In these days of rapidly advancing military technology, with guided missiles and space travel claiming what may be a disproportionate share of the headlines, we are so often apt to think that it is all of rather recent origin. Nevertheless, the old adage that “there is nothing new under the sun” finds application even in connection with such devices as guided missiles. Witness the fact that the U. S. Navy was experimenting in the general area as far back as World War I.
Known variously as an “aerial torpedo” and a “flying bomb,” it was the secret weapon of its day. In fact, even the most elementary information concerning it was classified even into recent years.
The idea of the weapon itself originated with Peter Cooper Hewitt, well known scientist and inventor of the day, and first vice president of the Navy’s Consulting Board. Others, however, were to assist him in making the weapon possible. Hewitt, who had done much development work in wireless and aeronautics, began the development of * the idea at his personal expense. After a short time he enlisted the aid of Elmer A. Sperry. Sperry, also a member of the Consulting Board and recognized for his genius in developing the Navy’s gyrocompass, fire control apparatus, and airplane stabilizers, devoted considerable time, study, and money to the project.
By the early autumn of 1916, work had advanced satisfactorily to the point where it was decided to bring the project to the official notice of the Navy Department.
Essentially the weapon consisted of an automatically controlled or piloted aircraft, loaded with explosives, which would ascend to a predetermined altitude and fly along a predetermined course at that altitude until , a timing device caused it to go into a dive onto its target.
With Navy approval, the automatic flight mechanism was installed in an N-9-type seaplane, and extensive tests were made under the direct supervision of a human pilot, who went along for the ride so that he could take over in the event of any malfunctioning of the equipment.
By the early summer of 1917, the Sperry- Hewitt device had been officially approved by the Navy Department for further development, and the amount of $200,000 was allocated for that purpose.
Further experiments with the device installed in seaplanes resulted in a decision being made, during the closing months of the year, that the device was far enough along in its development to warrant the building of the flying bomb vehicle itself.
In this connection, Glenn L. Curtiss, world- famous pioneer airplane designer and manufacturer and a long-time supplier of aircraft to the Navy, was asked to design the craft. Designed, built, and delivered within the short space of a month, it was probably the first controlled flying missile ever built. For some reason, Hewitt’s name was now dropped from the project and the new craft was dubbed the Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb.
Essentially the weapon was a small, extremely lightweight, simply constructed, automatically piloted biplane. It had a wing span of some 23 feet and a length of slightly more than 14 feet. The craft carried a load of 1,000 pounds of explosives for a distance of 50 miles at a speed of approximately 90 m.p.h.
Test flights of the flying bomb, held early in 1918, were successful enough to justify further development. Unfortunately, the “bugs” could not be ironed out of the weapon before the end of the war, and it never went into service. Among other things, once it was airborne, there was no way of changing its course, thus rendering it ineffective against a moving target such as a ship. Changes in the speed and direction of the wind could also upset the estimates used in determining course and altitude adjustments to the automatic pilot, causing the bomb to miss its target completely. In addition, the flight control mechanism was not as mechanically efficient nor as reliable as could be desired.
Nevertheless, this flying bomb was the beginning of a series of research and development projects which ultimately culminated in the operational guided missiles of today.