Dyna-Soar

Dyna-Soar: Hypersonic Strategic WeaponsThe X-20 Dynasoar (Dynamic Soaring) was a single-pilot manned spaceplane, really the earliest American manned space project to result in fabrication of hardware. It evolved from the German Sanger-Bredt Silverbird intercontinental skip-glide rocket bomber. Dornberger, former head of Peendmuende, was at Bell Aircraft in the 1950's and developed the Sanger-Bredt concept through various iterations (BOMI and HYFLEX).In typical Pentagon fashion the final development contract went instead to Boeing. It went through many confusing incarnations and changes in purpose (manned space bomber, reconnaisance platform, high speed test vehicle), with the launch vehicles at various times including Titan I, Titan II, Saturn I, and finally Titan IIIC. Cancellation on December 10 1963 came only eight months before drop tests from a B-52 and a first manned flight in 1964.The Dynasoar itself would have been developed into Dynasoar II, III, and Dyna-MOWS (Manned Orbital Weapons System) versions which would have run the gamut of orbital supply, rendezvous and inspection, and orbital bombing. The basic single pilot X-20A Dynasoar had a limited internal payload and volume (450 kg in a payload bay behind the cockpit, enough for another crew member or used for military/scientific payloads)Features and Reviews:". . . a matchless compendium . . ."� "Modelers will value the book"™s extraordinary X-20 vehicle details: scale drawings, dimensions, and photographs."� " . . . does superb justice to one of aerospace history"™s great "what ifs"�."� - HyperScale.com". . . a treasure trove of material that provides the closest thing anyone today can get to an inside view of the project."� - IEEE Spectrum"...a great account of one of the most fascinating space projects that never flew."� - Andrew Chaikin "“ author of A Man on the MoonPaperback: 448 pages Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc; Pap/DVD edition (July 1, 2003) Language: English Book Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.9 x 1 inches