Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
tomcat wrote:

[snip]

It is the savings in 'Volume', not weight, that is so important. You
can only make a waverider so big.

Are you planning on using this engine for propulsion during the
waverider's flight? If so, leave the oxygen (or most of it) behind and
use an air breathing engine. You only need the O2 above the atmosphere.

If you are using the waverider for re-entry (like the space shuttle) and
launching with a rocket, then its weight that matters. Particularly if
you can use a multi-stage vehicle, volume isn't nearly as important as
weight.

--
Paul Hovnanian
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Waveriders have to be aerodynamic. If they are too big then they are
apt to have too much drag. In short, they are 'flying gas cans' that
have to be shaped for hypersonic speeds within the atmosphere.

Waveriders, on the other hand, use air pressure underneath the vehicle
to hold the weight. They can be heavier per thrust amount than can a
vertical rise rocket.


tomcat