I was attending the Air Defense Command's Interceptor Weapons School
back in 1963 and one of our lectures was "Future Developments' by a
team from Wright Pat Air Development Center. In the course of events
the 'suits' mentioned chaff rockets - folding-fin 70mm rockets fired
from a bomber that dispensed spaced bundles of chaff to mask the
bomber and draw off radar-homing missiles. The 'suits' complained that
they had tried firing them sideways out of a special turret mounted on
a B29 but the rockets insisted on going straight ahead. We looked at
each other incredulously and finally one of our group asked "Did you
ever consider that there was a 300 mile an hour wind blowing past the
rocket launch tube?" No, they hadn't . . .
FWIW simulated ICBMs have been launched from transport aircraft. A
drogue chutes hauls it out the back and a few seconds later it is
hanging from the chute in a vertical position - next a timer fires the
rocket motor and off it goes. I suspect the big problem back then was
establishing an accurate launch position for the inertial guidance
system to start from. Maybe GPS can do that nowadays. FEDEX contract
proposal? When 'next day' isn't quick enough? Ummm - front yard or
back yard?
Walt BJ