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USAF missile ID?

Thu May 21, 2009 5:12 pm

Just looked through 30 pages of USAF missiles on google and had no luck.
Can any of you USAF folks identify this USAF missile? It is not too clear from the angle of the photo-but it does have four of the triangular stabilizer surfaces at 90 degrees to each other.
Image

Fri May 22, 2009 11:21 am

Really surprised to see no ID after 141 views! Especially with all the Air Force history buffs, here. Any thoughts of comments? Perhaps it is a contractor's model of a missle that never went into production?

Fri May 22, 2009 11:29 am

My guess would be it was some type of prototype that never materialized. Some times they actually make models of things that were never built and only seen on paper.
Lot's of spacecraft come to mind and at NEAM we have a couple of F2A Buffalo follow on design models made of wood and painted in Navy colors, but they were never built by Brewster. One actually has a tail config like the P-38, twin booms and all!
Jerry

Fri May 22, 2009 11:48 am

Unfortunately no thumbnails but this is the best ref site I have found for missiles and drones.

http://www.designation-systems.net

Takes a while to thumb through but it may be here.

Eric

Fri May 22, 2009 1:04 pm

My thinking is that it could be a wind-tunnel test model of some sort. Doesn't ring any bells for a production model.

Fri May 22, 2009 2:16 pm

Thanks for the feedback and the links guys
Well I just spent the last hour looking at EVERY image on that website for rocket & Missiles. Nothing really close enough to conjecture that it was a derivation or modfication of anything I saw there. At least I now "know?" that it is not something common and easily found. So that makes it worth a trip over the the USAF Armament Museum at nearby Eglin. They have a complete museum of USAF missiles & rockets (& a pretty nice collection og aircraft too, as has been posted on here, a number of times.) Hope somebody there can recognize it. If not I'll leave a good photo of it as a challenge they can play with in their spare time, and possibly get back to me.

Fri May 22, 2009 2:37 pm

barnbstormer wrote:Thanks for the feedback and the links guys
Well I just spent the last hour looking at EVERY image on that website for rocket & Missiles. Nothing really close enough to conjecture that it was a derivation or modfication of anything I saw there. At least I now "know?" that it is not something common and easily found. So that makes it worth a trip over the the USAF Armament Museum at nearby Eglin. They have a complete museum of USAF missiles & rockets (& a pretty nice collection og aircraft too, as has been posted on here, a number of times.) Hope somebody there can recognize it. If not I'll leave a good photo of it as a challenge they can play with in their spare time, and possibly get back to me.


I think I'd be looking at Sci-fi stuff to see if maybe someone bought a sci-fi rocket, thought it was cool, and put the USAF insignia on the side. It looks like that to me anyway.

Ryan

Fri May 22, 2009 2:59 pm

RyanShort1 wrote:I think I'd be looking at Sci-fi stuff to see if maybe someone bought a sci-fi rocket, thought it was cool, and put the USAF insignia on the side. It looks like that to me anyway.
Ryan

Not likely, in this case, Ryan. It came with five other high quality Contractor's models, including Grumman and Honeywell and a couple that must have cost a small fortune to make-20" high very complex, lots of metal girders etc, models for the U.S. Space program. (Both Apollo & Space Station) There is a pretty neat one of the Honeywell multi-gun pod, too.

Fri May 22, 2009 3:23 pm

barnbstormer wrote:Thanks for the feedback and the links guys
Well I just spent the last hour looking at EVERY image on that website for rocket & Missiles. Nothing

I feel your pain B. I had the same experience a few years ago. I ran across a drone-like bird in Quartzite, Arizona
that looked like a scaled down Snark. The old fella who owned it had purchased it years before from a
Marine DRMO near Yuma. I've searched high and low on the web..various rocket and missile books..No freakin joy! :x

No luck from the owner either! He couldn't remember where the paperwork was! Sigh...

Fri May 22, 2009 3:51 pm

Hi Airnutz; Either send me a photo of it, or post one here so I can copy it. I'll be glad to take it along to the Armament Museum, when I go. Maybe they will have some info for you..They also have a LOT of drones & experimentals etc. As you know it is Rarely a good idea to put your regular email in forum posts. But you can easily get my email contact via my website, if you want to try..(the blue link in my post signature at bottom)

Fri May 22, 2009 9:27 pm

barnbstormer wrote:Hi Airnutz; Either send me a photo of it, or post one here so I can copy it.

Sorry, I'm a digitally challenged analog dinosaur. If you remember, just describe it to them as a 1/2 scale Snark.

Sat May 23, 2009 5:30 am

try a topping models google out of elyria ohio, they produced all the desk models for the pentagon brass.

Sat May 23, 2009 9:13 am

Is it a hood ornament off a '59 Oldsmobile?
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