X-7A RAMJET TEST VEHICLE.

In the General Section, attention is called to the structural advances in vehicles TV-23 through TV-30, and to the revised vehicle-booster separation mechanism. The current issuance of the report is the first in which the status of autopilot procurement has been detailed. Flight test operations during the reported quarter included four full-scale flight tests, the forty-eighth through the fifty-first. The outstanding comments in the Development Section include the reopening of Contract Item 6, which concerns the development of vehicle recovery systems. Recent developments in the Ground Command System have been detailed in this section, which also describes the pre-launch flight testing of a dummy vehicle equipped with a dummy 36-inch diameter ramjet engine. This report introduces, for the first time, a section covering proposals and contract action. The substance of each existing contract change notification is outlined in this new section. Here, also, is a preliminary discussion of the Thermal Stress Data Program, and of a contractual extension to the flight test program.