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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1577.PDF
FLIGHT, 2 November 1956 735 ABERPORTH IN ACTION A Visit to a Major British Missile Range LAST week we were permitted to see something of the workunder way at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Aberporth.' This establishment has long been known as the chief British centre for guided-missile flight trials, but its necessarily remotelocation—and, no doubt, Ministry of Supply policy—have so far prevented the establishment from receiving more than localpublicity. The head of the range lies on the Lleyn Peninsula, in Cardigan-shire, where rocket firings have been carried out since 1939. Since 1946 very considerable expansion has taken place, and the com-plete range, which occupies most of Cardigan Bay, is instrumented for experimental firings of both surface- and air-launched missiles. Air-launched missiles are prepared in the contractors' factoriesand flown to the range area on their launching aircraft; a propor- tion of such missiles are also equipped for surface launching. Allsurface-launched weapons and test vehicles are prepared at Aber- porth and, when the booster motors have been added, are testedby missile acceptance officers before going to the launchers. Fur- ther comprehensive tests take place with the missile on thelauncher; and whenever a target drone is involved these checks are particularly rigorous. Drones comprise Firefly U.8s and othertypes of radio-controlled aircraft based at Llanbedr, near the northern end of the range area. As far as possible, the programme for each day is planned inadvance so that range time can be precisely allocated, with all the required instrumentation and facilities brought to bear on eachfiring. The entire range system is monitored from a central control room and emergency stop action can be effected at anymoment. Everything fired on the range eventually comes down in Cardigan Bay, where shipping is almost non-existent. Sur-veillance radar follows all traffic in the area, both on the surface of the sea and in the air, and the dimensions of the range (Caernar-von peninsula is some 80,000 yd to the north) have so far not proved particularly restrictive; in any case, missiles with greaterrange are fired at the much more extensive facility at Woomera. Observation posts with kine-theodolites, radars, Doppler setsand other equipment are situated at various points around Aber- porth and along the coast. Telemetering, timing and other dataare fed to a main instrumentation building at the range-head, range time being governed by a single quartz-controlled masterclock. Target drones are prepared at Llanbedr and flown off under local radar control to an appropriate position over Cardigan Bay.Control is then transferred to Aberporth, who fly the drone in the required pattern while the multiple cameras which it carriesphotograph the miss-distance of the test vehicle or weapon which may be fired at it. Destruction of the target is avoided whereverpossible, and Aberporth surveillance then transfers the machine back to Llanbedr, where it is landed. Should a missile go out of control in the air, special means aretaken to ensure that it never leaves the range area. With test vehicles, it is normal practice to fit break-up charges which severportions of the airframe to create high drag and cause the resulting portions to tumble harmlessly into the sea. Excluding "iron-mongery" such as simple sighting ro;kets, test firings at Aberporth are currently running at the rate of almost 1,000 per year. Thefollowing notes concern the principal items of interest which we were a!lowed to see during our visit. C.R.P.—The Clausen Rolling Platform is a ship-like object floating ina land-locked basin at the foot of the cliffs below the launching area, where it is approached by a cable railway which can carry the largestmissiles on the 11-minute journey from the upper level. The C.P.R. is circular in plan-form and displaces 750 tons. Impulses transmittedfrom "shore" can induce it to roll and pitch, and varying the water- ballast distribution in the keel can result in sea characteristics exactlyequivalent to those of any desired type of warship. On the platform is mounted a large dish radar with associated cameras which can bestabilized either by lock-on or other means. Associated with this radar is a triple launcher which can be constrained to follow the samestabilized bearing and elevation. An Armstrong Whitworth test vehicle was fired for our benefit fromthe centre barrel of the launcher. This was the first major firing of the day, and for the first time we heard the "pips" at 2 min, 1 min, 30 secand 15 sec, and at one-second intervals from ten to zero. At —2 sec the bright flares on the missile were ignited and the launching wassmoothly effected at an angle of some 30 deg. There was a vivid, instantaneous impression of light yellow flame from the outward-toedwrap-round boosters. At burn-out the boosters separated and the missile—which was a simple dart, without guidance—was left to flyballistically, finally to enter the sea many miles out. The thunderous noise of the boosters was reflected from the surrounding hills longafter the time of burn-out, and each motor case made a sharp hiss of steam as it entered the water. RJ.T.V.