Convair Lenticular Missile

[Mr.Creak]

What I want to know is who gave the thing such a STUPID name?  

Or was it in the usual American pattern of giving things confusing names just because they can?

And we didn't ? Blue cheese/Green cheese ? Cream carrot ? (I hope I made that one up  )

But you're forgetting the all-important difference here.
Blue Cheese etc (and I lurve Cream Carrot - must find a use for it) were our names.
That makes them respectable.

[Geoff]

Cream carrot ? (I hope I made that one up  )

I'd be a lot more worried if you did!

[PR19_Kit]

And we didn't ? Blue cheese/Green cheese ? Cream carrot ? (I hope I made that one up  )

But those make some sort of sense, 'Pye Wacket' doesn't even have a decent rhythm to it!

And AFAIK neither are real words. (Of course I'll now be deluged with LJMNs telling me what they mean. That's 'Literary JMNs'...........)

[pyro-manic]

Sounds like the name of some grizzled Civil War era irregular or some such to me. Those Americans do like their silly names. Try saying it in a ridiculous Southern drawling accent and it'll make more sense.

And I assume the name is just that, a codename designed to be confusing and give nothing away about the nature of the subject.

EDIT: Swift googleage gives this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyewacket_(familiar_spirit)

[Mr.Creak]

And AFAIK neither are real words. (Of course I'll now be deluged with LJMNs telling me what they mean. That's 'Literary JMNs'...........)

Take your pick:

Pyewacket may refer to:

    Pyewacket (familiar spirit), a familiar spirit, reported by an alleged witch in 1644
    Pyewacket, Gillian Holroyd's cat and familiar in the film Bell, Book and Candle
    Pyewacket (novel), a 1967 children's novel by Rosemary Weir
    Pyewacket (band), a rock band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, active 1972–1975
    Pyewackett (band), an English folk band, active 1980–1986
    Pywacket, a hybrid orchid of the genus Cymbidium
    Pyewacket, a MaxZ86-class sailing yacht commissioned in 2004 by Roy E. Disney; also a Santa Cruz 70 sailed by the Disney family.
    Pye Wacket, an experimental missile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyewacket

[NARSES2]

What I want to know is who gave the thing such a STUPID name?  

Or was it in the usual American pattern of giving things confusing names just because they can?

And we didn't ? Blue cheese/Green cheese ? Cream carrot ? (I hope I made that one up  )

But you're forgetting the all-important difference here.
Blue Cheese etc (and I lurve Cream Carrot - must find a use for it) were our names.
That makes them respectable.

Ah, of course, silly me 

[NARSES2]

Cream carrot ? (I hope I made that one up  )

I'd be a lot more worried if you did!

Down to 6 pints of Palmer's at lunchtime 

[PR19_Kit]

Take your pick:

Pyewacket may refer to:

    Pyewacket (familiar spirit), a familiar spirit, reported by an alleged witch in 1644
    Pyewacket, Gillian Holroyd's cat and familiar in the film Bell, Book and Candle
    Pyewacket (novel), a 1967 children's novel by Rosemary Weir
    Pyewacket (band), a rock band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, active 1972–1975
    Pyewackett (band), an English folk band, active 1980–1986
    Pywacket, a hybrid orchid of the genus Cymbidium
    Pyewacket, a MaxZ86-class sailing yacht commissioned in 2004 by Roy E. Disney; also a Santa Cruz 70 sailed by the Disney family.
    Pye Wacket, an experimental missile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyewacket

Unfortunately that's a circular argument as the only entry that isn't one word IS the thing we're talking about!

[Mr.Creak]

Pfft, it's the American spelling y'all.

[rickshaw]

If one looks at the dates in the list its obvious that only the first two really apply:

Pyewacket (familiar spirit), a familiar spirit, reported by an alleged witch in 1644
Pyewacket, Gillian Holroyd's cat and familiar in the film Bell, Book and Candle

Of those two, the last was a movie made in 1958.  Which fits rather neatly into the development of the missile.  As a "familiar" is a protective and facilitating spirit for a Witch, and the connection to James Stewart, I rather suspect that is the source of the name.

[Old Wombat]

OK, this is where I find the "Pye Wacket" wikipedia entry confusing;

capable of engaging incoming missiles at relative speeds of up to Mach 7,

Meaning, in both Physics & English, "in relation of one to the other" & sometimes referred to as "closing speed".

