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The Story......so far

...........It is funny how an idea can come and go. From that point where the seed of the ..idea is first planted through development, and then to first try out. The Idea can at stages fade away, finding it self placed on the back burner, waiting for a time when it can again see the light of day, and be relevant again. Broadsword has been through such a journey.

..........The 'Eureka' moment for Broadsword came on a journey down the M6 Motorway in England, very, very early one May morning as I drove the Team 'Th'Alfa Racing ' Bedford CF. Alfa Sud on trailer, to a Round of the Monroe Shock Absorbers Production Saloon Car Championship 1980, at Brands Hatch.

...Birmingham was behind us and we where on a very dark stretch of Motorway heading for the M1. At 2.30am no other cars shared this section of road. The rest of the team slept. It was very clear with no light pollution from any of the distant town so the night sky was also very clear. Stars visible over the horizon. Driving at a very steady 60mph the van was fairly quiet.

.............."Wouldn't it be great?" I thought to my self, "If I could just throttle up. Retract the wheels, and head for the sky and ultimately Space."

...............A fanciful idea really but sitting in that Old Bedford it was not hard to imagine a craft of roughly this size. The cockpit area did not need to be much bigger than the vans. Suitable area was available to the rear for the rest of the crew. All the reaction control systems could sit where the engine was and supply lines to the jets could occupy the area of the running gear. The main drive engine would sit where the Trailer was. But equally it could sit behind the trailer leaving this area free for special equipment.

...............Could it be done? Could such a craft be built? and to what function?

...............The seed was planted, and what would ultimately be an Independent Manned Multi-Purpose Spacecraft, soon to be called Broadsword, was born.

...............The events of the day, a Spin and Third place put the idea in file somewhere in the mind. The commitment to car racing over the next two years, almost blotted out the idea and it was possible the idea could have faded away completely. It however did not, an old recorded interview with Science Fiction writer Brian Aldis was to revive the idea. During the interview Mr. Aldis referred to the Apollo 11 Lunar module as a Model 'T' Ford type of Spacecraft, with reference to its spindly look. This was not a true description, if any thing the 'Eagle' LM was more a kin to a 1910 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Low volume, expensive, exclusive, and purpose built. A model 'T' Ford spacecraft would have many purposes and be low cost, inexpensive to run, easily maintained and mass produced.

................Question. The Eagle was not a Model 'T', but could that idea I had, for a small spacecraft, fill that role? A space craft Model 'T' or updated, a Bedford CF or Ford Transit of Space (GMC Safari Cargo class). This time the idea returned and this time it was committed to paper. White Van Man in Space.

................How the idea finally became the concept of Broadsword is covered in the Chapter Concept & Design.

................After many designs had evolved to a stage that I felt I could no longer pursue the idea alone, I decided to seek help. Who from? Well the best of the best, Rockwell International, Shuttle Orbiter Division. Now I was hoping for a response and a response was what I certainly got, being invited down to meet their Divisional Vice-President at the Paris Air Show 1983. And to their cerdit they gave me a good hearing, however I was left with a feeling that was to be repeated time and time again the more I pursued Broadsword. British Aerospace, and the British Interplanetary Society further underlined this. A real Catch 22. Oh by the way NASA never replied ever.

................I have a basic concept for a Space Craft. I need help taking it further. The professional bodies and interested parties would like for their part a completed version of the concept before they will comment on it! They wanted Delta vector calculations; they wanted to know fuel consumption, weight, method of manufacture, means of deployment. anon, anon, anon.

"Yes but so do I ! "

The Catch 22 was I had to supply them with the information I was asking them to help me with.

................This should have blown Broadsword right out of the water, Should have! Indeed the the events of Challenger had erased one major method of deployment. Zero investment in any other means of deployment gave limited options. Investment in the new Space Station also reduced options for the craft. To quote one comment from the Paris Air Show meeting.

'Broadsword is at least 50years too early.'

................But the idea just did not go away, indeed the concept has continued to develop waiting for another opportunity to present it self.

...............And that opportunity is now I believe on the horizon once again, in the shape this time, of The X-Prize and its contestants, all sharing the goal to put a commercial space craft into space.

................Now, new businesses are blossoming bringing with them new and varied means of deployment, new methods of supplying and operating Broadsword now look likely, but most importantly new vision, a new type of space industry willing to look at space travel through new eyes. Looking for new opertunities.

...............This drive, attitude and approach to space, has had the effect of reinvigorating Broadswords potential, inspiring me to revisit the concept and to continue with my goal to see at last, an Independent Manned Multi-Purpose Space Craft based on my concept of Broadsword. This last revisit resulted in another improvement and stage in evolution from Broadsword 4 to 5.

...............So what now?

...............Broadsword now needs help guidance and advice. It needs Engineers, Designers, Backers, Marketing and Finance.

...............I believe in Broadsword 5 as the next step to the success that will soon bless X-Prize.

WILL YOU?

...............I think you will....

..........Watch This Space....