The first object is the Aircraft Development Corporation ZMC-2 "Tin Bubble," the only metalclad blimp ever built. It was first flown in 1929 and flew safely for over ten years. The aluminum and duraluminum envelope was sealed using both rivets and a sealing compound that made it gas-tight so that it did not need internal balloons. The ZMC-2 was oddly shaped for a blimp, being rather teardrop-shaped, and had eight small stabilizer fins, four of which had rudders. It was a sub-scale test vehicle and many considered it to be very successful, but the company that built it didn't weather the Depression very well and by the time a successor might have been built, there was not much interest in pursuing it. The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society webpage, at www.nlhs.com/airport.htm, has an interesting picture about 2/3 way down the page, of the ZMC-2 nestled under the nose of the zeppelin Hindenburg, as both rest inside a hanger. Click on it to see a larger version of the picture.
A very clear picture of the ZMC-2 can also be found at the bottom of the pdf document at www.history.navy.mil/download/lta-05.pdf.
As a digression, another Navy Lakehurst Historical Society webpage has one of the most dramatic lighter-than-air pictures ever made involving the USS Los Angeles and the infamous "High Mast". You can see it at www.nlhs.com/images/la-album/la18.jpg.
People who like airplanes often have their favorites. The early biplanes, the F-15 Eagle, the F-117 Nighthawk, the B-1B Lancer, the B-2 Spirit, the X-15 - even the A-10 Thunderbolt II/"Warthog" has its fans. I think that the next object, one of the largest and most powerful jets ever built, while odd looking, might be the most beautiful airplane ever built. The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was designed as a Mach 3+ high-altitude bomber, but was only used for testing purposes. It is the largest experimental plane ever built, although it is smaller than the largest modern commercial planes. Two Valkyries were built; one crashed on June 8, 1996, in an unfortunate collision with one of its chase planes on a "mission" to get promotional photographs for General Electric. The surviving plane can be found on display in the US Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton. I'll mention two Valkyrie sites: the first is "001 - The Flight of the Valkyrie" at www.labiker.org/xb70.html. This site has a large number of very nice photos, and also has a great detailed history of the plane. The other site is the Dryden Flight Research Center's XB-70 photo collection at www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/XB-70/. You can also find some movies of the XB-70 here if you poke around a bit.
Another digression: there are rumors of the existence of a "Super Valkyrie," also known as the "Brilliant Buzzard," or the "Mothership," that began to be reported in the early 1990s. Some descriptions of this plane imply a hybrid between the Valkyrie and the space shuttle. Researching the possible existence of this aircraft might be a very interesting rainy day web project. Try looking for the "Aurora," too, which may be an alias, or a somewhat different Air Force black project.
The last of the obscure flying objects is very recent. I first found out about J002E3 when I was scanning the X-Zone Radio Show's News of the Paranormal, Strange and Bizarre page. A story dated September 15 entitled "Mystery Object in High Earth Orbit?" caught my eye. You can find it at www.xzone-radio.com/strange_news/strange_195.htm. It turns out that the original source of the article was Sky and Telescope magazine, a reliable source. An unidentified 16th magnitude object was discovered in a telescopic survey on September 3rd by Bill Yeung in Benson, Arizona. It was first thought to be a minor planet, but this designation was cancelled when it was discovered to be orbiting the Earth and not the sun, with a 50 day orbital period. It was not known to be an artificial object, and had to be of recent origin, since an object of this brightness could not long evade the hordes of telescopes scanning the skies. I'll let you investigate the mystery; do a little search for J002E3 to find out the latest information about the object, including a hypothesis of what it is and what is expected to happen to it. Here's a teaser: it isn't expected to be around for long, but it is expected to be back.
One final digression: while I was looking for pictures of the ZMG-2, I found a computer drawing of it at www.x-plane.org/Detailed/1389.shtml. www.x-plane.org looks to be an aircraft simulator site that lets aircraft buffs design and submit their own planes, real or fantasy, for downloading. The ZMG-2 picture isn't very good, but the Valkyrie picture, at www.x-plane.org/Detailed/2210.shtml, is very nicely done. I don't know much more about the simulator, other than it seems to emphasize realistic aircraft behavior, at least for real-world designs. It also appears to have FAA approval for those wishing to pursue instrument, commercial and airline transport certification. You might want to check it out.
CATBAR - Brain Candy #63 - Obscure Flying Objects / Brian Rock / Oct 22 2002
