Fairey Stooge

Last updated
Stooge
Fairey Stooge.png
TypeSurface-to-air missile
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Production history
Designed1944-1947
Manufacturer Fairey Aviation
Specifications
Mass738 lb (335 kg)
Length7 ft 5.5 in (2.273 m)
Diameter12.5 in (320 mm)
EngineMain engine, 4 x 5 in (130 mm) "Swallow" rockets
75 lbf (0.33 kN) each
Boosters, 4 x RP-3 3 in (76 mm) rockets
5,600 lbf (25 kN) total thrust
Wingspan6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
PropellantSolid fuel
Boost time40 sec
Maximum speed 520 mph (840 km/h)
Guidance
system
 Radio command

The Fairey Aviation Stooge was a command guided surface-to-air missile (SAM) development project carried out in the United Kingdom starting in World War II. Development dates to a British Army request from 1944, but the work was taken over by the Royal Navy as a potential counter to the Kamikaze threat. Development was not complete when the war ended, but the Ministry of Supply funded further development and numerous test launches into 1947, assisting in the development of more advanced successor missiles.

Contents

Development

During World War II a number of efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was generally considered that flak was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. While the Germans developed a number of systems in an attempt to deter Allied bombing, [1] the overwhelming air superiority held by the Allies meant that the prospect of developing similar weapons was largely ignored as unnecessary. This changed when the Kamikaze threat spread in the later half of 1944. [2] This led to the British Stooge and Brakemine efforts, and the US Navy's SAM-N-2 Lark. [3]

The British Army had already ordered early studies on these weapons. [4] According to a common account of its development, possibly apocryphal, [2] Fairey was asked to carry out some basic research on these plans by a Royal Navy request, but instead presented a revised design of some depth. The Ministry of Supply (MoS) signed a contract for development of the system in 1944. The ending of the war in August 1945 led to a lower level of urgency, but the MoS continued funding as a development project. [2]

Description

The Stooge was essentially a small subsonic aircraft with straight wings and a conventional tail layout. The missile looked substantially similar to the V-1, shrunken down and with the engine removed from the top. The missile fuselage was 7 ft 5.5 in (2.273 m) long and 12.5 in (320 mm) in diameter, with a main wingspan of 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), and a tail span of 4 ft (1.2 m). Ready for launch, it weighed 738 lb (335 kg). [5]

The rear part of the fuselage was taken up by four 5-inch (130 mm) air-to-ground "Swallow" solid fuel rockets. [5] [6] The thrust and burning time could be controlled by varying the size of a venturi nozzle. At 75 lbf (330 N) the missile reached speeds of 520 mph (840 km/h), [7] but was normally tested at a thrust level of 40 lbf (180 N) which gave a much slower cruising speed. [5]

For launch, four rocket motors (from the RP-3 "3-inch" rocket weapon) were strapped in pairs to either side of the fuselage, under the horizontal stabilizer. [7] These produced 5,600 lbf (25,000 N) for 1.6 seconds, launching the missile off the 10 ft (3.0 m) long launching rail at an acceleration of 8g. [8] As the booster rockets gave the missile a tail-heavy center of gravity, a cup-shaped counterweight was fitted to the nose. At booster burnout, the missile having reached a speed of over 265 mph (426 km/h), the boosters and counterweight were ejected and the main rockets fired. [6]

Like many early missiles of the era, the Stooge was boosted to the approximate altitude of the attacker and then flown onto an intercept course. Flares located in fairings on the wing tips provided a bright source for the operator to track visually. [7] After launch the missile levelled off and a simple gyroscope-controlled autopilot, located in the forwards portion of the fuselage, [8] kept the Stooge flying in a straight line. Control of first the elevators and then, 3 seconds later, the ailerons were released to the operator - the delay necessary for the gyro control to stabilise first. Using radio control, the operator would fly the missile into a position in front of the target, and then adjust the path in order to collide with the target. Control was via the ailerons and elevator, the vertical stabilizer did not contain a movable rudder. [7]

Flight testing

Stooge displayed on launcher Fairey Stooge.jpg
Stooge displayed on launcher

The first prototypes, with fixed controls, flew after seven months from the start of development at the end of World War II. [6] Development continued with a number of test firings at the Rocket Experimental Establishment at RAF Aberporth at Aberporth, Wales. [8] It is believed that around twelve Stooges were constructed by Fairey, the most successful of the test launches being that of the sixth missile, achieving an altitude of 1,600 feet (490 m) and a range of 3 miles (4.8 km) before the flight was terminated by range safety, the missile having passed out of sight of the operator. [9]

The Stooge, on its launcher, was displayed at the Radlett Aerodrome in 1947. [10] Radlett, northwest of London, was the site of a major Handley Page factory and host of early meetings of what would become the Farnborough Airshow.

Although the programme failed to yield an operational weapons system, experience gained from the testing of Stooge assisted in the development of the Fairey Fireflash air-to-air missile. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Surface-to-air missile Ground-launched missile designed to attack aerial targets

A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles.

Fairey Aviation Company 1915-1977 aerospace and engineering company

The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Lancashire. Notable for the design of a number of important military aircraft, including the Fairey III family, the Swordfish, Firefly, and Gannet, it had a strong presence in the supply of naval aircraft, and also built bombers for the RAF.

Bloodhound (missile) Surface-to-air missile system

The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of four other countries.

Seaslug (missile) Type of surface-to-air missile

Seaslug was a first-generation surface-to-air missile designed by Armstrong Whitworth for use by the Royal Navy. Tracing its history as far back as 1943's LOPGAP design, it came into operational service in 1961 and was still in use at the time of the Falklands War in 1982.

