The 32 ft wing

Introduction

A 27 ft span wing was developed early on in the Model 147 / AQM-34 program. At a later stage, around 1967, a yet bigger wing was developed, to achieve higher operating altitudes (65,000+ ft) and increased range (2400+ miles). This wing has three designations: '32 ft wing' / '114 sqft wing' / 'H-wing'.

Data summary

Planform check

The wing shape was drawn in red over the Tech Order drawing, and it matches very well except for a small sweep angle difference, of about 0.4 degrees. Note that the wing shape in red was constructed, not simple drawn over the the drawing's lines. Source: TO-21M-AQM34-3, Figure 1-7, RPV Station Locations, courtesy of Dave Matthews.

HH-1 Zipper use

A surplus 32 ft Firebee wing was used for the HH-1 Zipper, a homebuilt aircraft designed and built by Dick Hunt and Bob Hammer. Unfortunately the HH-1 crashed after six weeks of test flying. The sketch below (it's not a proper drawing) contains a number of interesting details. It quotes 25 degrees sweep on the leading edge (I calculate 26.2 degrees from the table data), a NACA 65A210 profile (table lists 64A310), a 10-bolt wing tip attachment, and a detailed breakdown of the areas, that could help finding the exact position of the wing joint. Source: article 'Design and fabrication of a high-performance jet aircraft' by Bob Hammer, published in 'Homebuilt experimental aircraft, theory and practice - experimental aircraft symposium, Seattle, June 1975, proceedings'.

Root and tip wing profiles

I had already constructed the root and tip profiles for the AQM-91A wing and tail profiles, using methods from Abbott & Von Doenhoff. The linked webpage demonstrates the whole process, with lots of number crunching.

Photos from Teledyne-Ryan videos

Five screenshots from F-0972 Ryan Model 147 The Story of the 'H' Firebee UAV, posted by the San Diego Air and Space Museum on YouTube, show the new 32 ft wing under construction for the Model 147H. The first photo appears to show a three-spar wing, but I think the 'spar webs' are actually part of the jig. The second photo also shows three spars, plus two heavy stringers in between. In the third and fourth photos the center wing is being closed with the skin, Clecos are visible. The fourth photo also shows part of the outer wing joint. The last photo shows the wing more or less complete, with outer wing panels.

The video F-2712 Boeing B-47, Ryan Firebee RPV, F-4 Phantom yielded three more manufacturing photos of the 32 ft wing.

Photos from Teledyne-Ryan archive

The San Diego Air and Space Museum's Ryan Negative Images collection on Flickr yielded a great manufacturing photo of the 32ft wing. Among others it shows a narrow panel covering the wing joint, and two puzzling openings in the lower wing skin, on each side, near the root. Since there seem to be no provisions for a pylon, this is likely a Model 147H wing, not one for the later Models 147T/TE/TF. The photo is clear enough to do a photo measurement of the front and rear spar chordwise positions.

Two more photos from the San Diego Air and Space Museum's Ryan Negative Images collection. They probably go together, and show the 32 ft wing's inner structure, with the wing upside down. Details of the wet wing's fuel system can be seen.

The San Diego Air and Space Museum's Ryan Aeronautical Photo Collection collection on Flickr yielded two photos of structural testing of the new wing, dated 1966.

Bryan Wilburn found an interesting photo in the San Diego Air and Space Museum's Ryan Negative Images collection. It shows the 10-bolt wing joint, just as mentioned in the HH-1 wing drawing.

Photos of unknow origin

Bryan Wilburn supplied this interesting drawing, that probably shows the layup schedule of the composite outboard wing, or alternatively the chemical milling pattern.