That is ... gorgeous!
BTW, I agree with what Coolhand said: Within certain parameters, Mother Nature is the designer, so proper solutions to engineering and design problems end up converging on just a few zones in the over-all "solution space." What Coolhand has done here is internalize the recent hypersonic R&D that's been going on, and then apply a real artist's inspiration to it.
Thanks Greg, quite honestly i'd totally forgotten you'd built the hyper-wedge - you've built so many cool ships. i think it's interesting to see what the differences are between the designs, like how we've both got variable geometry wings but yours flip down, mine swing out.
Doug, 7's my lucky number:beach:
have you seen the swing wings? i've taken them out for the time being to rebuild the wing but they will come back.
For vertical takeoff, i was thinking that it won't be able to takeoff vertically at all, on earth.. however relatively low powered engines near the bow, combined with the rear rockets being able to rotate 90 degrees to point down should enable vertical takeoff and landing on the moon.
The ships low vertical thrust power combined with it's weight would make a lunar landing very tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Assuming the rotating main engines could be made to work. it would also make it a tricky challenge to switch from vertical thrust to forwards flight... Obviously it also introduces challenges in control and coding design that might be difficult to overcome so i'm interested in what you think about that.