On Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:13:49 -0800, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:

As any true aviator (helicopter pilot) knows the first flight on another
world will be by the premier of all aircraft, the helicopter.

Mankind's magic carpet.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/s...pter-nasa.html

Yep, heard about it, but thanks for posting that URL. It will be
interesting to see how well it does on RealMars (TM). In Martian
conditions a helicopter makes more sense than a powered plane or glider
because it should have a much lower landing speed.

BTW, the Aurora ARES design had an inverted V tail on twin booms to keep
the stabiliser clear of exhaust from a rocket unit mounted on the centre
line at the wing's TE) - a common design in the S-8P rocket glider RC
competition class which, oddly enough, Bob Parks competes in with his own-
design models.


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Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org