Why Zuni?

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

"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

"Elmshoot" wrote in message
...
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

When I first went into the USAF in 1955 I spent several years in Air Defense
Command and NORAD where some of the aircraft were armed with the 2.75"
Folding Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR) and I remember the nickname as being
'Mighty Mouse' but even more common was 'f far' or '2.75s'. I was surprised
when I got to SEA in 1968 and found it was a common load on the F-105 (Q-pod
on one outboard, LAU-3A on the other).

If you want to see what has become of the 2.75 see
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...s/hydra-70.htm for
the current model and
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...ions/apkws.htm for the
possible future.

Regards,

Tex Houston

I know CEP but what is CEA?

WDA



end

"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.

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

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 18:15:31 GMT, "W. D. Allen Sr."
wrote:

I know CEP but what is CEA?

WDA
Circular Error Probable--a prediction of accuracy.
Circular Error Average--a record of delivery accuracy averaged.

The CEP tells you what a weapon might do, the CEA tells you how well,
I've been shooting.


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?

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