Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Normal
The significant issue for an IR system at the time would be signal to noise. The electrical output from the cell is tiny, the piston engine exhaust was rapidly diluted in cool air and the 40’s vintage thermionic values were inherently electrically noisy. So one way to fix this is improve the signal by increasing the delta T hence the use of LOX . This fundamental problem was only really practically fixed when the transistor (which works well at low signal levels) came about and jets provided a much hotter heat source.Ten years after the German work when the IR homing Firestreaks were tested against radio control piston engine targets (Fairy Firefly’s) they had to install a kerosene fuelled blow lamp in a pod to provide a workable heat source.
The significant issue for an IR system at the time would be signal to noise. The electrical output from the cell is tiny, the piston engine exhaust was rapidly diluted in cool air and the 40’s vintage thermionic values were inherently electrically noisy. So one way to fix this is improve the signal by increasing the delta T hence the use of LOX . This fundamental problem was only really practically fixed when the transistor (which works well at low signal levels) came about and jets provided a much hotter heat source.
Ten years after the German work when the IR homing Firestreaks were tested against radio control piston engine targets (Fairy Firefly’s) they had to install a kerosene fuelled blow lamp in a pod to provide a workable heat source.
