# **IAAA-01-IAA.2.3.05**

###### The Launch of Bumper 8 from the 

**Cape, The End of an Era and the**

**Beginning of Another**

S. Starr ![](media/image1.png){width="1.7784722222222222in"
height="4.2625in"}

Chief Engineer

Dynacs Inc.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

**52^nd^ International Astronautical Congress**

**1-5 Oct/2001/Toulouse, France**

THE LAUNCH OF BUMPER 8 FROM THE CAPE,

THE END OF AN ERA AND THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER

Stanley O. Starr

Chief Engineer

Dynacs, Inc.

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

stanley.starr-1@ksc.nasa.gov

### ABSTRACT

On July 24, 1950, Bumper 8 was launched from a small concrete launch pad
north of the Cape Canaveral lighthouse, becoming the first launch from
the Long Range Proving Ground. The Bumper missiles, six launched from
White Sands and two from Cape Canaveral, were a combination of a German
V-2 first stage and a WAC Corporal unguided, liquid fuel rocket as a
second stage. The Bumper missions achieved great advances in altitude
and velocity, demonstrated the first successful ignition of a second
stage liquid rocket, and explored the boundaries of aerodynamic heating
and complex missile control systems. They also engaged public interest
during a time when weapons developments were largely secret. The
fledgling Long Range Proving Ground had just embarked on a multiyear
program to build a thousand mile, over ocean missile range when it was
tasked with supporting the complex launching and tracking requirements
of the last two Bumper launches. The LRPG quickly created facilities to
support the Bumper launches, under harsh environmental conditions and
with a hastily assembled team, and successfully met the Bumper launch
schedule. Although announced to the press and widely remembered as
successful, the two Bumper launches did not meet their technical
objectives.

## [THE V2 MISSILE]{.underline}

the Germans under the technical leadership of Dr. Wernher von Braun
during WWII produced a series of missiles of increasing size and
complexity, culminating in the A-4. This was later renamed the V2 (for
Vengeance) and put into mass production. At 46 feet in length with a
lift-off weight of over 14 tons, it could deliver a one ton

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Copyright  2001 by Stan Starr. Published by the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Released to
IAF/IAA/AIAA to publish in all forms.

warhead to a target 160 to 200 miles from the launch site. The V-2
missile was a technical marvel in its time. Its rocket engine had a
thrust of 28 tons^1^, exceeding by a factor of 25 any other country's
engines at the time. The development of the V-2 also required extensive
advancements in aerodynamics, control systems, structures,
manufacturing, and ground support systems. Some 5,000 A-4 missiles were
fabricated and 3500 were launched under difficult wartime conditions.
Construction of the missiles took place at an underground factory and
slave labor camp where as many as 18,000 workers died building them^2^.

As Germany collapsed, the then Colonel Holgar N. Toftoy of US Army
Ordnance boldly seized the initiative to capture leading German rocket
scientists and parts for a hundred V-2's from the concentration camp and
underground factory at Mittelwerk^3^. At the war's end, some hundreds of
box cars of V-2 parts along with tons of technical records and nearly
120 engineers were shipped to the US. Toftoy installed von Braun and the
German engineers at Fort Bliss, Texas near the newly established White
Sands Proving Ground.

Toftoy then faced the difficult problem of how to best use the talents
of the Germans in a way that considered the sensibilities of the
military in the post victory era and built upon the considerable
accomplishments of American rocket engineers. In order to create
valuable weapons systems, needed by the USA's projected war fighting
needs, such as antiaircraft missiles and precision ballistic missiles,
he would need to advance the state of the art beyond the level achieved
by von Braun and create a government/industry infrastructure capable of
building and operating such future weapons.

The captured V-2 parts were turned over to the General Electric Company
(GE) to be assembled and fired under the Army Ordnance's Project Hermes.
The goals of Hermes were to obtain experience in the handling and firing
of large missiles, to develop more advanced missile technology, and to
provide platforms for upper atmospheric research. General Electric
certainly faced a major challenge in salvaging the miscellaneous
collection of parts into working missiles. Many of the parts were
damaged or otherwise unusable. No detailed assembly and checkout plans
existed although considerable assistance was provided by the nearby
Germans and by documents developed under Operation Backfire, a British
project to document and demonstrate the V-2. With advice from the nearby
Germans, test labs were established at White Sands for component testing
including hydraulic testing of rocket engine systems using water and
full scale firing stands. In spite of these preparations, the Hermes
team experienced a 50% failure rate of the missiles launched^4^, well
below reliability values quoted for German launches during the war. In
many ways it would prove easier for engineers to build a missile from
scratch, where each component could be controlled, from mining the
metal, through fabrication, to final acceptance testing. The Hermes
project illustrated to the Americans just how difficult it would be to
design and build reliable missiles with so many critical components.

Between May 1946 and September 1952, 73 V-2's were launched at White
Sands^5^, first by General Electric and later by the First Guided
Missile Battalion. These V-2 launches were of great significance in the
development of America's missile know-how. They established a team of
Americans with the capability to launch large rockets, required the
development of critical components, and established a cadre of
scientists dedicated to space and upper atmosphere studies.

When the V-2's arrived at White Sands, a tall triangular tower was
already there, constructed in the summer of 1945 for the launch of a
small sounding rocket known as the WAC Corporal. The WAC and V-2 shared
Launch Complex 33 for the next two years and would later be married to
form the first two-stage liquid fueled rocket, the Bumper WAC.

## [JPL AND THE WAC CORPORAL]{.underline}

In 1943, the Army Air Corps asked Dr. Theodore von Karman to review
British intelligence reports of a "large caliber" German rocket under
development. His group at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory of the
California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) had made major advances in
rocket propulsion under a 1939 Army Air Force contract to study rocket
assisted take off for aircraft (jet assisted take off or JATO for
short)^6^. Von Karman, noting that current American rocket technology
was inadequate to develop rockets with a 200-mile range, proposed a
progressive development program based on the JATO motors^7^. The Air
Corps turned him down but the Ordnance Department did not. A contract
called ORDCIT would develop tactical rockets of increasing size and
complexity, from the small solid fueled Private to the large self-guided
Corporal. One might guess that by the time a missile called General was
developed, it would be pretty good!

The Private was essentially a solid fuel JATO unit with a pointed nose
and tail fins. The 92 inch long, 10 inch diameter rocket was successful
in teaching the ORDCIT team aerodynamics and in solving problems
associated with launching. When the Private project was complete, ORDCIT
was to move on to the Corporal missile, a fully self-guided tactical
weapon. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), GALCIT's rocketry spin-off,
did not yet have the required knowledge in missile controls. Frank
Malina, at this time Technical Director of JPL, credits himself^6^ with
conceiving and selling the concept of developing an unguided sounding
rocket to buy time while continuing engine and airframe development.
Army Ordnance established such a requirement in December 1944^8^.

The WAC Corporal was a 0.4 scale unguided version of the envisioned
Corporal, intended to reach an altitude of 100,000 feet with a 25 pound
payload to study the upper atmosphere. JPL would launch it from a
100-foot tower using a booster rocket to reach initial speeds of 400
feet per second, fast enough that the three tail fins would provide
stability. The WAC without booster was only 12 inches in diameter and
12.5 feet long. The WAC engine would burn red fuming nitric acid and
aniline and use compressed air to push the propellants to the rocket
chamber. An inertia valve would start compressed air flow upon reaching
a certain acceleration, eliminating the need for complex controls.
Malina stated that WAC stood for "without active control," but in the
rampant sexism of the day, it may well have stood for Women's Army Corps
as Corporal's little sister.

The WAC A was a successful sounding rocket, first launching in late 1945
and reaching to over 37 miles^5^. JPL engineers incorporated a series of
improvements into the WAC B version, first launched in December 1946.
The WAC demonstrated several new technologies including a nose cone that
could separate from the vehicle and a parachute for recovery of the
instruments. The last WAC B was launched on June 12, 1947.

## [BUMPER WAC]{.underline}

History is muddy on the origin of the idea for a V-2/WAC combination
rocket. Malina claims that Martin Summerfield of JPL proposed the
match^6^. The theoretical concept of multi-step rockets and their
advantages in reaching high velocities and even achieving earth orbit
was by now quite old. While the concept of multistage liquid fueled
rockets had long been around, the Army was now in possession of the
people and hardware needed to make it happen. According to official
project histories^8^, the idea was put forth by General Toftoy during a
meeting on June 13, 1946 between Army Ordnance, General Electric and
JPL. While the General may have been advised by his scientists on
potential program options, the Bumper concept is consistent with the
missile policy he enunciated that same month in Washington, "More
progress will result from stressing basic research and component
development for the next five years or so, than by hurrying into large
scale production improving existing missiles or early models of
promising new weapons"^9^. This project would not result in a new
practical missile design, in fact far from it. But it would require
collaboration between all of his key contributors, would demonstrate the
benefits of multistage rockets in achieving higher ranges, and explore
aerodynamics in regions beyond the capabilities of wind tunnels then
under construction.

It would also provide a major public relations boost to American missile
work. One of the benefits to working with the V-2 missiles was that they
were generally un-classified; the public was even notified of their
scheduled launches. This allowed for public engagement in an otherwise
very secretive program. Missile altitudes at White Sands had become a
focus of public attention and the potentially attainable altitudes of
the Bumper would demonstrate the tremendous advances being made and
boost public confidence.

Independent studies of mating the WAC to the V-2 were conducted by the
German engineers at Fort Bliss, General Electric, and JPL. While the
studies were underway, in October 1946, the Bumper Project was added to
General Electric's Hermes contract and to the ORDCIT project. The
program that emerged is described in the official records^8^:

> "The BUMPER was a test vehicle to investigate the feasibility of
> separation at high velocity of a two-stage missile; to obtain missile
> velocities and altitudes higher than those attainable by other means;
> and to conduct limited investigations of high speed, high altitude
> phenomena such as missile skin temperature rise."

The Fort Bliss Bumper design study was coauthored by von Braun and
identified several key problems including keeping the V-2 stable in
flight, cleanly launching the WAC and the flight stability of the WAC in
the nearly airless upper atmosphere. JPL carried out trajectory analyses
for different mission profiles including nearly vertical ones to reach
maximum altitudes and flat trajectories to reach maximum speeds (and
thus maximum aerodynamic pressure and temperature).

The aerodynamic instability of the Bumper was solved by submerging the
WAC tail into the nose of the V-2. This moved both the Bumper center of
gravity back and covered the WAC fins thus increasing stability by
moving the vehicle's center of drag behind its center of mass. The WAC's
flight stability concern was resolved by both increasing the number of
fins from three to four, and by spinning the WAC just after separation
by firing two small solid rocket motors. Successfully launching the WAC
from the moving platform of the V-2 was a very difficult problem.
Particular concern revolved around the effect of the WAC's rocket blast
on the V-2 while they were still attached and the need to keep the WAC's
liquid propellants pushed into the bottom of their tanks. The liquids
would be kept in place by igniting the WAC while the V-2 was still
firing at a reduced thrust. The WAC would be nested into 4 short
flexible rails attached to the V-2 nose. Small wheels mounted on the WAC
body would guide the small rocket out of its cocoon straight along the
V-2 axis. Two blast doors in the V-2 nose would pop open at WAC ignition
to vent the hot exhaust away. Douglas Aircraft was hired to fabricate
the flight kits including the modified WAC B vehicles while GE installed
the modifications onto the V-2's.

Considerable laboratory work was required to verify that the WAC could
be made to work at high altitudes while rapidly spinning. One test
involved emptying a clear tank of propellant while spinning to
photograph the meniscus and verify that most of the fluid would come out
before the compressed air reached the outlet. Perhaps the most
challenging test involved spinning the WAC motor while firing to ensure
that the centrifugal forces did not adversely affect the impingement of
the fuel and oxidizer jets in the combustion chamber. These tests showed
that spinning the WAC would not significantly affect its
performance^10^.

JPL's calculations indicated that because the WAC was unguided, it would
have a large potential impact area. Vertical flights could be
accomplished safely at White Sands but for parabolic flights^8^ "the
danger area around the expected impact point would be so large that it
appeared necessary to *consider an over-water firing range* for such a
missile" (author's italics). Any trajectory other than nearly straight
up, would require a test facility which did not exist in 1946.

The WAC would carry a 50 pound payload consisting of a Doppler
receiver/transmitter for speed and position of the missile, and a
rudimentary telemetry system which would provide missile nose cone
temperature and operational data from the V-2 and WAC. This would allow
scientists to measure height, speed, acceleration, and to infer
aerodynamic drag by measuring how quickly it slowed down in free flight.
The nose temperature would indicate the severity of aerodynamic heating,
a major unknown in hypersonic flight.

The first six Bumper flights were conducted from White Sands in May and
August of 1948. The first two launches used a solid rocket motor in
place of the WAC to test the stage separation. The first was a success
but in the second, the V-2 engine cut off after only 33.5 seconds
(normal burn time was about 65 seconds). The third and fourth "rounds"
carried WAC-B's with reduced fuel load in September and November of
1948. Both failed, the third due to explosion of the second stage motor
during ignition which resulted in the WAC propellants streaming down the
sides of the V-2 and enveloping it in flame. The WAC motor was recovered
and showed the banana peel marks of a chamber explosion. For some
reason, the motor had not started smoothly at altitude and considerable
propellant had built up before ignition. As Herman Bank, Project
Engineer for the WAC recently stated, "\...we had made some tests that
were on the ground with a small vacuum container over the end of the
rocket to simulate high-altitude ignition. But unfortunately it wasn't
big enough to simulate the upper stage actual conditions. So when we
fired the first one, we blew up the motor. We recognized afterwards that
it wasn't an adequate test. We put a diaphragm over the end of the
exhaust nozzle and it worked fine."^11^

The fourth Bumper flight failed when the V-2 engine shut down. The WAC
then separated from the V-2 (due to its higher mass to drag ratio).
Surprisingly, the V-2 engine restarted and passed the WAC in flight.
Bumper 6 would also fail, again due to the V-2, but with the fifth
round, the Bumper WAC program hit pay dirt.

On February 24, 1949 Bumper 5 reached 5,000 miles per hour and climbed
to 244 miles, more than double the 110 miles reached by a V-2 on
December 17, 1946. As Malina later stated, "Thus the WAC became the
first recorded man-made object to enter extra-terrestrial space, and the
"space age" could be said to have been opened in the U.S.A. in 1949"^6^.
Out of four true Bumper WAC's fired, only one was successful, but it
accomplished most of the program's goals to achieve high altitude, high
velocities and demonstrate the launching of one liquid fueled rocket
from another in flight. In addition, Bumper 5 showed that radio
communication could be sustained through the ionosphere. Because of high
winds aloft, the WAC went far off course. Its parts were discovered
accidentally seven months later by a cowboy named Kennedy. Bob Droz, a
JPL technician, was sent out to recover the parts which showed the
effects of melting of the magnesium spin rocket cases and considerable
melting on the leading edges of the fins^11^.

Now it was time for the program to move to an over-water range to try
for high speeds in the lower atmosphere.

## [THE CAPE]{.underline}

When the Army established the White Sands Proving Ground in 1945, they
knew that it would be inadequate to test some of the long range missiles
then being conceived. Each military service was actively scouting for
longer test ranges. In October 1946, a committee to study the
feasibility of establishing a long range proving ground for testing
guided missiles was established under the Joint Research and Development
Board. This board was established during the time of plummeting Truman
military budgets to eliminate duplication^12^. This was a confusing
period of competition between the services and departments involving
conflicts over future roles and shrinking budgets. Missile programs had
been initiated by the Army Air Corps, Army Ordnance, Navy Bureau of
Ordnance and Navy Bureau of Aeronautics^13^. Each service jostled for
position and tried to have various committees give it the mandate for
various weapon systems. At this time, the Air Force's desired approach
to guided missiles involved descendants of the German V-1, jet powered
unmanned airplanes with ranges into the thousands of miles.

General William L. Richardson of the Army Air Force headed the Committee
on the Long Range Proving Ground. Richardson had led the IXth Air
Defense Command during the war which was responsible for the air defense
of Antwerp during its major bombardment by the Germans using V-1's and
V-2's^14^. After the war, Richardson was named to head the Air Force
Guided Missile Group; there he was a key player in promoting Air Force
interests in guided missiles. The Long Range Proving Ground Committee
would have equal service representation but would be led by the Air
Force whose flying missiles would have the longest range.

The committee first assessed the requirement for such a range by
reviewing current and projected missile development and training needs.
Finding the need urgent they proceeded directly to site selection. The
committee established criteria for a range location including an
existing base area with supporting facilities within the continental
United States, a range at least 3,000 miles long with observation
stations for the first 500 miles, and a climate allowing for year round
operations. Among the more detailed criteria was, "Since electronic
devices are important in down range instrumentation, the regions of
natural electronic disturbances must be avoided"^15^. An interesting
note, considering the final selection is that Central Florida has been
called the lightning capital of the world.

The committee submitted its report in June of 1947 giving as its first
choice an area extending south from El Centro, California, along the
Gulf of California and as their second choice was a range from Cocoa,
Florida extending southeastward along the Bahama Island chain^12^. An
errant Hermes missile from White Sands that crashed next to a cemetery
in Juarez, Mexico on May, 29 1947, and the resulting uproar, convinced
the military of the immediacy of the problem and may have laid the
ground work for a report the following January stating that, "the
political climate in Mexico precluded the possibility of obtaining
permission from the Mexican government" for the military's first choice
for a range location. In that same month, conversations with the British
indicated a willingness to establish range stations on Bahamian islands.
Originally the second choice, politics promoted the Cape into the lead.

The site chosen for the Joint Long Range Proving Ground (JLRPG) included
a launching area at the remote Cape Canaveral, midway down the east
coast of Florida, along with a recently decommissioned Navy air base 17
miles to the south. During World War II, the Banana River Naval Air
Station provided anti-submarine aircraft search capability for the
central Florida coast. The many merchant ships torpedoed in Florida
waters during WWII attests to the importance of this Station. In August
1947, after completing major upgrades to the runways and other
facilities, the station was inactivated and placed in caretaker status.

In August 1948, the base was transferred to the Air Force to provide a
base of operation for the Joint Long Range Proving Ground^12^ although
the project had yet to be approved by Congress and was kept secret from
the American public. The JLRPG was administered from Washington D.C. by
a committee representing Army, Air Force, and Navy and chaired by
Richardson. He was also able to recruit Col. Harold Turner, who had been
the first base commander for the White Sands Proving Ground, to
represent the Army and act as his deputy. In August 1948, fifteen airmen
from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida's panhandle arrived to provide
security and fire protection, the first residents of the JLRPG.

While the Air Force would manage the overall operations of the proving
ground, including launch operations and flight safety, other services
would play major roles. The Army Corps of Engineers would provide for
construction of the facilities in the U.S. while the Navy Bureau of
Yards and Docks would plan and construct the downrange monitoring sites.
The Army Signal Corps would be responsible for communications systems
including radio and telephone links to the island stations.
Instrumentation would be provided by a "working group" consisting of
Watson Laboratories (Air Force) and the Signal Corps Engineering
Laboratories (Army) next door at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and
Ballistic Research Laboratories in Maryland. These labs had built up the
instrumentation at White Sands and had greatly extended work started by
the Germans on missile tracking using optical telescopes and radio
tracking using the Doppler effect.

In May 1949, a bill creating the Joint Long Range Proving Ground and
appropriating 75 million dollars over three years was signed by
President Truman. The public only then learned of the military's plan to
establish a proving ground at the Cape. It was announced that the range
would initially operate out to 500 miles but could be extended to 5,000
miles^17^. Now that funding and other approvals were official,
activation of the facility, which had been quietly underway, increased
to a high tempo.

Colonel Turner assumed provisional command in October 1949 as personnel
began pouring into the area. His biggest problems turned out to be
housing and mosquitoes. In October there were 457 people working on the
range already and by the end of December the number had risen to
820^12^.

Norris Gray was one of sixteen personnel transferred from Anniston
Ordnance Depot in Alabama where he had become an expert in ordnance
handling after the war. He had served in the 9^th^ Infantry Division as
chief of section artillery and fought in campaigns from North Africa to
Germany including one operation where V-2 missiles were captured intact.
He was glad to return to Florida as he and his bride had been raised in
Tampa. He transferred to Banana River in October of 1949^17^. He found
the base in very poor condition when he arrived: "I was going to move in
the second house south of the Officers Club, which was called Silver
Beach at that time. So we started to open the front door. Well the front
door fell off and the back door fell off. Go in and look over and the
commode had fallen over. One of the Navy guys finally came up and said,
'Sir, you've got big problems.' I said, 'I sure have.' He said, 'Rapid
oxidation's got you.' And from then on we knew it was rust!"

Elizabeth Bain was a recently divorced mother working as a senior clerk
in personnel at Watson Labs recruiting personnel to work at the Cape.
Her group was to be transferred to Rome, New York and she vehemently
resisted the transfer. Her supervisor suggested that she consider moving
to the Cape herself and support the staffing. She discussed this with
her two daughters and they agreed. Fortunately for her, an engineer
named Bill Wrye had purchased a house in the area and offered it to her.
In the beginning of 1950, Liz and her two daughters, aged 11 and 12
drove down to a place called Cocoa Beach. She had great trouble
adjusting partly due to unfriendly neighbors and a bout of rheumatic
fever^18^.

Dick Jones, a veteran of the Italian campaign, was part of the Fort
Monmouth communications group at White Sands when he received the call
to move to the Cape. As he recently related^19^, "They said we want you
to stop here and we want you to go over to a place called Cape
Canaveral. So we all grabbed for a road map of Florida to see where that
was. A whole bunch of us took off in Army vehicles with as much
communications equipment as we could pack in them and headed for the
Cape. I remember getting into Cocoa and I asked somebody where Cape
Canaveral was and they said you go across this wooden bridge and when
you come to the ocean, hang a left. I said something about the Naval Air
Station and they said well then you got to take a right when you get to
the ocean and you go through a little town called Cocoa beach. There' a
little fish and chips place there called Fishers, when you see that you
keep going south and then you'll hit the base."

The mosquitoes were terrible. The second aircraft received by the base
was dedicated to mosquito control. Experiments on different methods of
mosquito control were officially started in mid-1949 and turned into a
minor industry. Harvey Huntington received a check for \$125 for
developing a new mosquito fog generator that used less than half the
chemicals of previous systems and produced a much better fog^20^. Other
wildlife, especially rattle snakes, raised great concerns for those
working in the launching area. The base motor pool initiated a policy
requiring all drivers dispatched to the Cape to "take enough snake bite
kits to care for any passengers who might be bitten"^12^.

Land acquisition and improvement at the launch site was a top priority.
The Coast Guard allowed the Range to use two and a half square miles of
property around the Cape Canaveral lighthouse while the base took legal
action to obtain another 12,000 acres (at an average of \$100 per acre).
This would displace only some 60 residents^12^.

#### BUMPER PREPARATIONS

The original plans were for the Range to be partially operational in
late 1951 but various programs were clamoring for support. Army Ordnance
wanted to complete the Bumper project so that personnel could be
reallocated to pressing weapons development projects such as Corporal.
In June of 1949 the JLRPG accepted the Bumper project in expectations
that quick release of funds would permit the construction of a suitable
launch facility by January of 1950. Naturally, the needed funds were
delayed.

The two Bumpers would explore a range of high speed flow outside the
capabilities of wind tunnels and existing missile data (generally up to
Mach 4). The V-2 would launch in a vertical trajectory then heel over to
an inclination of only 20 degrees before releasing the WAC. This was
expected to result in velocities exceeding Mach 5 at much higher
atmospheric pressure than experienced by Bumper 5. The purpose of these
flights was to verify theoretical models of high speed aerodynamic
conditions including those put forward by von Karman. In addition to
measuring temperature and pressure, small models were to be installed on
the tip of the WAC and lift measured. To protect the nose cone
instruments a special teflon covering was developed by General Electric.
JPL had developed an insulating covering for the WAC body and fins.
According to JPL technician Bob Droz this consisted of perlite, a clear
granular mineral powder insulation, mixed with sodium silicate also
called "water glass"^21^.

Many organizations were involved in the firings. The Long Range Proving
Ground provided facilities, overall support, and coordination. Colonel
Turner would be responsible for flight safety while Lt. Colonel Thomas
L. Mann was assigned as chief of the launching branch. Orchestration of
all participants including writing the countdown procedure fell to Major
Robert H. Offley, Jr. General Electric had overall responsibility for
preparing and launching the vehicle with the assistance of the 1st
Guided Missile Battalion from White Sands. Douglas Aircraft and JPL
prepared the WAC. The Navy provided two tracking ships, the *USS
Sarsfield* and the *USS Foss* from Key West. Fort Monmouth provided all
communications systems including telephones, telemetry recording, and
interference control. The Ballistic Research Laboratory provided range
measurement instrumentation.

It was expected that a paved road connecting the north terminus of A1A
to the launch area would be finished by the time of the launches. It
would need to have the bearing strength to withstand the 15 ton gross
weight of the liquid oxygen trailer and be straight enough for the
German-made Meilerwagen, used to transport and erect the V-2^22^. A
blockhouse made from reinforced concrete and providing 500 square feet
of working space was to be in place 500 feet from the launch pad.

Personnel from the Cape, including Norris Gray, went to White Sands in
October to review their procedures and facilities. Upon their return
they trained other personnel in the details of launch operations. The
launch dates were slipped to July 19th and 26th for Bumpers 7 and 8
respectively.

Funding was finally released in May when a contract for \$258,000 was
let with Duval Engineering Company to build a concrete launching pad and
provide a paved road four and seven tenths miles in length from A1A to
the launch site. Another contract for \$80,000 was let to Ingram
Plumbing for installation of potable and fire fighting water systems in
the launch area^23^. The decision had been made to forgo the
sophisticated blockhouse and instead install a temporary command shelter
due to lack of time. The pad, at least, would be quite sophisticated.
The 100 foot square structure covered a system of access tunnels and
hatches so that equipment could be placed below pad level. The pad
surface was bounded by a lip several inches high and sloped east, toward
the beach. The fire fighting water system was connected to a series of
small nozzles along the western side used to flood the pad before launch
to protect the concrete surface and to wash away chemical spills. The
pad tunnels led to a buried cable tray allowing cables to be routed to
the new blockhouse when built. For Bumper, cables were simply laid in a
rough wooden cable tray along the ground. The pad and the water system
were the only permanent facilities used to support the Bumper tests.
Electronic gear was housed in truck trailers, tents and temporary wooden
structures. As General Richardson said, the launches "will be held on a
'picnic' or rough and ready basis"^24^.

Concern over the extensive communications systems required in the launch
area drove Fort Monmouth to cobble together a Provisional Communications
Detachment from available personnel who were sent down to the Cape in
February. Ed Belcher had served in the South Pacific during the war and
had just completed a tour shipping horses and mules to Selonica and
Athens and was eligible for reassignment^25^. "So they said we got a
place for you, we're going to ship you to Florida and I thought that was
nice\...I like Miami." His group of 43 was shipped down on a C-54
transport in heavy winter gear. Unfortunately, they had not been cleared
to land at Banana River and had to land at the small airport in
Titusville. They were paid with checks and had no place to cash them.
The trip was a mess but they were eventually housed at an old Navy
barracks next to Hanger 751 where the Bumper equipment was kept. Ed's
unit set about installing telephone poles, cables and switchboards
throughout the launch area.

The V-2 was to be launched due east with separation of the WAC to occur
about 50 miles out over the Atlantic. The *USS Sarsfield* would be
positioned almost directly under the separation point and be equipped
with a tracking telescope to observe and film the separation. A Doppler
transmitter system would be located near the lighthouse just south of
the launch site. Its transmitted signals would be received by the WAC
and retransmitted to four ground based receivers. There were also two
locations of Askania tracking telescopes. The data from these
instruments would be used to reconstruct the trajectory of the Bumpers
and not only provide insight into possible failures but also estimate
aerodynamic drag. The *USS Foss* would be used to help clear the range
and position itself 200 miles from the launch site, hopefully to locate
the impact site of the WAC^26^.

On June 18, a convoy arrived with the V-2 missiles and the WAC's arrived
by aircraft. Two days later the construction crews completed the shell
roads, blockhouse, and pad. Paving of the road was delayed until after
the Bumper tests. On June 30 the gantry scaffolding was completed along
with the umbilical pole. The gantry consisted of two sections of 12
level painters' scaffolding on castor wheels. These could be rolled up
and sandwiched around the missile in minutes providing access to all
levels for loading of propellants, installation of batteries, parts
replacement and other access needs. Three days later the cables had been
routed between the umbilical disconnects and the "block house." The only
protection the wood frame blockhouse came from its position behind a
high sand berm. A large periscope made from a thick mirror and sheet of
aluminum allowed the command center a good view of the missile area.

One key concern was electromagnetic interference from vehicles during
the test especially when the range safety ordnance was "live." Fort
Monmouth provided a sophisticated radio interference van but the
detachment was still woefully short of personnel. As Liz Bain
recalls^18^, "My boss, Colonel James, called me in and said you, you and
you are going to work up at the Cape. To me that was one of the goofiest
things I had ever heard of." She was assigned to work in the Radio
Interference Van sitting on the north east corner of the pad, just feet
from the missile. "The Army would pick us up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the
morning and we would ride up to the Cape in the back of Army
trucks\...So we got up there and there was no place to eat, no place to
get a drink of water, no nothing, no bathrooms, so what are we going to
do\... And it was so hot in there, imaging this time of year, it was
just terrible. So these little GI's in this rinky dink van said ok we'll
fix you up. So they hooked up a long extension cord and here I was
sitting out by the missile, could almost put my feet up on the
thing\..."

On July 13 a full dress rehearsal was conducted of the range assets and
procedures, the first of three such tests. Finally, on July 17, after
range instrumentation and the road to the Pad were declared ready,
Bumper 7 was transported out to the Cape. Using the Meilerwagen, the
vehicle was erected onto its launch stand and rotated to its aim
azimuth. The next day the final rehearsal, what would later be called a
"plugs in" test of the vehicle and range, was conducted.

Cape Fire Chief Norris Gray provided personal memories^27^: "There
wasn't much on the Cape in 1950, except the lighthouse and a few private
homes\...Wires leading from the blockhouse to the pad were in an open
wooden trough. Because the fire department crews had to stay near the
missile 24 hours a day we slept on the pad itself. I didn't get home for
two weeks. Food was sent up daily from Patrick and we bathed in a nearby
pond. We shaved about every third day. There were a million mosquitoes
at the Cape then and they pestered us day and night. They were so thick,
when I sprayed repellant on my arms they would get matted in my hair and
my arms would look black."

"On the day of the first launch, all of the Cape residents were
evacuated to safety. That is all except one. There was an old lady who
lived about a half mile \[north\] of the missile site, and she refused
to budge. When anyone approached her house, she aimed a double-barreled
shotgun at them and they scrambled for cover. For some reason though,
she would talk to me, and I finally convinced her to leave. She told me
she didn't even know how to load that shotgun."

Surprisingly, all was ready for the scheduled launch on the 19^th^. The
countdown had begun the night before at midnight, with loading of the
missile propellants, which in the case of the WAC, 32 gallon carboys
were hand hoisted up the scaffold to be funneled into the rocket. Acid
was spilled down the side of the missile and a delay occurred while it
was inspected and washed.^26^ The WAC spin rockets failed but it was
decided to launch without replacing them. (Spinning the WAC was really
unnecessary in these flights.) At "X" minus 4 hours the Doppler unit
failed and was replaced. Later the Doppler reference transmitter failed
causing an additional delay of 5 hours. The launch originally scheduled
for 0800 was eventually slipped for these and other reasons until the
firing command was given at 1720 hours.

As was reported in the *Florida Times Union* on July 20, "When they
finally got around to pulling the firing switch on the giant device ---
it produced only a popping noise, hardly worthy of a champagne cork".
The missile engine compartment was saturated with condensed moisture
since the adjacent liquid oxygen tank had been full for 7 hours. A short
in a fuel solenoid valve caused the failure^26^. This was probably
fortunate since other short circuits would have likely occurred. The
Cape had experienced its first on pad abort and fire, but this would not
become the key anniversary date.

Five days later, on July 24, 1950 Bumper 8 was in its final countdown.
The scheduled launch time of 0800 slipped to 0928 to replace a failed
telemetry transmitter and a fuel cut off receiver. Norris Gray watched
the launch with a small group of men inside the communications shed, a
roofing felt covered wood frame building less than three hundred feet
from the V-2. With him were "Pappy" White, launch director for General
Electric, Lt. Colonel Tommy Mann, Chief of the Launching Branch, and
several others^17^. Liz Bain and her truck had moved off the pad into
the palmettos to watch from a safe distance^18^. Ed Belcher had worked a
twelve-hour shift and decided to take a quick nap. He would sleep
through the first launch from the Cape^25^.

Seconds after launch the missile passed through a cloud layer at 20,000
feet and was obscured from view from the launch area but for a dark
shadow of the contrail that raced across the cloud layer^28^. The first
Cape launch appeared to onlookers to be a success but at 63 seconds the
WAC separated, appeared to break-up and signal from the Doppler unit was
lost. Colonel Turner had the range destruct package activated on the V-2
before it hit the water.

Analysis of tracking data showed that the missile had heeled over to
only 10 degrees from horizontal when the planned trajectory angle was 22
degrees. The overall trajectory was much lower than planned. Camera
footage from the *USS Sarsfield* indicated that the WAC nose had
collapsed presumably due to aerodynamic pressure. The launch was
announced to the press as a success. It was successful from the
standpoint of the range, all tracking systems and safety systems worked
properly, but no aerodynamic data was gathered.

JPL and Douglas engineers strengthened the nose for the WAC and included
a dye pack to mark the impact point in the ocean for possible recovery
of wreckage. Bumper 7 was loaded back on the Meilerwagen. Concern for
morning tropical weather and its impact on optical coverage caused the
launch time to be moved up to 0700. The count went even more rapidly
than planned however, and the missile was fired at 0644. Again after
lift off, it took a flatter lower altitude trajectory than planned. At
61 seconds, the V-2 engine dropped to 8 tons of thrust and sent the
ignition signal to the WAC. The missile was almost 14 miles east of the
pad at an altitude of 8.5 miles when WAC separation occurred^29^. The
WAC fired for 40 seconds accelerating to only 3286 miles per hour, a
little over half the target velocity.

GE would later find that the special gyro units built for these tests
had what is known as a "sneak circuit." These units had both a gyro
erection circuit to spin up the gyros before launch and a drive circuit
to rotate the pitch gyro causing precession, in turn controlling the
missile pitch to follow a desired trajectory. At lift off the erection
circuit is supposed to be deactivated and the precession circuit
activated. On Bumper 7 and 8, the erection circuit stayed active causing
the gyros to over precess so the missiles followed a shallower than
desired trajectory^4^.

The story doesn't end there however. The launches were declared
successes by the military and since the performance of the WAC portion
of the missile was classified, they didn't need to reveal the failures.
Over time a mythology grew that the shots were successful. Even the
direct participants remember them as successes. In a post launch press
conference Colonel Turner stated that the launch was^30^, "a complete
success in every way." The newspaper reported his other statements to
the effect that Bumper had achieved a speed of over 3600 miles per hour.
While this is true it conceals the fact that the target velocity was
much higher. Later reports, including an official publication from White
Sands would state^31^, "Not withstanding the error in trajectory, Bumper
7 attained a speed of Mach 9, the highest sustained speed that had ever
been reached in the atmosphere." While technically the speed reached was
the highest, if we discount Bumper 5 as having attained its high speed
out of the atmosphere, it certainly represents a severe case of "spin
doctoring."

The day after the Bumper 7, Colonel Turner was stricken with a cerebral
hemorrhage and hospitalized^12^. He would recover although he left the
service in November. Two days later, the Base was renamed after General
Mason M. Patrick, leader of the Army Air Corps in WWI.

The Cape launch area was designated the Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air
Force Base in 1951, the first of five name changes^32^. From the Bumper
launches through December 1999, the Cape would support 3182
launches^32^, about the same number as the V2's launched by the Germans
in WWII.

##### THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

The year in question, 1950, was significant in rocketry for a number of
reasons. The Korean War and the previous year's detonation of a nuclear
device by Russia increased America's emphasis on rocket programs
including the reinstatement of some that had been cancelled. It was also
the year that von Braun's team was moved to Huntsville, Alabama. They
formed the technical core of a project called Redstone that developed an
upgraded V-2 type missile using American components and tooling. Members
of von Braun's team, returned to the Cape in 1953 to begin flight tests
of the Redstone and moved permanently in 1956 (14). A modified version
of the Redstone, called Jupiter C, launched the first American
satellite, Explorer 1, in January 1958. Von Braun's team evolved into
the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Kennedy Space Center with
German engineers assuming key management and technical positions in the
expanding NASA organization.

In the meantime, JPL completed the fully controlled Corporal missile but
slowly phased out of missile research preferring that industry perform
engineering. Frank Malina left JPL to work for the United Nations then
later, rich from stock in Aerojet Corporation, a spin off company that
he, von Karman and other JPL pioneers started, he moved to Paris to
become a somewhat successful artist. Aerojet and Douglas Aircraft
evolved the WAC into a sounding rocket for the Navy called the Aerobee,
which continued to be a very successful research tool until 1985 when
the last round was fired from White Sands. JPL, under the leadership of
Dr. William Pickering, again collaborated with the Redstone engineers on
the Explorer 1, when JPL provided unguided upper stages including the
satellite. JPL went on to become the world's premier builders of deep
space probes.

Standing on the cracked and rust stained concrete of the Complex 3
launch pad, in the shadow of the modern Atlas launch gantry, it is
difficult to imagine those days 50 years ago when men and women
struggled against the elements and odds to launch two modern rockets
here. In a few hot weeks in June and July, in the middle of this then
barren palmetto scrub, they built a launch complex and launched two
missiles. These missile shots are now all but forgotten footnotes in the
long history of rocketry at the Cape. Later launches allowed the U.S. to
surpass the Soviets in ballistic missiles, place artificial satellites
in earth orbit, launch probes through out the solar system, and send
humans to the Moon. Now the Cape, a Spaceport, delivers spacecraft into
orbit that are so useful and pervasive that people hardly know they even
exist.

Norris Gray stayed at the Cape, eventually joining and retiring from
NASA. He is still active in space circles locally where he enjoys
telling young people about the early days. Liz Bain continued to work
for the Air Force and married an Air Force officer involved in the Snark
program. She has retired to the local area. Ed Belcher met his future
bride while on his short assignment at the Cape and after many more
adventures retired back to the Melbourne, Florida area. Dick Jones
stayed at the Cape, married Colonel Turner's secretary, and assumed a
leadership role as a civil servant in range communications. He now works
as a volunteer at the Space and Missile Museum on the Cape. Bob Droz
went on to a successful career in the space business, first with JPL
then later with TRW is retired in California. Herman Bank is active in a
group of retired JPL space engineers who help develop medical
technologies.

## [REFERENCES]{.underline}

1\. [Vengeance Weapon 2; The V-2 Guided Missile]{.underline}, Kennedy,
Gregory P., Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983

2\. [The Rocket and the Reich. Peenemunde and the Coming of the
Ballistic Missile Era]{.underline}, Neufeld, Michael J., The Free Press,
1995

3\. [The Rocket Team]{.underline}, Ordway, Frederick I. III and Sharpe,
Michael, Thomas Y. Crowell Publishers, 1979.

4\. [Final Report, Project Hermes V-2 Missile Program]{.underline},
White L.D., Report number R52A0510, General Electric, 1952

5\. "Historic White Sands Missile Range", J. W. Powell and K. J. Scala,
[Journal of the British Interplanetary Society]{.underline}, Vol. 47,
pp. 82-98,1994

6\. "America's First Long-Range-Missile and Space Exploration Program:
The ORDCIT Project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1943-1946: A
Memoir", Malina, Frank J., in [Essays on the History of Rocketry and
Astronautics: Proceedings of the Third Through the Sixth History
Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics]{.underline}, Vol.
II, NASA CP-2014, 1977

7\. "Memorandum on the Possibilities of Long Range Rocket Projectiles,"
von Karman, Theodore, California Institute of Technology, November 20,
1943

8\. [Development of the Corporal: The Embryo of the Army Missile
Program]{.underline}, J. W. Bragg, Historical Monograph 4, Army
Ballistic Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, April 1961

9\. [Science with a Vengeance]{.underline}, DeVorkin, David H.,
Springer-Verlag, 1992

10\. "Progress Report on Bumper Vehicle -- A Two Stage Rocket-Powered
Test Vehicle", Haviland, R. P., Report R50A0501, General Electric,
February 1950

11\. Oral History, Robert Droz and Herman Bank, conducted on July 24,
2000 by Dr. Roger Launius, Dr. Lori Walters, and Stan Starr, NASA HQ
Archives.

12\. [Chronology of Atlantic Missile Range and Air Force Missile Test
Center, 1938 - 1959]{.underline}, History Office, 6550^th^ Air Base
Group, Air Force Eastern Test Range, undated.

13\. [Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force,
1945-1960]{.underline}, Neufeld, J., Office of Air Force History,
Government Printing Office, 1990

14\. "General Richardson Named for Rank of Major General,"
[Missileer]{.underline}, Vol. 1 No. 26, July 31, 1950

15\. Subcommittee Hearings on H.R. 1741, To Authorize the Establishment
of a Long Range Proving Ground\...House of Representatives, Committee on
Armed Services, Subcommittee No. 1, Monday February 14. 1949. Remarks of
Gen. Richardson

16\. "Fact Sheet, The Joint Long Range Proving Ground," June 1, 1949,
National Military Establishment, Office of Public Information

17\. Oral History, Norris Gray, Interviewers Dr. Roger Launius, Dr. Lori
Walters, Stan Starr, September 25, 2000, NASA HQ Archives

18\. Oral History, Elizabeth (Carlton) Bain, Interviewers Dr. Roger
Launius, Dr. Lori Walters, Stan Starr, September 25, 2000, NASA HQ
Archives

19\. Oral History, Dick Jones, Interviewers Dr. Roger Launius, Dr. Lori
Walters, Stan Starr, September 25, 2000, NASA HQ Archives

20\. "'Harvey Huntington's Fog Generator Wins Big Prize,"
[Missileer]{.underline}, Vol. 1, No. 25, July 24, 1950

21\. Oral communication with Robert Droz, 9/29/00

22\. Minutes of a Bumper Conference at White Sands Proving Ground,
October 24-25, 1949, by R. P. Haviland, Project Hermes

23\. "Construction is Started at Base launch Area,"
[Missileer]{.underline}, Vol. 1 No. 16, May 22, 1950

24\. "Missile will be Launched July 19," [Missileer]{.underline}, Vol. 1
No. 22, July 3, 1950

25\. Oral History, Ed Belcher, Interviewers Dr. Roger Launius, Dr. Lori
Walters, Stan Starr, September 25, 2000, NASA HQ Archives

26\. ["Bumper" Missiles No. 7 & 8]{.underline}, LRPG Technical Report
No. 1, September 29, 1950

27\. "Cape Veteran Recalls First Launch", [Spaceport News]{.underline},
Vol. 2, number 29, NASA Launch Operations Center, Cape Canaveral,
Florida, July 18, 1963. The change to "north" was made with the
permission of Mr. Gray on 6/8/00 to correct an error in the original
article.

28\. "'Bumper' 8 Takes Off!," [Missileer]{.underline}, Vol. 1, No. 26,
July 31, 1950

29\. "Summary of DOVAP Reductions for Bumper Round No. VII Launched 29
July 50," Technical Note No. 351, Ballistic Research Laboratories,
November 1950

30\. "Missile at Cocoa Roars Over Sea at 3600 MPH," United Press
International, Tuesday, July 25, 1950.

31\. [White Sands History, Range Beginnings and Early Missile
Testing]{.underline}, Brown, E., Robertson, J., Kroehnke, J., Poisall,
C., and Cross, E., Public Affairs, White Sands, N. M. (original date
1959).

32\. "Milt", M. Salamon, [Florida Today]{.underline}, Thursday, April,
13, 2000 (Cape names were provided to Mr. Salamon by Cliff Lethbridge)

33\. "Painting By Numbers, A Statistical Analysis of Cape Canaveral
Launches, the First 50 Years", Cliff Lethbridge, [Proceedings of the
37th Space Congress]{.underline}, Cocoa Beach Florida, May 2000