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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0078.PDF
76 FLIGHT, 20 January 1961 These photographs taken at Boeing's Wichita plant appeor to show a version of Skybolt earlier than that illustrated on page 44 last week. On the right is the mock-up of the B-52H installation discussed on this page; above is part of the aircraft itself, showing the difference in chord between the two sets of Skybolt fins, and what appear to be star-trackers immediately ahead of the pylon fairings. The nosecones appear to have an included angle midway between those on the right and those illustrated last week Missiles and Spaceflight SKYBOLT'S CONFIGURATION On page 44 last week we reproduced a photograph, taken inBoeing's Wichita plant, illustrating the mock-up of the port twin- Skybolt installation beneath the port wing of the B-52H. Thepicture had been radioed, and was thus of comparatively poor quality. We have since received a USAF photograph, releasedby the Department of Defense, of much superior quality, and it is reproduced on the right above. Less obvious than the fact the two photographs are taken fromslightly different viewpoints is the conclusion that they actually show different development stages, reflected in superficial changesin the missile's appearance. Oddly, the new picture was almost certainly taken earlier thanthat published last week. Each nosecone has an included angle of about 30° and a tip radius of about 6in. Both first-stage andsecond-stage motor cases have sections in which the diameter appears to be approximately lin greater, and both sections arebridged by instrumentation fairings. The rear of the missile body seems to terminate in an ogive fairing of the type predicted in ourdrawing of November 4 last, and around it are disposed eight delta fins, four large and four small. In contrast, the presumably more up-to-date photographpublished last week showed a re-entry vehicle with a nosecone of some 70°, tip radius remaining about the same. The parallel por-tion of re-entry vehicle appeared to be longer, possibly to accom- modate a larger warhead. The re-entry vehicle of the outboardmissile bore stencilled markings which might represent aerials or windows for sensing systems. In spite of heavy retouching it waspossible to see that the variation in case diameter was still present, although the instrumentation fairings had disappeared. The tailfairing likewise appeared to be absent, and the four larger fins had been cropped to have axial tips. An access panel had beencut in the underside of the horizontal pylon structure. It could also be noted that the mock-up room had been properly furnished,in contrast to the draped sheets (for security purposes) seen in the newer-but-older picture on this page. NEW BRITISH MISSILES Special attention may be paid to the reference to "new weaponsfor defence against low-flying aircraft" in the statement issued in Bonn and referred to opposite. According to the Defence Corres-pondent of the London Daily Telegraph "The communique's reference . . . implies, I understand, joint development of the newBritish short-range anti-aircraft missile now designated PT 428. This is for use by troops in the field." No such weapon has beenannounced, and the newspaper's source may well have been a story which appeared in the London Daily Express last November 25.In part, this ran: "A new anti-aircraft guided missile for dealing with supersonic bombers which sneak in at tree-top height is to bemade by the English Electric Company. The missile, known as Project 428, will snap at enemy planes as they come low over theskyline in the way a sportsman shoots at grouse. And it will auto- matically launch itself as soon as its radar picks up a target. TheGovernment is giving it top priority because it might be adopted as the low-level anti-aircraft missile throughout NATO." If the report is correct it will give the British Aircraft Corpora-tion, of which English Electric is a member, a further lead in mis- sile development. Another of the group's major projects is thecorps-support (tactical ballistic) weapon Blue Water, which seen> to be regarded so seriously by its American competitors that theJanuary 9 issue of Newsweek claims that it "may join the ill-fated Blue Streak in the ash-can" and suggests Britain may buy theAmerican Sergeant instead. This contention appears to be based on the hope either that Blue Water will run into severe develop-ment difficulties or that it can be bulldozed out of the way by political pressure. CANADIAN RE-ENTRY STUDIES A one-year operation involving an RCAF and Canadian Defence Research Board unit based on Ascension Island and engaged in recording ultra-violet, visible and infra-red radiations from Two Convair F-I06B aircraft are now used by the seven US Protect Mercury astronauts to keep in current flying practice. From the 'e(' are astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil Grhsom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton
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