The PTV-N-2 Gorgon IV was a subsonic

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...

-powered missile developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Originally intended as an air-to-surface weapon, it materialized as a propulsion test vehicle, and between 1947 and 1950 was used for test purposes and, as the KDM Plover, as a

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational ...

Design and development

Development of the Gorgon IV began in May 1945, when the U.S. Navy's

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...

contracted with the Glenn L. Martin Company, as part of Project Gorgon, to develop an air-to-surface missile, powered by a ramjet engine and using

active radar homing Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target ...

for guidance. The end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

saw a reduction in need for such a weapon, however the contract was continued in 1946 as a propulsion test vehicle, originally designated KUM-1, then PTV-2 before finally being redesignated PTV-N-2.Parsch 2005 The PTV-N-2 was of fairly conventional design, with mildly-swept wings and a conventional

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third e ...

; roll control was through

spoileron In aeronautics, spoilerons (also known as spoiler ailerons or roll spoilers) are spoilers that can be used asymmetrically as flight control surfaces to provide roll control. Operation Spoilerons roll an aircraft by reducing the lift of the ...

s. The Marquardt XRJ30 ramjet engine was mounted below the aft fuselage, and the vehicle was fitted with drag brakes to prevent exceeding the engine's design limits. Flight control was through a combination of a preset course via

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

and

radio command guidance Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its P ...

;Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.182 the vehicle was equipped with radio telemetry to transmit data. Following the end of each test flight, the vehicle would deploy a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, w ...

for recovery in the ocean; the vehicles were said to be in such good condition that it would be possible to re-fly them after cleaning them of salt water residue.

Operational history

Nineteen PTV-N-2s were produced, with flight tests beginning in July 1947; in November, the program having adopted Northrop F2T night-fighters as launch aircraft,Kolln 2009, p.115. the Gorgon IV first achieved high-speed flight, reaching approximately Mach 0.85; it was the first ramjet-powered winged aircraft to successfully fly in the United States, and it was claimed that the missile's speed was deliberately restricted to keep it below the speed of sound. A flight time of 11 minutes 15 seconds, a record at the time for ramjets, was achieved on the second flight test. The test program continued through December 1949, originally at the Naval Air Missile Test Center test range at Point Mugu, California; testing was later moved to the Naval Aviation Ordnance Test Station in

Chincoteague, Virginia Chincoteague ( or ) is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, U.S. The town includes the whole of Chincoteague Island and an area of adjacent water. The population was 2,941 at the 2010 census. The town is known for the Chincoteague Ponies, althou ...

in order to be closer to Martin's factory.''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's olde ...

''
Volume 55p. 139
(1949) The Navy began a refit of to test the feasibility of launching Gorgon IVs from an at-sea platform, however the project was cancelled before completion. Despite this the program was considered to be "very successful" by the Navy. Following the end of the program, the remaining PTV-N-2s were assigned as target drones, given the designation KDM-1 Plover. The Gorgon IV airframe was also used as the basis of the

ASM-N-5 Gorgon V The ASM-N-5 Gorgon V was an unpowered air-to-surface missile, developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company during the early 1950s for use by the United States Navy as a chemical weapon delivery vehicle. Developed from the earlier PTV-N-2 Gorgon IV t ...

chemical weapons dispenser.

Surviving aircraft

A recovered Gorgon IV was donated by the U.S. Navy to the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the N ...

in 1966; it is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{USN drones Air-to-surface missiles of the United States Target drones of the United States Ramjet-powered aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft High-wing aircraft 1940s United States special-purpose aircraft Martin aircraft Military equipment introduced from 1945 to 1949 Aircraft first flown in 1947