Example 1;
car [A] is travelling West on the Nullabor Highway at 110 km/h
car [Z] is travelling West on the Nullabor Highway at 110 km/h
-> their "relative (closing) speed" is 0 km/h

Example 2;
car [A] is travelling West on the Nullabor Highway at 110 km/h
car [Z] is travelling West on the Nullabor Highway at 100 km/h
-> their "relative (closing) speed" is 10 km/h

Example 3;
car [A] is travelling West on the Nullabor Highway at 110 km/h
car [Z] is travelling East on the Nullabor Highway at 100 km/h
-> their "relative (closing) speed" is 210 km/h

Yet in the same article it states;

Speed    Mach 6.5+

This would mean that the "Pye Wacket" was never meant to engage an approaching target that could travel faster than Mach 0.5 whilst travelling at full speed, unless it turned & chased the target!

AD325216 is the Unclassified data available from the feasability studies done on the "Pye Wacket" available on the internet.

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=AD0325216

From this I gathered that the vehicle had only been tested to about Mach 3.3 with altitude predictors of its performance calculated up to about Mach 7.5 but again the Mach 7 "relative speed" engagement speed raised its ugly head.

From this I conclude that the missile was being designed to attain speeds of up to approx. Mach 6.5/7.0 but to slow down in order to engage targets.

Interestingly, AD325216 also mentions the lenticular vehicle design having potential uses as a space re-entry vehicle & as a side-launched stand-off "off-set" bombing weapon.

(1) Manned Vehicle Defense. The omnidirectional launch capability
is particularly important for this application, even when
considering a high performance aircraft such as the B-70.
Missile attackers pose a real threat whether they are surface-launched
or launched from an advanced interceptor (e.g. F-108 type).
More advanced missile-launching platforms including
very high speed rocket-powered interceptors (X-15 types),
may be expected in the future. To combat these threats,
a defensive missile must possess not only omnidirectional
launch capability but high maneuverability in order to be
effective at high closing velocities. The PYE WACKET
concept embodies these basic characteristics.

(2) Air-to-Surface Missions. The particular chacteristic
that "pays off" for this mission whether it be a high- or
low-altitude penetration, is the omnidirectional launch
capability. For "targets of opportunity" or those heavily
defended so as to make direct overhead flights infeasible,
the ability to deliver a warhead laterally to the target
(offset bombing) is particularly attractive. An inertially
guiided PYE WACKET type of weapon receiving pre-launch input
data from the airplane system may very satisfactorily
accomplish this task.

(3) Controllable Reentry Vehicle. The circular planform, lifting-body
concept is advantageous for reentry missions where controlled
landings are required. The high drag of the bluff-body
coupled with the lifting characteristics obtained at
less than 90 degrees angle of attack permit adjustment or
variation of the reentry trajectory. This capability
provides a wider reentry corridor, and further, permits
gliding flight to a pre-selected landing area. This concept
is of particular interest for manned vehicles.

HAPPY HOGSWATCH, Mr Creak!

[KJ_Lesnick]

Mr.Creak

I'll have to find my B-70 book and see if there's any further info in that.

Okay, but looking at the agility, it looks like it would have been damn near impossible for a fighter to out-maneuver.

[rickshaw]

As the missile was never tested at its supposed design speeds and never against a hard manoeuvring target that is the usual, typical claim made.  They've made against every other missile since they started building guided ones.   A lot of pilots appear to have proved otherwise.

[Mr.Creak]

OK, this is where I find the "Pye Wacket" wikipedia entry confusing;

capable of engaging incoming missiles at relative speeds of up to Mach 7,

Heh, maybe it means relative to the launch aircraft.
Which would take into account the reaction time of the detect, pinpoint and launch cycle.

AD325216 is the Unclassified data available from the feasability studies done on the "Pye Wacket" available on the internet.

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=AD0325216

Now THAT is a good find, and will keep me occupied for a while.
Thank you.

Interestingly, AD325216 also mentions the lenticular vehicle design having potential uses as a space re-entry vehicle & as a side-launched stand-off "off-set" bombing weapon.

The LRV:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_Reentry_Vehicle

HAPPY HOGSWATCH, Mr Creak!

And a Happy Hogswatch to you too.

[Old Wombat]

Yeah, I was aware of the LRV but not that its development stemmed directly from this weapon research.

However, I was more intrigued by the side-launched off-set bombing concept as I can see that having quite a more versatile military application, especially as a high-velocity missile system.