FABRICATION OF A LIGHTWEIGHT PLASTIC MISSILE RADOME,

Efforts concern a program to develop a suitable fabrication procedure and to subsequently fabricate two missile airframes 10 inches in diameter by 30 in. long by .140 in. thick. Two filamentwound missile airframes were fabricated using a ratio of longitudinal to loop windings of 2 to 1. The only filament winding machine at Picatinny is a lathe-type machine that cannot produce longitudinal windings. Therfore a system was devised whereby hoop windings were wound on a large 10-inch-diameter drum and subsequently cut into developed segments to produce longitudinal fibers. It may be concluded from test results obtained to date that filament-wound airframes with the required dimensions can be fabricated on the lathetype filament winding machine. The airframe was tested for ability to withstand design loads. Test results are presented. Author