Space Elevator

"pacplyer" wrote

If the tow line is long enough, the sag will have the pull vector
at the tug nearly horizontal.

Man, you're full of all kinds of good news. So the Russian AN-124
with dual tails may be better suited to prevent cable/tail fouling
after all.

pacplyer

I figured on a split tail, all along. Need more tail for stability, anyway,
for when orbit 1 is piggyback, plus when slingshot starts, we want plenty of
positive yaw margin, as the line starts jerking the tow plane all over the
sky. Spins suck, and plenty of rudder will help to pick up that low wing.

That's the beauty, though. We can slap bigger engines on, and chop tail off
and make separate tails, cause the whole thing is going to be
EXPERIMENTAL!!! All we gotta do is convince the FAA that the thing is
airworthy, then go play.

Can we sacrifice a little weight on the tow, and put a section of the roof
with explosive chord, and some ejection seats? I think I might want to
leave with my jumpseat, if things head the wrong way! g
--
Jim in NC


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