(Peter Stickney) wrote in message ...
In article t,
"Thomas Schoene" writes:
John Carrier wrote:
FWIW, _Sidewinder_ (by Ron Westrum) says Sidewinder used the motor of the
"High-Performance Air-to-Ground" rocket that China Lake was developing. It
was picked specifically because it was a slow-burn, low-acceleration rocket
that woudn't damage Sidewinder's fairly fragile seeker.

That's possibly an munging of HVAR (Aigh Velocity Airborne
Rocket), which was the 5" fixed-fin rocket seen under the wings of
late-model WW2 fighter-bombers, and into the Korean War. The
dimensions are about right, the performance would do, and there were a
zillion of them around to use.

I remember reading that the Sidewinder's 5" body diameter was because
the initial batch was based on an existing rocket, which I had thought
was Zuni but HVAR might be it.