—Most of the ramjet test vehicles launched in Britain have In this photograph taken recently at Aoerporth (an R.T.V. rocket - motor test vehicle) is being re- fuelled on the launcher. High-test peroxide is the fuel for the sustainer- motor of this particu- lar missile. been fired from Aberporth, and it was from here that one of theN.G.T.E. vehicles—designed and manufactured by Napier—reached its record height before being broken up to prevent it from passingoutside the range area. A Bristol test vehicle, however, was fired on the morning of our visit. Before firing, all that could be seen of the devicewas its pointed nose and the first dozen feet of cylindrical body; an indication that the powerplant was not integral with the body. Launch-ing was carried out conventionally at about 60-deg elevation and, as the wrap-round boosters separated, it was just possible to ascertain the factthat the R.J.T.V. was powered by twin ramjets mounted at the tips of a stubby horizontal wing. The faint exhaust flames continued to be visibleuntil the vehicle entered cloud after two or three seconds' flight. Fireflash.—It was announced that a Hawker Hunter would demon-strate low-altitude launching of Fairey Fireflash air-to-air weapons. This missile, which was described in our issue of September 7(page 437), is in production as an interim training weapon for Fighter Command and forms the main armament of the Swift F.7. It is under-stood that the Hunter will not normally be armed with the Fireflash, and the Fireflash-Hunter recently demonstrated at Farnborough did not,in fact, bear British Service markings. The Hunter seen at Aberporth, however, was a standard Fighter Command machine with the serialnumber XF 310. Watched from the cliff top, some 450ft above the sea, the Hunter'sruns were only some 50ft above our position. The first pass was made at a low speed which emphasized the extremely strong cross-wind thatwas blowing. The wicked-looking black and white Fireflashes were clearly visible under the Hunter's wings. The aircraft then completedthe circuit and approached once more on a northerly course, pointing straight out into Cardigan Bay and losing height at full power whileworking up to Mach 0.9. Directly overhead one of the Fireflashes was fired with a vivid spurt of yellow flame and a fearsome noise from itspaired motors. The latter were quickly blown off and the body of the weapon then curved down to ricochet from the sea about 5,000 ydahead of the aircraft. The aircraft continued to fly straight and level with the remaining Fireflash still in place. (There is no reason tosuppose that the Hunter's gunsight was switched on or that the weapon was under any form of guidance.) On the final run the remainingFireflash was neatly jettisoned, swinging downwards about its rear mounting point and flicking across beneath the aircraft before fallingfree and striking the sea with the boosters still in place. English Electric Vehicle.—The final item was the firing, at an acuteangle, of an English Electric test vehicle of the type illustrated and described in our issue of September 14 last. The sun had long sinceset and the dramatic combination of the darkening sky and the high wind made the firing an unforgettable spectacle. The multiple wrap-round boosts were both blinding and deafening, and the tracking flares enabled the flight of the missile to be followed for many miles as it flewstraight and level at a very great altitude, finally to become lost to sight behind the distant clouds. W. T. G. NEW AIRCRAFT MARKS TT is now permissible to refer to the Gloster Javelin FAW.5•*- twin-Sapphire all-weather fighter. Already in production, this aircraft is not superficially different from the FAW.4 (which intro-duced the all-flying tail). Also in production is the T.3 dual-con- trol variant, which will probably be issued to Javelin squadronsfor service as a checking-out and familiarization machine. Other new marks lately confirmed are Swift F.7, with FaireyFireflash, and Sea Venom FAW.22, a refined two-seat carrier- based machine with a more powerful engine—presumably theGhost 105.
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