Why Zuni?

I was wondering the other day how the 2.75" Air to ground rocket came to be
named Zuni. Any experts that can help?
Sparky
Yes, I shot them from the A-6 what fun!!! Bottle rockets for adults

"Elmshoot" wrote...
I was wondering the other day how the 2.75" Air to ground rocket came to be
named Zuni. Any experts that can help?

Actually, the 5" rockets were Zunis. I don't remember the "official" name for
the 2.75" variety, but occasionally heard them referred to as "Mighty Mouse."

elmshoot- I was wondering the other day how the 2.75" Air to ground rocket
came to be
named Zuni. BRBR

2.75s weren't 'Zuni'-Zuni was a 4 inch rocket. I never heard a name for the
2.75FFAR-
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

"Pechs1" wrote in message
...
elmshoot- I was wondering the other day how the 2.75" Air to ground
rocket
came to be
named Zuni. BRBR

2.75s weren't 'Zuni'-Zuni was a 4 inch rocket. I never heard a name for
the
2.75FFAR-

I've heard them called "Mickey Mouse" rockets. Not sure if that ever caught
on in naval aviation though...

What did a salvo launch look like? Was it a tight pattern, or were there a
few strays?

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:05:27 -0500, "Jim Carriere"
wrote:

2.75FFAR-

I've heard them called "Mickey Mouse" rockets. Not sure if that ever caught
on in naval aviation though...

I carried them fairly often in the USAF, but never heard a nickname
other than "2.75's" or simply rockets.

What did a salvo launch look like? Was it a tight pattern, or were there a
few strays?

Typically we carried them in the LAU-3 pod which held 19 rockets.
There was an intervelometer that spaced the firing, but all 19 were
released in one pass. The interval was very short, but insured
nose/tail clearance and minimized fratricide between the rockets.

One load for the F-105 used a C/L tank and four LAU-3 pods--one on
each wing pylon. Impressive to fire all four in one pass.

We also used 2.75s with willy-pete warheads fired from the LAU-32, a
7-rocket pod. They fired singles and were quite accurate. The secret
of accuracy is to know the delivery parameters and keep any post-burn
trajectory to a minimum.

Occasionally a rocket fin would fail to deploy and then you'd see a
corkscrew exhaust trail. In qualification on a controlled range,
typically a practice bomb dispenser carried two or four 2.75s, fired
singly for score. A "wild rocket" call would negate the unscorable
from your records if you got a bad fin.

Qualification criteria were less than for dive bomb. Don't recall
exactly what it was--I'm thinking around 40 feet CEA.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Wasn't it Mighty Mouse? It's been awhile...
"Jim Carriere" wrote in message
...
"Pechs1" wrote in message
...
elmshoot- I was wondering the other day how the 2.75" Air to ground
rocket
came to be
named Zuni. BRBR

2.75s weren't 'Zuni'-Zuni was a 4 inch rocket. I never heard a name for
the
2.75FFAR-

I've heard them called "Mickey Mouse" rockets. Not sure if that ever
caught
on in naval aviation though...

What did a salvo launch look like? Was it a tight pattern, or were there
a
few strays?

"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:05:27 -0500, "Jim Carriere"
wrote:

2.75FFAR-

I've heard them called "Mickey Mouse" rockets. Not sure if that ever
caught
on in naval aviation though...

I carried them fairly often in the USAF, but never heard a nickname
other than "2.75's" or simply rockets.

Hmm, I'm racking my brain for where I heard it... A lot of work on google
keyword searches (FFAR, 2.75, 70mm) turned up a few results (including a
four year old post of mine on rec.aviation.military!). Anyway, that
nickname seems to have originated as early as the 1940s with the first
versions of the weapon.

I bet "Mickey Mouse" was an obvious corruption of "Mighty Mouse." Maybe the
nickname just caught on in some squadrons, and not at all in others... I
don't know for sure, I wasn't there

"Mighty Mouse" seems to be the official nickname of the 2.75" FFAR:

http://www.chinalakealumni.org/Site-Search.htm

(type in "mighty mouse" with quotes)

I found a few other "Mickey Mouse" references on old newsgroup posts, and on
Polish and German language websites. So I'm probably not losing my mind,
but now I'm confused where I first read it.

Wow!
Fun topic that I started... I forgot that the 2.75 wasn't refered to as a Zuni.
I guess we just called it 2.75 rockets. Ed mentions another name, I have never
heard them refered to as Micky Mouse. Back to the original question. Why were
the 5" rockets called Zuni?
I don't recall a ripple or salvo shot on the 2.75" but I do remember stuck fins
they really went all over
Sparky

Jim- What did a salvo launch look like? Was it a tight pattern, or were
there a
few strays? BRBR

I've blasted all 11(?) or so in one pod, of 2.75, on one wing, all at once.
Really impressive, makes the A/C yaw...and they go all over the place,
particularly if ya have one where all the fins don't come out.

Shot Zunis as well, one at a time, really much more accurate...
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

"Pechs1" wrote in message
I've blasted all 11(?) or so in one pod, of 2.75, on one wing, all at
once.
Really impressive, makes the A/C yaw...and they go all over the place,
particularly if ya have one where all the fins don't come out.

! ! !