Larynx (unmanned aircraft)
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Larynx otherwise known as "Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine" was an early British pilotless aircraft, to be used as a guided anti-ship weapon. Started in September 1925, it was a early cruise missile guided by an autopilot.
A small monoplane powered by a 200 hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV engine, it had a top speed of 200 mph; faster than contemporary fighters.[2]
It used autopilot principles developed by Professor A Low and already used in the Ruston Proctor AT a radio controlled biplane that was intended to be used against German Zeppelin bombers
[edit] Project history
- First test July 20, 1927. Launched from cordite-powered catapult fitted to the S class destroyer HMS Stronghold. Crashed into Bristol Channel.
- Second test September 1, 1927. Thought to have flown 100 miles and then was lost.
- Third test October 15, 1927. 112 mile flight, hit five miles from target.
- Two more launches in September and October 1928 from HMS Thanet, another S class destroyer.
- Two additional launches May 1929. Launched from land, one overflew target and other was successful.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ The Evolution of the Cruise Missile by Werrell, Kenneth P. see PDF page 29
- ^ Gibson and Buttler. British Secret Projects: Hypersonics, ramjets and missiles Midland 2007
- ^ Werrell PDF page 29
[edit] External links
- http://www.vectorsite.net/twcruz_1.html#m2
- http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/rpav_britain.html
- Interwar British Experiments with Pilotless Aircraft pay to access
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