March 29, 1960

M. H. GREENWOOD
HIGH SPEED AERIAL TOW TARGET

2,930,619

Filed March 25, 1957

INVENTOR

Marvin H Greenwaod

WM
ATTORNEYS

United States Patent 0 "

2,930,619.

2,930,619

Patented Mar. 29, 1960

2

able fabric. However, the material from which the body envelope 2 is made is substantially impervious to air, al
HIGH SPEED AERIAL TOW TARGET Marvin H. Greenwood, Houston, Tex., assignor to Ander
son, Greenwood & Company, Houston, Tex., a corpo ration of Texas
though readily ?exible. It may be a conventional woven fabric rendered impervious to air by any conventional or

well-known method, such as for instance by impregnating

the same with resinous material or with rubber, or it may

Application March 25, 1957, Serial No. 648,269

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-1053)
This invention relates to tow targets, and particularly to targets adapted to be towed behind modern high-speed
aircraft. .

be the well-known ,oil cloth of commerce. Preferably, the air-impervious fabric is arranged to have a smooth exterior surface whereby to offer a minimum drag or 10 resistance to movement through the air. Some leakage of air, corresponding to a reasonable number of bullet holes, can be tolerated. However, it is recognized that

unless the fabric is nearly completely impervious it will

not retain su?icient pressure to act as a rigid body. This
is true because of the low-drag design. _ g ,

The target'body 2 is shown as being provided with a

The target comprises a non-rigid streamlined body en

velope in the form of a surface of revolution and con

rearwardly-tapered, generally conical, closed rear portion"

3 which may be an integral continuation of the body 2,
or it may be a separate conical portion if desired.

structed of air-impervious, fabric-like material with very 20

little stretch so con?gured as to offer a minimum of drag.

As its forward end, the open end of the fabric envelope

2 is recessed into and permanently ?xed to an annular.

The forward end of the body is de?ned by a rigid aero

dynamically re?ned entrance opening whereby movement

through the air causes air to enter the body envelope, and high velocity builds su?icient air pressure in the target body to maintain the same in fully distended con

nose ring 4. The nose ring 4 is preferably of fairly heavyv

material, such as metal or a dense wood or the like, fora

purpose to be described later. The nosepiece 4, however,v

is faired or streamlined as at 6 and S, and is provided

dition, whereby it acts essentially as a rigid body. The target further includes a plurality of light weight guiding
?ns near the tail of the target, which is closed, to render

with a central'axial opening 10 therethrough. A suitable

tow line 12 is attached to a bridle 14 comprising a gen

the target highly stable during its high-speed movements. 30 4. The tow line 12, which may be of any desired length,,' To stabilize the target effectively, it is necessary that the is suitably attached to a towing aircraft (not shown). "It" center of pressure of the air on the outer surface of the will be obvious that the movement of the towing aircraft
target, including the ?ns, be located as far to the rear of the center of gravity as possible, and the invention com
will cause the air to enter and pass through the central

erally V-shaped loop of wire, cable, or the like, ?xedv at 16 to diametrically opposed portions of the nosepiece,

prises recognition of the importance of the relative loca 35 the body envelope 2. At the high speeds contemplated,
tion of center of gravity, center of pressure, and tow

opening 10 of'the nosepiece 4 into the airtight interior of

point, and novel features for producing the desired rela substantial air pressure to be built up and retained in tionships. The invention also comprises the means of side the body 2, and thus in?ates the body envelope and obtaining proper in?ation and maintaining this in?ation. maintains the same in a substantially rigid condition, It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide 40 whereby, during use, the target responds to pressure on a high-speed aerial tow target of economical construction, the guide ?ns and acts as though it were a rigid body reliable in operation, and stable in very high speed ?ight. having a rigid framework extending therethrough from end to end. It is another object of this invention to provide a high speed aerial tow target having a minimum of internal Near its closed rear end, the target is provided with structure and a ?exible envelope whereby it can be folded 45 a number of guiding ?ns 20, 22, 24, and 26, and each or rolled into a relatively compact package for storage may comprise a single board or other ?at sheet of light
and handling, and which acts as an elongated, substan

the ram effect of the air entering opening 10 causes a

tially rigid body when in operation.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a

weight material, which may be balsa wood, honeycomb

core structure or the like. The guiding ?ns 20, 22, 24, and 26 are arranged in radial planes, whereby they engage

tow target so designed and proportioned as to be un 50 the air through which the target moves to exert their

usually stable in operation, whereby it will at all times properly trail in the direction of ?ight.
A further object of this invention is to provide a tow

stabilizing or guiding in?uence. The guiding ?ns 20, 22,

24, and 26 are secured to the fabric 2, in any suitable or

desirable manner, such as by being provided with bases

28 cemented or glued to the fabric 2.

