AIM 9 SIDEWINDER MISSILE | How it Works with Rolleron Demo!

[@spicy110]

They are also quite good at popping ballons!

[@andrewhofmann5453]

I see what you did there!

[@yuyiko]

Just a heads up. A prefix comes before a word and the thing after the word like AIM9L or AIM9B would be a suffix. But maybe im getting that wrong and it works differently in this context

[@CM-xr9oq]

@@yuyiko you are correct.

[@TristanMorrow]

I think they're using inert AIM-9X like a dart to pop it instead of 11:03 or perhaps they're just bypassing the arm/detonate function. @spicy110 vid from 2021 you were a Sidewinder missile geek legit before it was cool!

[@Tom_Hadler]

They could have just used a single cannon shot surely. Or even a 📌

[@Marie579]

I served in the RAF in the 80s and was posted to the falklands conflict and had experience with the Harrier GR3 when live armed with AIM9L, To test the missile and wearing headset on the aircraft internal intercom the armoury would shine a torch at the front of the missile and the lense would lock onto the torch light and you would hear a growl in the headset WELL FREAKY!!! As the eye followed you around!

[@DaveMurphyEngineer]

Not live ammunition but a similar system still exists on Typhoons. Part of the ACS (Weapons system) testing involves SRAAM tests involving the cooling unit and communications in the pylon. After setting up the test you have to time that the cooling unit gets down to temp within a certain timeframe (checking for unit serviceability and leaks) and then the databus signal correctly indicates that it’s ‘armed’ and ready. The final part of the test is checking the cockpit symbology which involves the ‘growling’ tone in the headset - quite possibly the same things you’d have tested on the live stuff fitted during your Ops.

[@Marie579]

@@DaveMurphyEngineer Yes quite probably, it makes you ‘twitch’ when you realise you’re the target!! L OL

[@DaveMurphyEngineer]

@@Marie579 Thankfully I’ve never tested live munitions, but in all the testing I had to do the growling noise was generated by test boxes plugged into the Typhoon, replicating all the signals that would be generated by a live munition when fitted.

[@Marie579]

@@DaveMurphyEngineer The thing that got me was you could see the eye in the sidewinder following your movements and it increased in tone as it’s ‘Locked on ‘ LOL

[@mortlet5180]

@@Marie579 As the Lima was the first Aim-9 to be 'All-Aspect', it makes sense that it would be able to detect longer wavelength IR outside of the traditional Mid-IR 4μm window, with the next usable atmospheric window starting at 8μm where the human body has an appreciable thermal output. I still find it amazing that, even with cryogenic sensor cooling, the Lima was sensitive enough to pick out the bit of exposed human skin temperature with the entire space around it also being quite warm and emissive as well.

[@kaltkalt2083]

The canards are in pairs as there’s no reason to spin the missile… that’s precisely what the rollerons are made to prevent. Having them rotate in the opposite direction of the other canard on the opposite side would just make the missile spin (like a bullet). That makes it impossible to lock on to a target, with the camera in front spinning like crazy.

[@spicy110]

Yes totally makes sense I was having a bit of a dumb moment as I was stuck on a construction thought, I should have explained more of my thinking. I realised if they are directly connected to each other by say a shaft, they could not be in the same alignment as you cann not have two shafts cross in the same space. So knowing they must be independent I started to wonder if that was also a added benefit. As you clearly point out it wouldn't be at all haha 🙂👍

[@kaltkalt2083]

@@spicy110 well the two shafts can cross, one just has a U shaped dip in it so it goes below the other shaft but all 4 ends (the canard pivot points) are perpendicular on the same line.

[@stephenfowler4115]

The shoulder fired Stinger which is also an infrared homing missle does in fact rotate during flight so I wonder how they compensate for the spinning detector in that particuler version.

[@ionstorm66]

The Redye and stinger use the same sensor. Sidewinders had an angle mirror that rotated to scan, the redeye rotates the entire missile with a fixed sensor to make it smaller. Redeye and stinger have a gyro and some simple solid state logic to apply connections at the right angle.

