tug would then return to base, where the booster would be prepped for another launch or other operations. As expensive as such a helicopter would have been at the time to develop, the huge aircraft would have paid for itself with the first several recoveries.It was so simple in theory, but there was one major flaw with the concept.
That Escape Velocity channel appears to have only been active for a year, producing only a dozen videos. Too bad, because it had some neat stuff:https://www.youtube.com/@escapevelocity6696/videos
I don't know if he had permission to use the animations. If not, then he should not have produced them. If he did have permission, then good for him.