Fireflash Type of Air-to-air missile

Fireflash was the United Kingdom's first air-to-air guided missile to see service with the Royal Air Force. Constructed by Fairey Aviation, the missile utilised radar beam riding guidance. Fireflash had relatively limited performance and required the launching aircraft to approach the target from a limited angle astern.

XSM-73 Goose Type of Cruise Missile

The Fairchild SM-73 was a sub-sonic, jet-powered, ground-launched decoy cruise missile.

Thunderbird (missile) Type of Surface-to-air missile

The English Electric Thunderbird was a British surface-to-air missile produced for the British Army. Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges up to approximately 30 miles (48 km), providing wide-area air defence for the Army in the field. AA guns were still used for lower altitude threats. Thunderbird entered service in 1959 and underwent a major mid-life upgrade to Thunderbird 2 in 1966, before being slowly phased out by 1977. Ex-Army Thunderbirds were also operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force after 1967.

Fairey Delta 1

The Fairey Delta 1 (FD1) was a research aircraft developed and produced by British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation. It holds the distinction of being the first British-designed aircraft to be furnished with a delta wing.

GAF Jindivik Drone aircraft

The GAF Jindivik is a radio-controlled target drone produced by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories (GAF). The name is from an Aboriginal Australian word meaning "the hunted one". Two manually-controlled prototypes, were built as the GAF Pika as a proof of concept to test the aerodynamics, engine and radio control systems, serialled A92-1/2, 'B-1/2'. The radio-controlled Jindivik was initially designated the Project B and received serials in the A93 series. Pika is an Aboriginal Australian word meaning flier.

LBD Gargoyle Type of anti-ship missile / guided bomb

The LBD-1 Gargoyle was an American air-to-surface missile developed during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy. One of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles, it was extensively used as a test vehicle during the late 1940s.

SSM-N-9 Regulus II Type of Cruise missile

The SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile is a supersonic guided missile armed with a nuclear warhead, intended for launching from surface ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy (USN).

KAN Little Joe Type of Surface-to-air missile

The Little Joe, also known by the United States Navy designation KAN, was an early American ship-based, short-range surface-to-air missile, the development of which was initiated in 1945 as a response to the Kamikaze tactics used by the Japanese. Although the missile was successfully tested, the end of World War II removed the requirement for the missile, and the project was abandoned in 1946.

Crow (missile) Type of Experimental missile

The Creative Research On Weapons or Crow program was an experimental missile project developed by the United States Navy's Naval Air Missile Test Center during the late 1950s. Intended to evaluate the solid-fueled integral rocket/ramjet (SFIRR) method of propulsion as well as solid-fueled ramjet engines, flight tests were conducted during the early 1960s with mixed success.

AAM-A-1 Firebird Type of Air-to-air missile

The AAM-A-1 Firebird was an early American air-to-air missile, developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. The first air-to-air missile program developed for the United States Air Force, the Firebird was extensively tested in the late 1940s; although it proved successful in testing, it was soon obsolete due to the rapid advances in aircraft and missile technology at the time and did not enter production.

Brakemine was an early surface-to-air missile (SAM) development project carried out in the United Kingdom during World War II. Brakemine used a beam riding guidance system developed at A.C. Cossor, while REME designed the testbed airframes. Trial launches were carried out between 1944 and 1945, and the effort wound down as the war ended. Although Brakemine would never be used in its original form, its use of the "twist-and-steer" guidance method would later be used on the more capable LOPGAP design, which, after major changes, emerged as the Bristol Bloodhound. A single Brakemine survives in the REME Museum.

AAM-N-5 Meteor Type of Air-to-air missile

The AAM-N-5 Meteor was an early American air-to-air missile, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bell Aircraft for the United States Navy. Designed for launch from carrier-based aircraft, the program proceeded to the flight testing stage before being cancelled.

Radioplane XKD4R

The Radioplane XKD4R, known by the company designation RP-70, was an American target drone developed by the Radioplane Division of the Northrop Corporation. Although it was not produced in quantity, it was developed into the successful AQM-38.

SAM-A-1 GAPA Type of weapon

Boeing's Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft (GAPA) was a short-range anti-aircraft missile (SAM) developed in the late 1940s by the US Army Air Force, and then the US Air Force after 1948. It was given the reference number SAM-A-1, the first Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) in the 1947 tri-service designation system. By 1950 over 100 test rockets had been launched using a variety of configurations and power plants, with one launch in 1949 setting the altitude record for a ramjet powered vehicle at 59,000 ft (18,000 m).

CTV-N-2 Gorgon IIC Type of Propulsion test vehicleTarget droneExperimental missile

The CTV-N-2 Gorgon IIC – also designated KGN, KUN, and CTV-2 – was an experimental drone, originally intended as a surface-to-surface missile, developed by the United States Navy near the end of World War II. It was used to test control and homing systems for guided missiles, and was also produced in small numbers as a target drone under the designations TD3N and KD2N.

JB-3 Tiamat Type of Air-to-air missile

The JB-3 Tiamat, also designated MX-570, was an early air-to-air missile developed by Hughes Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Regarded as a purely experimental vehicle, test launches took place for several years before the program was terminated.

References

Citations
  1. ↑ Ford 2000, p.101
  2. 1 2 3 Taylor 1975, p.45
  3. ↑ Parsch 2003
  4. ↑ Flight 1947, p.345
  5. 1 2 3 Flight 1947, p.344
  6. 1 2 3 Taylor 1974, p.46
  7. 1 2 3 4 Flight 1947, p.344-345
  8. 1 2 3 Taylor 1974, p.47
  9. ↑ Taylor 1974, p.48
  10. ↑ "The Stooge at Radlett" Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine , Flight, 11 September 1947, p. 271.
  11. ↑ Twigge 1993, p.24
Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.