jetpunk | It Doesn't Have To Be Right...

2013-11-27
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have, part 21

These posts have always been about the Cold War, but this time it’s a little more explicit – possibly inspired by a couple of programmes which aired recently on the BBC.

early warning

Tupolev Tu-126 ‘Moss’ Airborne Early Warning

Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star Airborne Early Warning

Avro Shacketon AEW.2

DYE-3, one of the US Distant Early Warning line stations in Greenland

A Texas Tower, a US offshore radar facility

HMS Agincourt, a Battle class destroyer after conversion to a radar picket

USS Spinax, a submarine converted to a radar picket

first strike

21_LC-30-Pershing-missile-tactical-erector

A Pershing missile tactical erector and launcher

A Soviet SA-4 Ganef surface-to-air missile system

French Pluton missiles on their transport-erector-launcher platforms

Soviet S-300V, carrying SA-12 Gladiator/Giant air defence missiles

Titan missile base under construction

Titan ICBM

fallout

A fallout shelter

A family-sized economy fallout shelter

A personal bomb shelter

Everything you ever needed to know about fallout shelters

2013-09-25
by iansales Leave a comment

The future we used to have, part 20

I’m supposed to be working hard on finishing Apollo Quartet 3: Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above, so of course I decided to take some time out to hunt down some nice retro-future pictures and post them here, as part of my ongoing project to document a future that just has to be better than the one we ended up with…

air

Lockheed XH-51A

Avro Arrow

Lockheed R6V Constitution

Myasishchev M-50 Bounder

land

Monument, Villa Lobos Park,São Paulo, Brazil

Pirelli Tire Building, New Haven, CT, USA

Government Service Center, Boston, MA, USA

Sainte Marie de la Tourette priory, Lyons, France

“Centipede” apartment building, Moscow, Russia

sea

Lookout Bar aboard SS Oriana

Engine console aboard SS Oriana

Crows Nest bar aboard SS Canberra

Island Room aboard SS Canberra

SS Raffaello

Check out more interiors from classic ocean liners of the 1950s and 1960s here.

Aluminaut submersible

Archimède bathyscaphe

2013-08-03
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The future we used to have, part 19

While we wait for the next Chicxulub meteor to end the experiment we laughingly call “civilisation”, here’s a few of the more aesthetically-pleasing things we’ve managed to produce since we stumbled out of the Rift Valley. I say, “aesthetically-pleasing” because machines expressly designed to kill people in large numbers are not what you would call admirable…

air

Martin P4M Mercator maritime reconnaissance aircraft (1950 – 1960)

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo supersonic jet fighter (1957 – 1972)

sea

SS Canberra (1960 – 1997)

USS Enterprise (1960 – 2012)

land

Stockwell Bus Garage, London (1952)

Trinity United Reform Church, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Fiesta Nightclub, Pond Street Development, Sheffield (1966)

Pond Street Development, Sheffield, seen across bus station (1966)

people

Pierre Cardin fashion

Pierre Cardin fashion

from Star Trek, ‘The Naked Time’. I have no idea what they’re wearing or why they’re inspecting a frozen shop window dummy

from The Solarnauts, an unsold pilot for a UK sf television series

notes

Check out this website for even more fun futuristic fashion, from both designers and media.
And here’s the full pilot of The Solarnauts. It is ace – the credit sequence alone is brilliant.

2013-05-20
by iansales Leave a comment

The future we used to have, part 18

As well as the USSR, USA and UK, many other nations were involved in the Cold War. However, none, it seems, built quite as many aircraft as those three countries. As a result, this “rest of the world” post proved really difficult to put together. The USA and USSR were in a military pissing contest, so it’s no real surprise they manufactured hundreds of different types of aircraft. Britain’s large inventory was a result of the role the country played in World War 2… But few other nations invested quite so much in their own military-industrial complexes, and seemed mostly happy to purchase their military aircraft from the USSR, USA or UK. The following aircraft, however, were all the products of their nation’s aerospace companies. Not all of them ever saw service.

fighters

Avro Arrow
Interceptor prototype
(Canada)

Dassault Mirage G
Swing-wing interceptor prototype
(France)

SNCASO SO.9000 Trident
Interceptor prototype
(France)

EWR VJ-101
Experimental VTOL fighter
(Germany)

Soko/Avioane Craiova JR-22 Orao
Fighter
(Yugoslavia/Romania)

fighter/bombers

Xian JH-7 FBC-1 Flying Leopard
Fighter/bomber
(China)

Dassault Mirage IV
Supersonic strategic bomber
(France)

Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24 Marut
Fighter/bomber
(India)

Fiat G.91
Fighter/bomber
(Italy)

Saab 36
Proposed supersonic bomber
(Sweden)

