Block II Shuttle - Air Brake?

[G'th]

So a lot of us are probably familiar with this:



The Block II Shuttle from yesteryear (that Pak is currently making a KSP reality).  But something I wonder is where the air brake would be at on this. Doing split rudder again (except two of them) could work but that seems strange to me. I thought of a brake flush on the wings or the body (in place of the original tail) which would make more sense, but this particular image (nor any of the official images of this concept) really make a point of showing how that'd work out.

So what do you guy's think?

[Exploro]

The  rudders on each of wing tips would angle out into the airstream to serve as a speed brake; much like rudders on the F-22 do.

[G'th]

1 hour ago, Exploro said:

The  rudders on each of wing tips would angle out into the airstream to serve as a speed brake; much like rudders on the F-22 do.

Ahh ha indeed. Very interesting. 

[LordFerret]

6 hours ago, G'th said:

So what do you guy's think?

I think I've always found an annoyance in the fact that KSP's shuttle tail (rudder) does not open in the manner the real shuttle did... one side or the other doesn't quite cut it in my builds.

[bonyetty]

You can clip 2 tails and reverse the action of one. Assign to an action group and bingo, split tail air brake. 

[B-STRK]

8 hours ago, Exploro said:

The  rudders on each of wing tips would angle out into the airstream to serve as a speed brake; much like rudders on the F-22 do.

I often wondered how the canted tail fins get around that, considering that it induces pitch up along with drag. Then again, I also recall some wing spoilers inducing the same pitch up tendency (though probably slighter). Would the elevator couple with a pitch down to neutralize it?

[p1t1o]

Can think of several answers.

-they could rely on other forms of braking (chute, wheel brakes) especially if the structure is lighter.

-the elevons and/or ailerons could double as air brakes (pitch up moment countered by canards, this also has the effect of increasing the weight on the wheels, increasing brake effectiveness there too.) see pic below.

-gear doors could double as air brakes (cant recall where but I have seen at least one aircraft which uses this)

-the design was never mature enough, they were never added (or they were, you just cant see them on any published material)

-what @Exploro said

 

Gripen on touchdown, note deflection of canards and wing surfaces - you can also see how the weight on wheel is increased, by the compressed nosewheel):

[Exploro]

Greetings B-STRK. I imagine any pitching moments caused by using rudders as speed brakes are actively compensated for by the fighter's flight control computers.

p1t1o; I think you have the F-111 in mind. Its nose gear door doubled as the speed brake.