[@11Tits]

@@stephenfowler4115 since the values are calculated locally roll doesnt matter.

[@maxhill7065]

I was, oddly recommended the six year old video of the rolleron and clicked through to this, awesome video!

[@spicy110]

Thank you!! Haha it's a nightmare as I was planning in making this and then curious droids video blew the other one up.

[@Mainsail1975au]

Same. The old video came up in my feed, and then I clicked on this from here.

[@ericdeer5887]

And a year later the same thing for me..

[@ParedCheese]

It's still happening. 😁

[@Finder245]

yup, that's exactly how I got here.

[@DaveMurphyEngineer]

If you want another rabbit hole to dive down. The part number on the fin (08:20) is not a manufacturers part number but is a NATO Stock Number (NSN). 1420 indicates it’s a ‘Guided Missile Component’ and the ‘01’ indicates it was registered on the USA’s inventory list after 1974. The last 7 digits are randomly assigned but is unique to that part. You want to stay well away from anything with an NSN beginning with 11…………😉 Another great video bud, there’s a fair amount of my DNA on the pointy fins of ASRAAM missiles where I’ve worked - bloody things are sharp! Really looking forward to the next vid in this series of Aviation-geekery. 😎

[@chillyboi6597]

weapons troop?

[@h.cedric8157]

KZbin recommendations algorithm is now properly trained. Been watching DCS and other Combat Flight Sim videos and it gave me this and the video from six years ago! Maybe in a few years' time you'd get your hands on a Sidewinder IR Seeker head!

[@spicy110]

but this is the new one! its been so hard to get people to see this better version vs. the 6 yr old one 🙂

[@jabr991]

Nice, Followed the taufladermouse thread in the original post

[@specialopsdave]

*maus

[@maxk4324]

I consider myself to be a patriotic red blooded American.....but shout out to the Chinese pilot that flew all the way back to base with an unexploded missile embedded in his aircraft. Truly a steely-eyed missile man if ever there was one.

[@nonyabuziness5082]

Like he hd a choice? Was he supposed to eject and drown instead? What a stupid post...

[@AndrewZonenberg]

He might not have even known it was there, depending on what part of the plane it hit. Probably felt the impact but thought it was just shrapnel.

[@panchorodriguez7246]

Seriously? What else was he gonna do, cry? Fly the plane into the nearest mountain peak? F the chinese (communist part, specifically). As far as being steely-eyed; what he wasn't, was a whiny-assed, limp-wristed liberal.

[@BillySugger1965]

It’ll be the lowest peak, which I spotted maxing at 6,375Hz. The peaks above that are harmonic multiples of the fundamental frequency. This means that was going at nearly 16,000 rpm, which is wild!

[@spicy110]

And to think they span at over 100k on the missile!

[@simsch97]

Yes. You can also see that when the air is taken away and it slows down. There is only one peak then moving through 5000+Hz.

[@spladam3845]

I had forgotten about the Curious Droid video. Really interesting stuff, thanks for making this.

[@binkythecat457]

6:08 Freedom Eagles! This man knows his units!

[@jefflayton4339]

The sensor in AIM-9 generations are all infrared. The earlier versions used a spinning reticle to derive angle off bore sight - thus part of the importance of the rollerons to stabilize rotation - while the newer variants are focal plane arrays - much like a digital camera sensor - and probably why you don't see rollerons on them such as the AIM-9X.

[@madladofabrit2439]

Aim9C is SARH like an Aim7

[@ionstorm66]

AIM-9X have all the stabilization down with the trust vectoring.

[@nicholasdavis3855]

Can we get this man a kit to build a 1/1 scale for this man

[@Radmonkeyboy]

Regarding the canard, it's probably just a cast, unpainted finish. If you removed the paint from your rear fin, it would look the same. If you look at photos of the missiles attached to airplanes, you won't see unpainted parts - and they are largely white, but can be other colors to indicate function. I think it's just not painted, and was probably a spare never used.

[@TristanMorrow]

sandblast.

