Sunday, September 30, 2012

F-4 Sparrow Missile Orientation

According to pretty good McDonnell F-4J drawings, the Sparrows mounted under the fuselage were angled slightly from wings level.

In the front view, it is clear that the rear Sparrows are angled. Using Illustrator, I measured it at three degrees.

The forward Sparrows appear to be not angled as much in the above front view but close examination of the cross section at the location of the forward Sparrow's aft wings indicates that they are rotated the same three degrees as the aft Sparrows so the wings lie flat on the surface of the bottom of the fuselage.