2013-05-13
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have, part 17

Back in the day, the UK used to have a massive aircraft industry. It was because of the Second World War, of course. We churned out huge numbers of bombers and fighters during those years, but even in the two decades following, there were dozens of aircraft manufacturers in Britain, all bidding on government contracts. Over the years, the various companies merged, amalgamated, or went under, until pretty much all we were left with was British Aerospace. But back in the 1950s and 1960s, when names like Avro, Vickers, Handley Page, de Havilland, Gloster, Supermarine, still meant something, the UK built some iconic military aircraft. Not just the V-Bombers, but also the English Electric Lightning interceptor, the sadly-cancelled TSR.2, or the Canberra – which became the B-57 under licence in the US…

fighters

English Electric Lightning

Gloster Javelin

De Havilland Sea Vixen

Saunders-Roe SR.53

Supermarine Type 508

bombers

Handley Page Victor

Avro Vulcan

English Electric Canberra

BAC TSR.2

Vickers Valiant

The SR.53 was a prototype rocket- and jet-propelled interceptor; only two were built. The Type 508 was also a prototype, and a later version of it, without the butterfly tail, went on to enter service as the Supermarine Scimitar.

2013-05-06
by iansales 2 Comments

The future we used to have, part 16

I did the USSR last week, but now it’s the USA’s turn. The amount of money spent on these aircraft is staggering – far more in total than it cost to put twelve men on the Moon. And yet few of them saw service and even fewer actually saw combat. Despite their capabilities, the technology was far from sophisticated. They pushed the science and engineering of the time as far as it would go, just so they could intercept Soviet bombers before they began dropping bombs, or drop bombs themselves on the enemy without being intercepted. And the only way to do either was to go… higher, faster…

fighters

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

Convair F-106 Delta Dart

North American XF-108 Rapier

Convair F2Y Sea Dart

Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer

bombers

North American A-5 Vigilante

Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster

Convair XB-46

Martin XB-51

Convair YB-60

Of the fighters, only the F-101 and F-106 ever flew with USAF. The F-101 was also flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The North American A-5 Vigilante was based on the cancelled XF-108, but rather than a Mach 3 interceptor it was a carrier-based Mach 2 bomber. The Convair XB-46 was built for a medium jet bomber competition, but lost out to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. The Martin XB-51 was built for a low-level bomber competition, but lost out to the Martin B-57, a license-built version of the English Electric Canberra. The Convair YB-60 was an attempt to extend the operational life of Convair B-36 Peacemakers by giving them swept wings and all-jet propulsion. USAF instead chose to use the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

2013-04-27
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have, part 15

One of the things we used to have was the USSR, which meant we also had the Cold War. That gave us “the three-minute warning”, fallout shelters, Mutually Assured Destruction, vast military-industrial complexes, spies and defectors and assassinations, and all manner of political posturing that nowadays all looks a bit farcical but was quite scary at the time. It also gave us some very effective-looking military aircraft. On both sides. Here are some Soviet ones.

fighters

Mikoyan Mig-21’Fishbed’
(source: militarywallpapers.com)

Mikoyan MiG-25PU ‘Foxbat-C’ trainer
(source:militaryphotos.net)

Sukhoi Su-15 ‘Flagon’
(source: Wikipedia)

Tupolev Tu-28 ‘Fiddler’

Yakovlev Yak-28 ‘Maestro’

bombers

Myasishchev M-4 ‘Bison’
(source: valka.cz)

Myasishchev M-50 ‘Bounder’
(source: testpilot.ru)

Sukhoi T-4

Tupolev Tu-16 ‘Badger’
(source: Wikipedia)

Tupolev Tu-22 ‘Blinder’
(source: airliners.net)

The Tupolev Tu-28 was, and remains, the largest and heaviest fighter ever to see service. The Myasishchev M-50 was a prototype – only one was ever built. A second prototype, designated M-52, was built but never flew. The Sukhoi T-4 was also a prototype, and was never given a NATO reporting name.

2013-03-25
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have, part 14

This time last year it was warm and sunny. This year, it is not. It’s the end of March, it’s freezing cold and there’s snow on the ground. It’s supposed to be spring, dammit. Let’s have some appropriate weather, please. Meanwhile, here’s some pictures to look at:

air

Proposed design for a nuclear plane – the detachable pod is the reactor

Nuclear bomb delivery mechanisms – an illustration from Life Magazine

A proposed delta-winged version of the North American X-15

The Sukhoi T-4 supersonic bomber – it never entered service

space

Spacesuits from Soviet sf classic, Планета Бур (Planeta Bur, 1962)

Spacesuits from The Phantom Planet (1961)

Brightly-coloured spacesuits from Moon Zero Two (1969)

Spacesuits from Мечте навстречу (Mechte Navstrechu, 1963)

Gordon Cooper

Yuri Gagarin

land
(places I’ve known)

Idlewells Precinct, Sutton in Ashfield (the pyramid in the background gives access to the underground car park)

Kelvin Flats, Sheffield (I worked on their refurbishment for the 1991 World Student Games; they were knocked down in 1993)

Park Hill Flats, Sheffield (they are currently being refurbished)

Coventry University (my alma mater)

Coventry Cathedral in 1962

Castle Market, Sheffield

Castle Market, Sheffield (it’s now run-down and in sore need of refurbishment)

