On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 00:52:10 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:



Rusty wrote:

You had me going there for a second...thanks! That's the first really
good color photo I've seen of the second stage motor.
Now, the question of the week.... what exactly is a Titan I booster
doing sitting next to a Titan II RV?

Pat



Has anyone seen Andy Griffith in the area? Maybe that stuff used to be
Salvage One.

Rusty



It would be interesting to know (and if anyone would know, it would be
you- Mr. Internet Missile Master) if that particular RV is a real
deactivated* one, or a training warhead of some sort.

* At least let's hope it's deactivated... but given the vagaries of
military bureaucracy... :-\

Pat

Don't know about the warhead, but the Titan I missile (4515) is real
and was on alert at Ellsworth AFB, SD when Titan I's were active
(1962-65). The second stage it serial 4516, originally from a
different missile. During servicing, they used to mix and match.

Titan I's were not based in Arizona. They were based in California,
Idaho, Washington state, Colorado and South Dakota. 163 were
manufactured. 68 test launched and 54 were on alert. When deactivated,
there were about 80 missiles left. They had about the same launch
vehicle capability as the Atlas, but had never launched a satellite.
Since the Air Force already had a bunch of surplus Atlas E and F's, it
wasn't worth converting the Titan I's as launchers. About 20 went to
museums, schools and parks. Many of those were displayed outside and
rusted away. The remainder were stored near Norton AFB, in southern
California from 1965 until they were destroyed in the early 1970's.

Titan II's were based in Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas. 54 were on
alert (18 in each state) from 1963-1987. After deactivation there were
about 50 missiles left. 14 were refurbished and converted to launch
vehicles. Thirteen were launched. Two of those were made up of 3
missiles. A first stage fuel tank from one, a first stage oxidizer
tank from another and a second stage from a third. The other 12 were
made up of first stages from one missile and second stages from
another missile.
The remaining missiles were sent to Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ and laid out
in rows in the desert. Arizona is full of Titan II hardware. Arizona
had 18 active Titan II silos. The Titan II museum is also there. So
it's no surprise that there is a Titan II RV there. Whether it's a
real or training RV is another story.


Rusty