target having the above-noted characteristics, and which is yet inexpensive to produce, and thereby expendable.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a

non-rigid and collapsible tow target for high-speed op

rigidity.

eration, and which utilizes ram air for in?ation and

Still further objects and advantages will become ap 60 tends to oscillate in ?ight, unless designed in such a man
parent to those skilled in the art as the description pro

As previously stated, the tow target of the present in vention is relatively long and narrow, and is provided with a smooth exterior to minimize drag and thus permit high operational speeds without undue tension in the tow line 12. Such a device tends to become unstable, i.e.,
ner that stability does not depend on skin friction or

drag. The tow target of the present invention is designed for stability by being so arranged that the center of Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a tow target of gravity thereof is markedly forwardly of the center of 65 pressure. By center of pressure is meant. that point the present invention in ?ight; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of the within the transverse outline of the assembly at which target of Fig. 1; and all forces due to air pressure on the sides of the target Fig. 3 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially can be considered to be concentrated as a single force. along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Thus, if the target were to assume a transverse or partly Referring now to the drawings, the target of the pres 70 transverse attitude with relation to its direction of move ent invention comprises an elongated tear drop body 2 of ment during ?ight, the air pressure on its foremost side ?exible minimum-stretch material which may be any suit surfaces would act thereon aslthough the forces on all

ceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

2,930,619

,3
incremental portions of the Surface area were a single fbfc concentrated at the Center Of pressure. The pro vision of the guiding tail ?ns 2t), 22, 24, and 26 has the e?Eect of moving the center of pressure rearwardly of the

14'

position it would have without'those'?ns.

It is well known that any force applied to a free body tends to cause that body to rotate about its center of

acteristic of rigidity when in?ated in the manner described. 'While' a single speci?c embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, the same is merely illus trative and not limiting. It is intended that the invention embrace all modi?cations falling fairly within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:
10

gravity. Therefore, it is necessary that the center of pressure of the target be located rearwardly of the center
of gravity to insure that pressure forces due to a mis

An aerial tow target for use at high speed comprising;

an elongated, non-rigid, streamlined body of ?exible, min

imurn-s'tretch, substantially air-impervious material; said

body consisting of an envelope having an open forward end and a closed rear end, a relatively heavy annular nose ring secured in the open end and arranged to admit air to in?ate and maintain the in?ation of the body envelope,

alignment of the target with the direction of ?ight tend

to return the target to the proper orientation relative to

the direction of ?ight. Toinsure that the center of gravity of the target be forward of the center of pressure, the guiding ?ns 20, 22, 24, and 26 are made as light Weight
as possible. For the same reason the nosepiece 4 is made of rather substantial volume and of relatively heavy '
material. . a s

and individual rigid guiding ?ns of light weight material

individually and separately secured to and extending out

It is also recognized asimpor't'a'nt that the target be

towed from a point as near 'to the center of gravity as

wardly from spaced portions of said body adjacent the rear end thereof, said nose ring, body, and guiding ?ns beingsor proportioned and positioned that the centerjof

20 gravity of said target is substantially forward of the cen

ter of pressure thereof, the material of the nose ring

physically possible so that variation in the-magnitude or

direction of the towing force does not cause a turning or

yawing of the target about its center of gravity. This is

a further reason for a forward center of gravity which

being relatively heavy and the materials of the body and ?ns being relatively light so as to position the center of
gravity of the target as far forward as possible, and means

has been achieved by spending weight generously in the

construction of the nose air entry or weighting the nose air entry and by being as economical of weight as pos
sible in the rest of the structure.

adjacent the forward end of said target, closely adjacent

said center of gravity, for the attachment of a tow line thereto.

When the target is being towed at high speeds, it is maintained in an in?ated and substantially rigid condi 30 tion as heretofore described, and the entire target thereby
has a ?xed and determinate center of gravity as indicated

References Cited in the ?le of this patent

UNITED STATES PATENTS

1,860,982 2,667,351 2,821,396 Binnie _______________ -_ May 31, 1932 McKinney ____________ -_ Jan. 26, 1954 Seeley ________________ __ Jan. 28, 1958

in- Fig. 2. By employing substantially non-stretchable

material for the envelope 2, the target is assured the char