5 ms·

Fox Two: The Story of the Aim-9 Sidewinder (2014)

78 points by tragiclos 6y ago

noir-york 6y ago
Great read!
jeffreyrogers 6y ago
There is a great book about the development of the Sidewinder[0]. Even if you're not that interested in military technology it's interesting from an engineering management perspective. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Development-China/dp/1591149819 https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Developme...
- ethbro 6y ago
  Read it on the basis of recommendation here (along with Skunk Works), would highly second. The fascinating thing about successful, lean, scrappy defense projects is there are almost no incentives for them to be such. Consequently, if they are, it's because wilful and powerful decisions were made by engineering / management team. Decisions we could probably all stand to learn from (and do our best to repeat!).
  - someguydave 6y ago
    Nah how about we just drown the whole defense sector in unaccountable hundreds of billions annually, I’m sure they will produce something useful right?
  - larrywright 6y ago
    Skunk Works is a fascinating book. They overcame some difficult challenges building the SR-71. There are some interesting parallels to software development in the way they ran skunkworks. Insisting that the engineers that designed things had to be physically close to the people building them.
    - ethbro 6y ago
      One question I always ask of my interviewers is "How often do your developers sit with end users?" If they look flummoxed and confused as to why that should ever happen, I politely start looking for the exit.
  - keeganpoppen 6y ago
    skunk works was an excellent book; for those who are in to audible, it is a great audio book as well (and I think these kinds of stories are particularly conducive to audio book format)
jetrink 6y ago
I had to lookup the 'rolleron' because I couldn't picture how it worked from the description. Here is a video demonstrating the mechanism from a guy who got his hands on Sidewinder tailfin. https://youtu.be/cfzj3rRIVU4?t=5 https://youtu.be/cfzj3rRIVU4?t=5
bmmayer1 6y ago
> Future astronaut Wally Schirra, then a hotshot Korea veteran with a MiG-15 kill to his credit, remembered his first visit to the lab. The China Lake eggheads had a “dome-shaped device, made of glass….a man-made eyeball,” he recalled. “I was a cigarette smoker in those days, and I had one in my hand. As I crossed the room, I noticed that the eyeball was tracking me.”
czzr 6y ago
This is a great read. If I understand correctly they basically built an analog computer into the front of the missile.
- maciejw 6y ago
  Yeah. Articles like this one is why I started following HN religiously. I would understand "analog computer" as some form of a proportional controller - like PID, but with ID terms set to 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller The sensor must be able to somehow measure how fast the target is moving relatively to the center of the sensor area. The proportional controller then sets the fins in a slightly exaggerated fashion.
tyingq 6y ago
Make your own sidewinder floor lamp: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a23256/diy-missile-lamp/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a23256/diy...
dmckeon 6y ago
“It is easy to build something complicated; it’s hard to build it so that it’s simple.” Father of the Sidewinder: Dr. William B. McLean Good thought for modern software.
esaym 6y ago
I'm trying to print this article out to give to an older relative... man table based layout.. brutal.
superkuh 6y ago
>The crowning touch, however, was wiring the seeker to aim not where the target was, but where it would be. The missile knows where it is, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjN3UclYzU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjN3UclYzU , a great song about missile guidance systems and knowing where you are by how much you aren't (there).

78 points by tragiclos 6y ago

Great read!

There is a great book about the development of the Sidewinder[0]. Even if you're not that interested in military technology it's interesting from an engineering management perspective. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Development-China/dp/1591149819 https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Developme...

ethbro 6y ago
Read it on the basis of recommendation here (along with Skunk Works), would highly second. The fascinating thing about successful, lean, scrappy defense projects is there are almost no incentives for them to be such. Consequently, if they are, it's because wilful and powerful decisions were made by engineering / management team. Decisions we could probably all stand to learn from (and do our best to repeat!).
- someguydave 6y ago
  Nah how about we just drown the whole defense sector in unaccountable hundreds of billions annually, I’m sure they will produce something useful right?
- larrywright 6y ago
  Skunk Works is a fascinating book. They overcame some difficult challenges building the SR-71. There are some interesting parallels to software development in the way they ran skunkworks. Insisting that the engineers that designed things had to be physically close to the people building them.
  - ethbro 6y ago
    One question I always ask of my interviewers is "How often do your developers sit with end users?" If they look flummoxed and confused as to why that should ever happen, I politely start looking for the exit.
- keeganpoppen 6y ago
  skunk works was an excellent book; for those who are in to audible, it is a great audio book as well (and I think these kinds of stories are particularly conducive to audio book format)

jetrink 6y ago

I had to lookup the 'rolleron' because I couldn't picture how it worked from the description. Here is a video demonstrating the mechanism from a guy who got his hands on Sidewinder tailfin. https://youtu.be/cfzj3rRIVU4?t=5 https://youtu.be/cfzj3rRIVU4?t=5

bmmayer1 6y ago

> Future astronaut Wally Schirra, then a hotshot Korea veteran with a MiG-15 kill to his credit, remembered his first visit to the lab. The China Lake eggheads had a “dome-shaped device, made of glass….a man-made eyeball,” he recalled. “I was a cigarette smoker in those days, and I had one in my hand. As I crossed the room, I noticed that the eyeball was tracking me.”

czzr 6y ago

This is a great read. If I understand correctly they basically built an analog computer into the front of the missile.

maciejw 6y ago
Yeah. Articles like this one is why I started following HN religiously. I would understand "analog computer" as some form of a proportional controller - like PID, but with ID terms set to 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller The sensor must be able to somehow measure how fast the target is moving relatively to the center of the sensor area. The proportional controller then sets the fins in a slightly exaggerated fashion.

tyingq 6y ago

Make your own sidewinder floor lamp: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a23256/diy-missile-lamp/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a23256/diy...

dmckeon 6y ago

“It is easy to build something complicated; it’s hard to build it so that it’s simple.” Father of the Sidewinder: Dr. William B. McLean Good thought for modern software.

esaym 6y ago

I'm trying to print this article out to give to an older relative... man table based layout.. brutal.

superkuh 6y ago

>The crowning touch, however, was wiring the seeker to aim not where the target was, but where it would be. The missile knows where it is, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjN3UclYzU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjN3UclYzU , a great song about missile guidance systems and knowing where you are by how much you aren't (there).