I think that Greg Lyzenga has one, don’t know if it’s 1/5th…he also has a
full-scale WAC!
Allen
On Jun 16, 2015, at 11:24 AM, John Coker <john@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Re: Frank Malina
Yep, that's what I was recalling. This "Baby Wac" would be a great prototype
to model, easily done at full-scale. I'll take a look at RotW when I get
home and see if there are drawings for it.
How about a drag race of scratch-built Baby Wacs at full scale? With
long-burn motors we might even approximate a prototypical flight profile.
John
On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 11:15 AM, Allen Farrington <allen.farrington@xxxxxx
<mailto:allen.farrington@xxxxxx>> wrote:
Not to sound too parochial, but one those “radical” three-fin guys back in
the 40’s was a founder of JPL, Frank Malina specifically. Even though he was
sure that it would work since three-flechted arrows seemed to work fine!
From: http://www.olats.org/pionniers/malina/aeronautique/memoir3.php
<http://www.olats.org/pionniers/malina/aeronautique/memoir3.php>
To check the flight characteristics of the WAC-booster combination, tests
were made with a 1/5 scale model, called the BABY WAC. These were launched
from a scaled-down launching tower at Camp Irwin, California, beginning 4
July 1945 . One of the interesting aspects of these tests was the
verification of the suitability of employing three instead of the
traditional four tail fins. For some reason, rockets in the past and aerial
bombs were equipped with four fins. Stewart, to save weight, proposed we use
three but Ordnance "experts" told us the WAC would then not be stable in
flight. When he pointed out that arrows for ages had three fins and had
performed very nicely, he was still doubted. The tests of the BABY WAC
settled all arguments; the model behaved very well, as later did the
three-finned full-scale WAC. The BABY WAC reached an altitude of around
3,000 ft.
Allen
