FVP Trivia.
What cancelled missile program embodied the 3 most significant improvements in rocketry:
rigidity provided by pressurized tanks, instead of the ribs-and-stringers of airplane fuselages, used in the V2.
gimbaled nozzles, instead of carbon vanes in the exhaust stream of the V2.
separable warhead
Who was the contractor, when was it cancelled? Did any fly? Were any built?
Answer: Awarded to Convair in 1946 by the Army Air Force, it was designated MX-774, it was cancelled in July, 1947 in a large postwar defense rollback. None were built, none flew. A smaller demonstrator program grew out of this, the HIROC (HI altitude ROCket) RTV-A-2. They were flown from 1947-8 at White Sands Missile range, there is one on display at the Air Force Museum. Unbelievable. The USAF Museum site says this missile was developed with Convair’s own money in the 1940’s. At the tail-end of the Big Egos of Aviation, we all think of the excesses of the industry. Then little jewels like this appear when you sift through the sand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTV-A-2_Hiroc
Source: “To Defend & Deter: The legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program.” John C. Lonnquest & David F. Winkler, USACERL Special Report 97/01, November 1996.