FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0326.PDF
342 FLIGHT Test Vehicle Development VARIANTS OF THE SHORT G.P.V. Short general-purpose vehicle under test on the M.o.S. Aberparth range. The eight boost motors are burning. •SHORT ROUND'-COLD SHORT ROUND"-HOT El SHORT ROUND -C CONTROL •LONG ROUND -COLD M2 / Yl C2 D1 V || \ D2 LONG ROUND'-HOT N \ Yl O D2 •RECOVERY ROUND' THE Short general-purpose vehicle is, as its name implies,a missile of unusual versatility. This is a virtue particularlycommendable at the present time. The use of one missile for a variety of purposes, notably for research to provide data for allBritish firms working on guided weapons, in some ways reflects the broader fundamental principle now being applied to theaviation industry generally. Research with the Short G.P.V. has actually been conducted on this basis for several years. Until now, no detailed account has been given of the way inwhich the missile has been progressively developed, through a series of variants, for successive phases of research. These variantshave included a number of "cold" rounds, that is, missiles having no sustainer motor but being capable of travelling far enoughduring and after the boost phase to prove aerodynamic performance. Shorts' work on the G.P.V. dates from the time when, initiallyin collaboration with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, the com- pany took over development of the already advanced R.T.V.2.In order to reduce production costs Shorts undertook, as one of the first tasks, a complete redesign of the structure while retainingthe existing configuration. Among the uses to which the G.P.V. was to be applied was the testing of various forms of tankage, andfor this reason it was essential to use a centre-body that did not form an integral part of the tankage system, as was the case inR.T.V.2. In addition, sufficient space was provided for a blast tube at the rear of the round, thus providing for the installationof a "solid" sustainer motor should this be decided on at a later date. The first rounds, which employed an actuator similar to that ofthe R.T.V.2, were used mainly for strength tests, and results achieved with rounds programmed to give maximum accelerationsshowed that a degree of strengthening was in fact necessary. This was effected by the introduction of steel strips or "corsets," asshown in the first drawing in the accompanying illustrations. They proved effective and were retained in the next two variants. (Therounds illustrated, it should be noted, are the principal versions and are themselves capable of break-down into other variants.) The next step was to introduce a propulsion system in whichthe method of tankage was changed from that used in R.T.V.2 to incorporate a number of reversible plastic bags. Here the maindifficulty was to ensure compatibility with the use of high-test peroxide and to prevent the centre of gravity from changingduring expulsion of fuel by high-pressure nitrogen containers. At about this time it was found that the original actuator didnot possess the degree of movement necessary for the desired manoeuvrability. A new type was under development, but as aninterim measure a version based largely on the early actuator (though capable of greater movement) was introduced. As withprevious rounds, pressure for oil expulsion to work the hydraulic control system was supplied by a cordite charge, and it was alsoduring this period that first flight-tests were made on a radome of the kind envisaged for later guidance-trials. In a third main variant, the interim actuator was replaced bya newly developed hydraulic actuator designed by R.A.E. and manufactured by H. M. Hobson, Ltd. The casting for the actuator Progressive development of Short G.P.V. through a series of variants. A, break-up plastic explosive; B, ballast; Cl, A-type actuator; C2, B-type actuator; C3, C-type actuator; Dl, A-type telemetry; D2, B-type telemetry; El, A-type motor; E2, B-type motor; F, cordite oil expulsion; G, radome; H, nitrogen containers for fuel expulsion; J, break-up Cordtex; K, bog tanks; L, oil-system nitrogen container; Ml, seven-tube tankage; M2, dummy seven- tube tankage; N, missile tracking system; O, alternator; P, Elliott homing head; Q, buoyancy bag; Rl, first-stage parachutes; R2, second-stage parachutes.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
