Flight Log

Mighty Missiles. To the teeming pantheon of guided missiles--which already has Falcons, Navajos, Snarks, Matadors and Side Winders--Air Force Secretary Donald A. Quarles last week added some powerful names: for the Air Force's two versions of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: Atlas and Titan; for the new Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile: Thor.

Icing to Order. To measure accurately the icing hazards to new model planes, Wright Air Development Center at Dayton has outfitted a KC-97F tanker with a special spray nozzle. Filled with water instead of fuel, the tanker climbs up until it reaches the proper temperature to produce water droplets, supercooled and ready -- about F. Then it looses a spray that freezes on the test plane following 300 ft. astern.

Throttled Rocket. Most rocket motors are all-or-nothing performers. They give good performance at one thrust level only. The Bell X-1 (first airplane to pass the speed of sound) was pushed by a cluster of four small rockets, and it gained a measure of control because the pilot could shut some of them off. The Bell X-2 (already under secret test) has a two-rocket Curtiss-Wright power plant, can vary its thrust, by methods undisclosed, over a considerable range.

Supersonic Parachute. To rescue pilots from a supersonic bailout, Radioplane Co., a Northrop subsidiary, has devised a special parachute called the Skysail, packed tightly in a container that an air blast cannot tear open. When the pilot jumps, his hunched body slows down quickly. When his speed is subsonic (and the pilot is probably unconscious), the chute is designed to open gradually, distributing the shock over a longer interval than the standard parachute. Moreover, a special harness spreads the deceleration forces over a larger area of the pilot's body. If he is able to survive the hammer-like initial blow of the supersonic air, he is figured to have a good chance of getting to earth alive.

Shock Tube. Scientists working at top speed on the guided missile program were long baffled by a key problem: How could they figure out the effect of air blast on a missile plunging down from space at 18,000 m.p.h.? The best answer so far is a type of shock tube that was described this week by Avco Manufacturing Corp., and is now operating for the Air Force in Avco's Everett, Mass, laboratory.

The tube is a 4-in. pipe, 100 ft. long, with a massive cylindrical chamber at either end. Nearly all the air is pumped out of the tube and one chamber. Then air is pumped into the other chamber, which is sealed off from the tube by a strong metal diaphragm. When the pressure reaches 2,000 Ibs. per sq. in., the diaphragm breaks. High-pressure air rushes into the tube, forming a shock wave whose temperature reaches 15,000DEG F.--1 1/2 times the temperature of the sun's surface. It passes in a tiny fraction of a second, but while it is passing, it simulates the 18,000-m.p.h. air blast.

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