[@morganmitchell4017]

This is really interesting. As the gear was spinning down, you could see four distinct peaks in frequency space. The first one peaked at about 6600Hz, so that last one must have had a frequency of about 26,400Hz. That would equate to 66k RPM, which sounds too high. I think the best thing to do would be to spin it up to the maximum speed you could catch on a slow-mo camera, see which peak corresponds to the actual RPM, and extrapolate from there. A modern Samsung can record at 960 fps, which could capture some very high RPMs if you're clever about it.

[@edwardpurkis1084]

Mark a few different fins with different colours and you will get a much more reliable idea of the rpm. I agree 60k rpm sounds to high but not impossible, just from the sound and listening to a lot of things spinning I would say 30k odd sounds about right.

[@spicy110]

I did try to film it at the fastest I could manage 240 fps and its a blur before it even gets going.

[@morganmitchell4017]

@@spicy110 It might be a blur because you're not filming with enough light? If you film in bright direct sunlight, it will only have to collect light for a tiny fraction of that 1/240 seconds. If it's too dark, it'll use the whole frame time. Even with 240fps, you can still theoretically record up to 14,400 rpm if you increase the speed gradually and make sure you don't skip to a multiple of that.

[@martindinner3621]

For what it's worth I've seen multiple quotes of operating speeds in excess of 300k rpm. At an airspeed of over Mach 2.5 ...not as crazy as it first sounds.

[@GigsVT]

You need to just get a tachometer. They are cheap on ebay. The visual kind. The problem with sound is above 24khz you get nyquist foldover, I could hear it in the video. Your audio trick is unreliable with high RPM because audio sampling is too slow.

[@TumzDK]

9:18 PIVOT!

[@Xsiondu]

I just linked that first video to a smarter every day video released today about the Aim 9. Hope it helps your channel grow.

[@Meifesto]

I don't know what i like more.... Your explanation and showoff. Or the comments that just keep giving :)

[@watchguy7986]

That is so cool. I was hoping you’d spin it up when i started the video. Is there anywhere I can buy one of these that you know of?

[@ozzymandus3865]

Man that missile will never leave service, simple rugged and highly effective.

[@chillyboi6597]

cant be defeated by stealth technology cant hide the engine heat

[@movielover8548]

Thank you. I try to use this tech on my little rc plane ☺️

[@drkastenbrot]

if you want to measure rpm with audio, stick the mic to the metal to measure vibration and then take the lowest peak. its far more reliable than dealing with the whistling from the fins.

[@throttle_up]

Dunno if you're nerdy enough to play DCS like me, but the AIM-9X modelled therein can have the seeker slaved to the pilot's helmet visor before launch, and it has vectored thrust for high-aspect deadliness.

[@nealtoner7875]

What a channel. Dweebs r us. I came for super Moto but left with an education Much love from Yorkshire ❤️

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Would large rollerons keep a wing-in-ground vehicle flying flat, or is their a minimum air speed to use them?

[@HippoDrones]

Really awesome, and interesting video Spicy, ty for sharing :-)

[@drdoolittle5724]

God you are lucky, one more step and the boobytrap would mean no more Spicy!!! Also, note there was no swearing as all metalwork came apart as intended - imagine the laugh for all of us if Lexmoto had made the fins!!!!!!!!!!!

[@brenthartline4417]

Ur a lucky guy. That's one of the coolest gifts I have ever seen

[@georgedreisch2662]

I’m curious if the rollaron was exposed to the airstream while on the rail of the aircraft and spinning? If it was, does that mean flight hours were logged for scheduled inspection, maintenance / replacement?

[@spicy110]

no, i am told they were wired in place and would release on launch.

[@keijojaanimets819]

The rough texture could be powder metalurgy process!

[@icannotfly]

where did you get the fin?

[@kayakutah]

The magic of gyroscopic precession!

[@richardszilay7575]

Did you try to loosen the torx screw on the pivoting 00705 part? It should allow the sub-assembly to slide off and further disassemble.

