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The second flaw is the lack of a sus-
Dear Mr. Barrow, tainer motor. This is a low-thrust, long-
I am writing to point out certain crip- burning motor which powers the vehicle all
pling flaws in the "Guided Missile" design the way to the target, enabling the opera-
published in Volume I, #7, of the PMA. tor to steer the device along his line-of-
The first and most obvious flaw is the sight and making it unnecessary for him to
lack of aerodynamic stability. The devices know the range, except in very general
from which the planform of yours is copied terms. Since your device's boosters will
reply for stability on sophisticated semi- burn out in a few seconds and its planform,
automatic guidance systems which spin the with center of pressure (cp) well behind
missile on its axis in flight and switch the center of gravity (cg) prevents an ef-
control functions from one set of fins to ficient glide, your device's trajectory
the other depending on the attitude of the will be essentially ballistic rather than
missile at the moment. Most, to simplify aerodynamic. All control corrections will
control and lower the needed skill level, have to be made during the thrust phase
have a permanent "up" bias to keep the with the missile climbing steeply. The
thing up long enough for the operator to firer will need lightning reflexes, theodo-
sort himself out and assume control. Yours, lite eyes and the brain of a ballistic com-
of course, has no such guidance system and puter. In its present form, therefore, it
will therefore be inherently unstable. is not practical.