Rocket sled

File:Rocket sled track.jpg

Lt. Col. John P. Stapp rides the rocket sled at Edwards Air Force Base

Template:For A rocket sled is a test platform that slides along a track (e.g. set of rails), propelled by rockets.

File:Sonic Wind No 1.jpg

Sonic Wind No 1. This rocket sled was ridden by John Paul Stapp in the 1950s.

A rocket sled differs from a rocket car in not using wheels; at high speeds wheels would spin to pieces due to the extreme centrifugal forces. Apart from rare examples running on snow or ice (such as Max Valier's RAK BOBs of the late 1920s<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Harry Bull's BR-1 in 1931<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>), most rocket sleds run on a track. Although some rocket sleds ride on single beams or rails, most use a pair of rails. Standard gauge (1.435 m / 56.5 in) is common but sled tracks of narrower or wider gauge also exist. The rail cross-section profile is usually that of a Vignoles rail, commonly used for railroads. Sliding pads, called "slippers", are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track. Air cushions and magnetic levitation have also been used as alternatives, with potential benefits including reduced sled vibration.

A rocket sled holds the land-based speed record for a vehicle, at Mach 8.5.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Usage

File:8.5 Mach rocket sled 030430.jpg

The vehicle that achieved Mach 8.5

File:Holloman-sledtrack.jpg

The Holloman Air Force Base track

Rocket sleds were used extensively early in the Cold War to accelerate equipment considered too experimental (hazardous) for testing directly in piloted aircraft. The equipment to be tested under high acceleration or high airspeed conditions was installed along with appropriate instrumentation, data recording and telemetry equipment on the sled. The sled was then accelerated according to the experiment's design requirements for data collection along a length of isolated, precisely level and straight test track. Testing ejection seat systems and technology prior to their use in experimental or operational aircraft was a common application of the rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base. Perhaps the most famous, the tracks at Edwards Air Force Base were used to test missiles, supersonic ejection seats, aircraft shapes and the effects of acceleration and deceleration on humans. The rocket sled track at Edwards Air Force Base was dismantled and used to extend the track at Holloman Air Force Base, taking it to almost 10 miles (16 km) in length.

Unmanned rocket sleds continue to be used to test missile components without requiring costly live missile launches. A world speed record of Mach 8.5 (6,416 mph / 10,325 km/h) was achieved by a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base on April 30, 2003, the highest speed ever attained by a land vehicle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Murphy's law first received public attention during a press conference about rocket sled testing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rocket Sled Tracks

