I have started working on a BT 80 scratch built Honest John. I have been looking at all the pictures I can find but I am having trouble seeing how many spin rockets they have on the nose cone. Is it 3 or 4? Thanks for any help.
Steve
Steve
Honest John question
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There are two Honest Johns. The most familiar one (MGR-31A) with the big fins has 4 sets of spin rockets with two motors in each one. The other Honest John (MGR-31B which them became the M-51, and then something else that I forget, currently) that was shorter and had a boat tail on it and much smaller fins; only had two sets of spin rockets on it. The spin rockets on the real things did not fire until the rocket had left the rail. On the A model, the rockets were on the exterior of the nose cone, on the B model, they were below the surface of the nose cone, which allowed less drag and better aerodynamics.
GregGleason
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What BEAR said.
An interesting historical note on the HoJo's spin motors, from the UNCLASSIFIED Honest John history:
I did not know this until I read it today.
My guess is the the Corporal rocket had two of the spin motors housings, but perhaps someone knows if that is correct or not.
Pic is courtesy from another TRF posting, but I cannot remember where or who.
Greg
An interesting historical note on the HoJo's spin motors, from the UNCLASSIFIED Honest John history:
I did not know this until I read it today.
My guess is the the Corporal rocket had two of the spin motors housings, but perhaps someone knows if that is correct or not.
Pic is courtesy from another TRF posting, but I cannot remember where or who.
Greg
GregGleason
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On the origin of the name Honest John, here is an excerpt from the above document.
Greg
---
It was at the height of this controversy, in late 1950, that
Colonel Toftoy conceived the idea of nicknaming the rocket "Honest John."
While there are at least two other versions of how the nickname
originated, the available evidence supports the following version, as
later told by General Toftoy.
Greg
---
It was at the height of this controversy, in late 1950, that
Colonel Toftoy conceived the idea of nicknaming the rocket "Honest John."
While there are at least two other versions of how the nickname
originated, the available evidence supports the following version, as
later told by General Toftoy.
This rocket was developed under my responsibilities while Chief of
the RocketBranch, Research and Development Division, OCO, and the name
HONEST JOHN was submitted by me for approval of higher authority.
Knowing that troops usually came up with their own nicknames for weapons
if they did not like the official name, we cast about for a catchy name,
easy to remember. Before the test firing of the first 762mm rocket,
there was considerable controversy in the Pentagon as to its worth.
In fact, there was serious consideration in the General Staff of cancellation
on the grounds such a large unguided rocket could not possibly
have the accuracy to justify further expenditure of funds. At this
time, on a trip to White Sands Proving Ground, we ran into a Texan making
statements hard to believe. When his veracity was questioned,
he exclaimed, "Why around these parts I'm called 'Honest John'."
Feeling somewhat like the Texan at the time, I felt HONEST JOHN would be an
appropriate nickname.
the RocketBranch, Research and Development Division, OCO, and the name
HONEST JOHN was submitted by me for approval of higher authority.
Knowing that troops usually came up with their own nicknames for weapons
if they did not like the official name, we cast about for a catchy name,
easy to remember. Before the test firing of the first 762mm rocket,
there was considerable controversy in the Pentagon as to its worth.
In fact, there was serious consideration in the General Staff of cancellation
on the grounds such a large unguided rocket could not possibly
have the accuracy to justify further expenditure of funds. At this
time, on a trip to White Sands Proving Ground, we ran into a Texan making
statements hard to believe. When his veracity was questioned,
he exclaimed, "Why around these parts I'm called 'Honest John'."
Feeling somewhat like the Texan at the time, I felt HONEST JOHN would be an
appropriate nickname.
Thanks for all the info guys, very interesting. Some thing about the Honest John has always caught my eye so I figured I'd build one. I am going with the MGR-31A with the big fins so I guess it will have to have 4 . I am going to turn my own nose cone so that will be the hardest part of the build. With plywood fins going to the 29mm motor mount it should fly pretty good. Again thanks for the info.
