In article ,
Andrew Chaplin writes:
Peter Stickney wrote:

[The] F-4's radar and FCS couldn't, in
its stock form, compute the launch and intercept points for the Genie,
or perform the electrical octoflugerons needed to set the Genie's
timers.

"Octoflugerons"?! Okay, I'll bite: WTF is an octoflugeron when it's at
home?

The name my instructors drilled into me for an impressive, although
unintended maneuver, such as, say, spinning over the top while trying
to core a thermal (Not being too coordated, and stalling the upside
wing (Left turn, right wing, for example. It's Natures Way of telling
you to pay more attention. Or pulling too much over the top of a loop
in a T-6 and snapping out of it. Wake turbulence can be good for
premium Octoflugeron performance.

In the case of the AIR-2, the timer for detonation was basically a
specially tuned RLC (Resistance, Inductance, Capacitor) circuit. The
Fire COntrol System of the launching airplane figured out how long the
rocket would take to reach the target, and charge the capacitors to
the appropriate value. If all the appropriate conditions were met,
the warhead would detonate when the voltage dropped to a certain
level. The FCS for a Genie equipped airplane had to be able to track
the target, compute the proper pull-up point for the preferred snap-up
attack - it could also attack co-altitude - and figure the launch
point and flight time. With a flight time on the order of 5-10
seconds, a 2G maneuvering target like a bomber wasn't going to get out
of the way, once the rocket fired. The interceptor would be breaking
away and down, with the cockpit opposite the target. Since the Genie
required no guidance, you didn't have to follow it in. (Very much
Lanch and Leave) The AIM-26 (Nuclear Falcon, whic was an option for
some F-102s in the early/mid-'60s) mist have been a real fun trip.
The warhead was very small, with a kill radius of about 250 ft.
(About the same as a big AAM like a Sparrow or Phoenix) One of the
problems with the Falcon series was that they weren't able to work out
a proximity fuze - the missile had to actually hit the target to
detonate. (And they don't call them miss-iles for nothing) Making a
proximity fuze that will work through the range of aspect angles and
closing speeds that a missile has (As opposed to an AAA shell, which
is always coming up from below at some huge speed, and, since its dirt
cheap, tends to be fired in swarms) is a difficult task - you've got
to integrate the closing speeds, miss distance, the speed that the
warhead fragments will be travelling, the shape of the fragment cloud
- and, for all I know, whether the missile techs had garlic for lunch,
in order to have the fuze determine the right point to set things off.

With a "fragment cloud" that travels at pretty much the speed of
light, as with the radiation from a baby nuke, you don't have that
problem. You do, however, have to keep teh nose pointed toward the
target enough for the missile to see the radar reflection and guide.
So, you've got to fly toward your nuclear blast, once you've pulled
the trigger. Not fun at all - teh light from the fireball would still
be enough to blind you, if the flash curtains aren't as good as they
think they are.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster