Evening star., 1962-08-12

MI. WlllldLlS - SURF AID Q6~
velopments viii pay off hand
somely in development Of the
Supersonic transport, the pro-
jected giant that may be flying
thrice the speed of sound high
above today's commercial jet
ways in the 1970s.
Mr.. Williams, whose present
responsibilities give him a lively
interest in rocket propulsion, is
high in his praise Of KISS
engine.
Its considerably more So
phisticated than any of our
missile engines of comparable
size" he emphasizes. The Kills
propulsion plant, called "XLR-
SO" is close to the size Of the
Redstone engines that boosted
Alan Shepard and Gus" Girls
som on their suborbital Mer-
curry missions.
Cost $50 Million
Engine development eventu-
ally cost about $50 million, or
approximately one = fourth Of
the total program cost.
The planes handlers are as
enthusiastic about XLR-99 as
they are about other elements
of the plane. The power plant
was manufactured by Thiokol
Chemicals Reaction Motors Di-
vision. formerly Reaction Mo-
tors, Inc, an independent
rocket-engine concern in New
Jersey. AS a point of current
affairs interest. the engines
fuel is anhydrous ammonia,
which Billie Sol Estes made
famous.
Like any rocket. Kills has a
voracious appetite for fuel.
Nearly 10 Of the planes 16 tons
of launching weight represent
propellant: AZ tons Of anhy-
drous ammonia plus So tons
of liquid oxygen. This is gulped
down, on the average, in 80 Sec
onds Of powered flight.
The strange bill Of materials
aboard Kills at launching also
includes ITS pounds of nitro
gen for pressurizing propellant
tanks and for the cockpit's in
ert atmospheric; a small sup
ply Of breathing oxygen for the
pilot; a quantity Of 90 per cent
hydrogen peroxide for the tiny
attitude control Jets that func-
ton at heights where ailerons
and tail surfaces are useless
and a small amount of helium,
used for certain pressure jobs.
Mother Craft UngainIy
Loaded and ready to go on a
mission, Kills weighs between
$4,000 and $4,000 pounds.
This is only part of the burden
that must be lifted to alti-
tude-typically $4,000 feet-by
the B-52 mother ship. With
Kills nestled beneath its right
wing. the huge modified bomb
er looks-and is-rather un-
lgainly at takeoff. Harry Archer,
the RAF pilot, describes the
problem Of flying q B-52 on
an Kills mission:
THE No. 3 fuel tank, which
normally fits in the starboard
wing, has been taken out to
provide a mounting for the py-
lon carrying Kills. In the bomb
bay, you're carrying a $4,000
pound Lox' (liquid oxygen)
tank for topping Of the KISS
supply Just before launching.
THE forward fuel tank Of
the B-52 has been removed to
make way for nitrogen and
helium storage. All this tank
age modification makes the
fuel scheduling completely diff
ferent.
"The actual flying difference
is that the B-52's flaps are de-
activated. the reason being that
they had to cut a large chunk
out of the starboard flap to
provide room to fit the KISS
tail in. So we take off and land
without flaps"
On a hot day at this desert
base. Mr.. Archer says, the
B-52's takeoff roll can well ex-
coed two miles. ANY time the
takeoff roll, as computed, ex-
ceeds 10000 feet, we use the
dry-lake bed for takeoff," he
explains. Kills mission require
ments just about double a
B-52's normal runway de-
mands.
On those occasions when
Kills is not dropped, "the best
thing you can do is just forget
about the X-15 under the wing
and go ahead and land it like
a perfectly normal B-52,"
Archer says.
Cost Is High
Last fiscal years perform
ance of 81 per cent successful
launchings is an encouraging
upward trend. The higher this
batting average" gets. the
lower will be the cost of useful
Kills research.
KISS operations budget last
year was about $24 million. Pro-
rated across the 81 launching
attempts made between July /,
1861 and June 80, 1862, this
works out to about $750,000 per
mission. But only 10 of the
flights went the whole distance,
and on this basis the program
cost about $1,250.000 per sue
cessful flight.
Nevertheless Kills flights are