08-27-2013, 02:00 AM
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BAR
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Needville and Shiner, TX
Posts: 6,134
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And the last...
I love the letter from Kelly Johnson above... VERY cool.... (he designed the SR-71/A-12).
The "petals" on the back of the missile were part of the modifications necessary to air-launch the Polaris from the SR-71... basically they provided "shuttlecock stability" (just like the "Birdie" rocket-powered badminton birdie shuttlecock does, only with a ballistic missile on the front) for the separation and launch phase of the missile. Once the missile was free and clear of the SR-71, the missile motor would fire up, (five seconds after separation from the aircraft at Mach 3.2) and the tail fairing, including the "shuttlecock" drag fins, would be jettisoned as the missile then flew under liquid injection thrust vector control, as in the regular Polaris missile...
Hope you enjoy! OL JR 
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