Convair F-102A as Space Launch Vehicle

Barrington Bond

ACCESS: Top Secret
Senior Member
Joined
4 May 2007
Messages
940
Reaction score
363
Website
www.flickr.com
I know I have seen some pictures of this here somewhere but blowed if I can find them :-\
 

Attachments

  • scan0071 (2).jpg
    scan0071 (2).jpg
    211.1 KB · Views: 651
  • scan0072 (2).jpg
    scan0072 (2).jpg
    190.7 KB · Views: 603
  • scan0073 (2).jpg
    scan0073 (2).jpg
    245.7 KB · Views: 509
Excellent my dear Jemiba,


at first,I think it was a fake,and we can put them here.
 

Attachments

  • 4.JPG
    4.JPG
    65.1 KB · Views: 116
  • 3.JPG
    3.JPG
    55.9 KB · Views: 122
  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    49.4 KB · Views: 126
  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    64.8 KB · Views: 410
F-102 with winged Bumper missile

Hi all,
the little known RTV-G-4 Bumper missile was a 2-stage sounding missile, obtained by the combination of the A-4 german missile and the WAC Corporal missile. It performed 8 launches between May 1948 to July 1950.
I found some evidence concerning the proposal to launch Bumper from an aircraft to increase missile's performance. Some images show a Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, probably the chosen aircraft for this task; but there are at least two oddities. First of all, the Convair F-102 became available when the Bumper program was already terminated. Second, the comparison between the aircraft and the missile suggest that there was a certain kind of size incompatibility...
However, on this second aspect there is a document written by the Italian physicist Aurelio Robotti about the proposal to modify the missile to create a pair that could take off from the ground (Mistel like). He called it "the space station at 14000 meters in altitude" and the photos show a wing structure with rockets and take-off cart in which the Corporal stage had to be hosted. A second variant shows 2 aircraft over a bigger unit.

Anyone knows more?
 

Attachments

  • Bumper.jpg
    Bumper.jpg
    118.3 KB · Views: 146
  • Bumper 1.jpg
    Bumper 1.jpg
    187.7 KB · Views: 154
  • Bumper 2.jpg
    Bumper 2.jpg
    73.7 KB · Views: 148
Back
Top Bottom