Name	Location	Co-ordinates	Country	Length	Gauge	Rail Type	Welded/ Segmented	Opened	Renovated	Closed	Notes
Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rails 1&2	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1950<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1956, 1957, 1974, 2000, 2002		Runs North-South
Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT)	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1953	2006		North-South
Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rail 3	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1974			North-South
Extended High-Speed Rocket Sled Track	Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1949	1959	1963	Also known as South Base Sled Track (SBST). Rails used to lengthen HHSTT
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory Range, Ramgarh, Haryana	Template:Coord	India	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt			1988	2014		5 rails North/South
Supersonic Military Air Research Track (SMART)	Aircraft Interior Products Propulsion Systems, Hurricane Mesa, UT	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	105	Welded	1955		1961*	*Now Privately Owned & Operational. North-South
Sandia 2	Technical Area III, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt			1966	1985		North-South
Rocket rail track 3500, FKP GkNIPAS	Beloozyorsky	Template:Coord	Russia	Template:Cvt			Segmented		2014		Formerly RD-2500. Used by Zvezda for ejection seat testing
RT-2650, FKP NII Geodeziya	Krasnoarmeysk	Template:Coord	Russia	Template:Cvt		R-75		1956	1984
TsKP MIK of RFNC-VNIIEF	Sarov	Template:Coord	Russia	Template:Cvt
B-4 Transonic Test Track	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	75	Welded	1940
Martin-Baker Langford Lodge	Langford Lodge, Northern Ireland	Template:Coord	UK	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	80		1971			Privately Owned & Operated by Martin-Baker
Pendine Long Test Track (LTT)	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales	Template:Coord	UK	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	103		1956
Centre D'essais Des Landes Single Rail R1<ref name="COMAERO2013">Template:Cite book</ref>	Biscarrosse	Template:Coord	France	Template:Cvt	Monorail	Square Beam	Segmented	1968	1974, ?		(Foundation for 2nd rail in place)
G-4 Exterior and Terminal Ballistics Test Track	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1954
ETTC KEMTF sled track	Test Area C-74, Eglin AFB, Ft. Walton Beach, FL	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	171	Welded	1956
Sandia 1	Technical Area III, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt			1951			North-South
Edwards North Base Track "G-Whiz"	Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt			Welded	1944		1953	Also known as North Base Sled Track (NBST). East-West
Redstone Test Center Sled Track 1	Test Area 1, Redstone Arsenal, AL	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Monorail			1956			Formerly Redstone Technical Test Center
Pendine Impact Test Track	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales	Template:Coord	UK	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt
Centre D'essais Des Landes Single Rail R2<ref name="COMAERO2013" />	Biscarrosse	Template:Coord	France	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	Square Beam	Segmented	1967			Former HB3 track, moved from CIEES Colomb-Béchar, Algeria
Redstone Test Center Sled Track 2	Test Area 1, Redstone Arsenal, AL	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Monorail						Formerly Redstone Technical Test Center
New Mexico Tech/EMRTC Sled Track	Socorro, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt	Monorail	171					Privately owned & operated. North-South
Pendine Short Test Track (STT)	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales	Template:Coord	UK	Template:Cvt
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems	Rock Hill, FL	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt		I-Beam					Privately Owned & Operated
Alkantpan Rocket Sled Range	Alkantpan Test Range, Copperton, Northern Cape	Template:Coord	South Africa	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt	Single or Double I-beam	Segmented	1985	1999		Runs East to West Subsonic and supersonic testing
Holloman Maglev Track	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM	Template:Coord	USA	Template:Cvt							North-South
Germany			Germany			I-Beam
Bundeswehr WTD 91 rocket sled track	Meppen	Template:Coord	Germany	Template:Cvt
AVIC ALI track<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	Xiangyang	Template:Coord	China	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt		Welded	1993	2006		Also known as XB High Accuracy Rocket Sled Test Track.
Muroran Institute of Technology APReC HSTT<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Shiraoi	Template:Coord	Japan	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt			2009
Muroran Institute of Technology APReC SSTT	Shiraoi	Template:Coord	Japan	Template:Cvt	Template:Cvt			2008
TÜBİTAK SAGE HABRAS	Karapınar	Template:Coord	Turkey	Template:Cvt				2017

Other former rocket sled tracks include those at the following locations:

• Peenemünde, Germany (V-1 launch ramp)
• Base B1, Colomb-Béchar, Algeria (HB3 track (330 m) of CIEES, built by Hotchkiss-Brandt<ref name="COMAERO2013" />)
• PISQ, Salto di Quirra, Sardinia, Italy (660-ft supersonic sled track with 8° inclination<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>)
• Satory, France
• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France (used by René Leduc for the SE 1910)
• Cazaux Air Base, France (HB1 (200 m) and HB2 (600 m) tracks of the DGA Centre d'essais en vol, built by Hotchkiss-Brandt<ref name="COMAERO2013" />)
• Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA
• Institute of Aviation Medicine, Farnborough, UK<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• Index of aviation articles
• Land speed record for railed vehicles
• Land speed record
• List of vehicle speed records
• Rocket sled launch

External links

• Holloman High Speed Test Track
• Sandia Sled Tracks Template:Webarchive
• Redstone Technical Test Center Test Area 1
• Langford Lodge Martin Baker Track
• New Mexico Tech EMRTC Sled Track
• Improbable Research
• Airmen "Crash" on Rocket Sled, March 1950, Popular Science large article
• QinetiQ, MoD Pendine
• TÜBİTAK SAGE HABRAS