Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar by AMP

1/72 scale
Kit No. 72016
Decals: Two versions, both U.S. Air Force (one Boeing and one NASA space craft)
Comments: Engraved panel lines, crisp molding marked by a small amount of flash; includes display stand

History

The Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar was a U.S. Air Force project established in 1957 and intended to put a re-usable “space plane” into space. It was the precursor to what we know today as the Space Shuttle, and had a virtually identical mission profile in terms of its means of achieving escape velocity, Earth orbit, and finally returning to Earth. Unlike the Space Shuttle, it was a purely military program that, until its cancellation, was being developed concurrently with NASA’s Mercury and Gemini manned space flight programs. The X-20 was theoretically intended as a multi-use craft, capable of being tasked with a variety of military missions, including reconnaissance, bombing, space rescue, satellite maintenance, and sabotage of enemy satellites.

Born from Operation Paperclip (and the Nazi plot to launch hypersonic spaceplanes from Europe and bomb New York before landing at Japanese bases in the Pacific), the X-20 program ran from October 1957 until December 1963. Its inception date was hardly random, for it coincided with the very month that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first functional man-made satellite. Sputnik was the reason for the inclusion of “sabotage of enemy satellites” as a potential part of the X-20’s mission profile.

The Dyna-Soar design contract was awarded to Boeing on Nov. 9, 1959, and on June 19, 1962, the Dyna-Soar was designated the X-20.  Designed to be a 35.5-foot (10.8-meter) piloted reusable space vehicle, it had a sharply swept delta 20.4-foot-span (62-meter-span) wing and a graphite and zirconia composite nose cap. It used three retractable struts for landing. Eleven manned flights were planned, all to be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, starting in November 1964. The Dyna-Soar’s first orbital flight was tentatively scheduled for early 1965.

In 1961, the U.S. Air Force contracted with McDonnell Aircraft to build six experimental aerodynamic/elastic structures as environment test vehicles roughly resembling the Dyna-Soar. The scaled-down test vehicles were 5.7 feet (1.7 meters) long and used Douglas-built Thor or Thor-Delta boosters, which in turn used engines built by North American’s Rocketdyne division. The program was very successful and proved that winged re-entry vehicles were capable of traversing the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Unlike the American Mercury or Soviet Vostok space capsules, the X-20 had properties like an aircraft. Designs called for a low-mounted delta wing and a tail-less fuselage with the pilot located in a cockpit behind a slender, tapered nose. Behind him, an equipment bay would carry the payload, either weapons or scientific or reconnaissance equipment — a design feature that the Space Shuttle would copy some 15 years later. The X-20 would fly to space, mounted on booster rockets to achieve escape velocity, as would the Space Shuttle — but instead of a ballistic re-entry arrested by parachute as employed by NASA, the X-20 was to re-enter gracefully, gliding to Earth by using its reinforced under surfaces as a heat shield, finally penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere and landing on a runway.

The X-20 only got as far as the mock-up stage. By late 1963 over $600 million had been spent on its development, and a cadre of astronauts was training to fly it. However, once Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered a review of the program, the U.S. government canceled it on Dec. 10, 1963. The review disclosed the fact that none of the supposed military applications had been developed, and a great deal of money had been spent on the scientific and research aspects alone. It was clear that if the X-20 program was to come to fruition was advertised, it would take a great deal more money than originally envisioned. At that time, it was only viable as a research vehicle, and it was too expensive for such a profile — particularly in light of the expense the government was already undertaking with the manned space flight program, which was intended to culminate in a manned moon landing.

Armed with this information, Congress diverted the X-20 funding to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (which would ultimately become Skylab), using McDonnell-built Gemini capsules. The partially completed X-20 prototype and the mock-up were scrapped as well as initial tooling set up for a production line for 10 space planes. While the X-20 never flew, the data that the program yielded would be resurrected a decade later when NASA turned its attention to the development of a re-usable re-entry vehicles, a type of craft that would become known as the Space Shuttle.

The Kit

AMP’s Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 83 parts. Other than the cockpit, the kit is not terribly detailed, in part because it did not get past the mock-up stage; construction had just begun on the lone prototype when the program was cancelled. The cockpit is rather detailed, with a three-part pilot’s seat, a five-part control yoke, separately mounted rudder pedals and controls for one of the side instrument panels, with a decal for the main instrument panel.

Forward and rear bulkheads are provided, as well as a part for the enlarged windshield/canopy to which additional sidewall instrumentation is to be cemented. Two such parts are provided, with an option to have the roof panel open, allowing a view inside the cockpit. The seven-part rocket engine provides just enough detail for realism. The kit instructions call out Hobby Color or Mr. Hobby paint designations only. A bonus provided by AMP is a small set of masks to assist in painting the windshield. A display stand is included should modelers wish to depict the X-20 in flight.

Markings

The kit markings are by Decograph and include national insignia, a modicum of stencils (“Fuel Vent,” “Beware of Blast,” and one I have never before seen on any kit, “Confidential”), the main instrument panel decal, as well as Boeing and NASA logos for the two U.S. Air Force versions depicted. They are fully in register with realistic color.

Conclusion

A nicely detailed kit of a spacecraft that never flew, but nonetheless played an important role in the history of both space flight and the Cold War. It is a welcome injection molded offering in this scale, since other kits heretofore available have been in cast resin only and cost a pretty penny — a bit more than AMP’s asking price. Highly recommended.

References

www.boeing.com
theblackvault.com
“Boeing’s X-20 Dyna-Soar Was The Air Force’s ‘Spaceplane’ That Never Flew” by Harrison Kass, https://thedebrief.org, June 21, 2021

Left: Artist’s conception of the Boeing X-20 over the Mojave Desert in California, returning from a space flight like a conventional aircraft, with an F-104 Starfighter as escort in the background. At right, the X-20 sits atop a Titan rocket booster assembly awaiting lift off.