The Conroy Virtus was a proposed American large transport aircraft intended to carry the Space Shuttle. Designed, beginning in 1974, by John M. Conroy of the Turbo-Three Corporation, it was to incorporate a pair of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress fuselages to form a new craft using existing parts for cost-savings.
source.image: Found And Explained
General characteristics
- Wingspan: 450 ft (140 m)
- Wing area: 22,166 sq ft (2,059.3 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 9
- Max takeoff weight: 850,000 lb (385,554 kg)
- Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney JT9D-3A high-bypass
- turbofans, 45,800 lbf (204 kN) thrust each
While the project was seriously considered, it proved impractically large and NASA chose to develop the Boeing 747–based Shuttle Carrier from surplus commercial aircraft instead. Expected to cost US$12.5 million each (equivalent to $60.1 million in 2023), Virtus was a twin-fuselage design powered by four large jet engines; it was intended for these to be Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans.
Conroy proposed extensive use of ‘off the shelf’ military parts in the design to reduce costs; this included the use of fuselages from Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers to form the aircraft’s main fuselage pods, added to a new wing and tail section. The Space Shuttle Orbiter would be carried under the center section of the Virtus aircraft’s wing, between the fuselages; other large cargoes, including the Space Shuttle external tank, the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters, or dedicated cargo pods, could be alternatively carried.
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The Virtus design was tested in the NASA Langley wind tunnel; while the results of the wind tunnel tests were considered promising, the drawbacks of such a large design, including the cost of developing an entirely new aircraft, flight testing the design and the sheer size of the aircraft requiring the development and/or expansion of infrastructure to support it, militated against further development of Virtus.