2013-03-20
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have, part 13

I’ve not done one of these for a while, and since it looks miserable and grim outside – and I don’t just mean the weather – it must be about time I did another one. So here’s some retro-futurism:

buildings
(the following were taken from the excellent tumblr site Fuck Yeah Brutalism)

House of the architect, Casablanca, Morocco, 1960s

Hotel Ashkhabad, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 1969

Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami, Florida, 1972

Pavilion of the City of Casablanca, International Fair of Casablanca, Morocco, 1960

Technical College, Busto Arsizio, Italy, 1963-64

air

Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya (‘Cleat’)

1970s proposed first class lounge aboard an airliner

13_air_Seamonsters_of_the_Navy_03012012_3_GALL

Martin P6M SeaMaster

Yakovlev Yak-28PP ‘Brewer-E’

cinema
(a few posters from 1960s sf films, taken from Wrong Side of the Art)

I suspect those pressure suits wouldn’t keep the 12 alive for long

13_cinema_battle_in_outer_space_poster_02

NASA might be a bit upset their X-15s are being used to battle aliens in outer space

The hero is apparently using the female star as a human shield – that’s not very heroic behaviour

Even on the Moon, women can wear bikinis

Although apparently not everything, such as ride motorbikes with big spikes on the front

fashion

It is important that some, if not all, of your outfit is colour-coordinated with the giant computer brain

13_fashion_1969 CLAIROL vintage ADVERTISEMENT women health and beauty NEW YORK CITY Central Park 1960s Bubble Photo

A 1969 Clairol advert, aparently – and no, I don’t understand why they’re in a giant transparent ball above a park, either

Pacific Southwest Airlines flight attendants – normally, they flew inside the aircraft with the passengers

Back in the 1960s, the CIA was only just figuring out how to use waterboarding

2012-10-15
by iansales 1 Comment

The future we used to have – special 5

This has been the most difficult of these specials to put together, chiefly because many of the really cool spacecraft proposals of the 1970s and earlier never got beyond a few drawings. Science fiction is filled with spacecraft and spaceships, but most of them work using magic science and technology. Serious attempts at either reaching orbit cheaply and easily or travelling further than Low Earth Orbit are few and far between. To date, only eight crewed spacecraft have ever reached orbit or beyond – Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle and Shenzhou. A further twelve are in development or have been proposed.

There have been numerous plans in the past to expand on existing space programmes, or start up new ones. Some were by the military, others were civilian, and some proposals came from aerospace manufacturers. Of the ten space craft below, only two have flown in orbit and another two ever left the ground. Most never made it off the drawing-board. At least one of them I suspect was never intended seriously, although if you look online you can find models of it. Only one is still flying, and two went on to found follow-up projects which are currently ongoing.

Apollo Command/Service Module
Orbital and cislunar spacecraft (USA)
crew 3
mass 30,332 kg
payload n/a
proposed 1961
status flew 15 crewed missions

Hyperion SSTO
Proposed Single-Stage-to-Orbit launch vehicle (USA)
crew unknown
mass 470,000 kg
payload 18,100 kg
proposed 1968
status study only

Soyuz
Orbital spacecraft (USSR/Russia)
crew 3
mass 7,150 kg
payload n/a
proposed 1963
status still flying

Boeing X-20 Dynasoar
Orbital spaceplane (USA)
crew 1
mass 5,165 kg
payload n/a
proposed 1957
status cancelled after mock-up was built

Mikoyan Spiral 50-50
Orbital spaceplane and launch aircraft (USSR)
crew 1
mass 115,000 kg
payload unknown
proposed 1960
status cancelled in 1978 after single subsonic test article built and flown

HOTOL
Proposed Single-Stage-to-Orbit launch vehicle (GB)
crew unmanned
mass 250,000 kg
payload 8,000 kg
proposed 1982
status government funding withdrawn in 1988, restarted privately as Skylon

Northrop HL-10
Lifting Body research aircraft (USA)
crew 1
mass 2,721 kg
payload n/a
proposed 1966
status flew 37 test flights but never reached higher than 26,726 m altitude

Project Aldebaran
Proposed Single-Stage-to-Orbit launch vehicle (USA)
crew unknown
mass 50,000,000 kg
payload 27,000,000 kg
proposed 1965
status appeared in the book Beyond Tomorrow by Dandridge Cole (1965, Amherst Press)

Project Daedalus
Interstellar probe (GB)
crew none
mass 1st stage 1,690,000 kg, 2nd stage 980,000,000 kg
payload 450,000,000 kg
proposed 1973
status a new study, Project Icarus, for a crewed version is currently underway

Project Orion
Proposed Nuclear-propelled Single-Stage-to-Orbit launch vehicle (USA)
crew unknown
mass 800,000 kg
payload 300,000 kg
proposed 1958
status study only

It Doesn't Have To Be Right…

… it just has to sound plausible

Category Archives: jetpunk

The future we used to have, part 21

The future we used to have, part 20

The future we used to have, part 19

The future we used to have, part 18

The future we used to have, part 17

The future we used to have, part 16

The future we used to have, part 15

The future we used to have, part 14

The future we used to have, part 13

The future we used to have – special 5