[@spicy110]

that was a Alan head and no that thing is not coming out, I did mention it....I think

[@Ghosty_01]

Very interesting video spicy

[@jerrylee4454]

thanks a lot for making this video, twice in fact, but I am still having trouble understanding why you keep adding a yawing movement to describe a rotational movement along the length of the airframe. Why not just rotate it along its bottom edge? Anyways, I could see that it works (im assuming its not just gravitational forces pulling the tab down) but I am still having trouble understanding it :(

[@spicy110]

I am just demonstrating the Inertia of the wheel. The tab is opened by the g force of launching it.

[@theFilthG4K]

Brilliant

[@jasonnether_Its_Lit]

Where can i buy it?

[@maxk4324]

Use the lowest frequency peak, the higher ones are just harmonics I believe

[@spicy110]

I would agree as it tracks far better.

[@jaromirandel543]

14:30 - Mind the missile is going the supersonic speed and you air definitely is not going supersonic.

[@ziros22]

There is a Torx screw on the top of the damper that should be able to come off

[@spicy110]

It will not come undone, I have tried.

[@ptonpc]

I was recommended your old video and clicked on this one.

[@stevenkelby2169]

Machine of terror.

[@n1ho]

Always the first peak, the base frequency. The others are harmonics

[@spicy110]

Makes sense it seemed to track way better but I only saw that in editing. 🙂

[@seanbarraclough2484]

Love this content

[@rjds1800]

Great stuff

[@derfvader6951]

try this one MIM-72

[@informalllama]

InB4 spicy builds an AMRAAM

[@11Tits]

9:48 correction. The only reason the early missile couldnt turn that well not hit targets off bore was due to no uncaged seeker and their guidance fins were tiny. They also had a heavy motor slowing the missile down and it didnt burn for long.

[@rishrevsR13]

I like 🎉

[@ukairgunner3267]

Great video matey 👍

[@spicy110]

Thanks 👍

[@MrRedsjack]

Fidget spinner stabilized missiles.

[@6Twisted]

15khz was about right because I can't hear much higher than that.

[@frutt5k]

If the inertia-wheel is very heavy keep in mind that it can be depleted uranium.

[@spicy110]

It's defiantly not, DU is used for perpetrator rounds, it would be a huge unessery weight and cost.

[@theralfinator]

@@spicy110 penetrator, maybe?

[@mikedrop4421]

You didn't happen sell those bits to Destin at smarter everyday did you?

[@spicy110]

Haha no, they have been available for a long time. Destin has been this video tho!

[@oscar_bru8455]

when you gonna get enugh parts to make an aim-9

[@spicy110]

No need you can buy a whole one for £4-5k deactivated clearly ha ha

[@Thefreakyfreek]

The misile know Were it is by subtracting were it isnt

[@meisievannancy]

If you followed the balloon popping saga of the Chinese "spy" balloon in the USA today, Id like to ask how a sidewinder would trigger when the target it saw was a helium filled balloon ? The payload was a huge "3:bus" size description. The balloon must be massive. What hole would be blown in a balloon?

[@meisievannancy]

I see the sidewinder triggers on a proximity fuze. Various types available. I guess they opted for one that could detect the balloon, unless they aimed for the payload.

[@spicy110]

These days they may well have used a laser targeting system. From the video it looks like it may have detonated short and used shrapnel to pop it, Like a giant shot gun. That is IF they even used this missile.

[@meisievannancy]

Thank you for the reply. One chap said they used an AIM-9X, not verified and shot from 65000ft to the balloon at 68000ft. Cloud of black smoke below balloon. There was a pod/payload hanging below balloon.

[@spicy110]

@@meisievannancy yes I had only seen the far away video when I replied. The new videos show a lot more detail. Way more of a direct impact than I had thought at first.

[@meisievannancy]

Yes. Payload must be huge. My rough calculation for a balloon the diameter I saw on news of 35m can lift 180 metric ton . Seems incredible. Not sure if my calcs sre right as there are other factors.

[@angelisreal]

Another tidbit on the name: it actually corkscrews like a sidewinder does, which was what inspired the name. The snake inspiration came later. Also, the Atoll missile used by Russia and the Chinese variants are copied versions. The Russians gained the intel from captured missiles that didn't detonate upon impact. China, having close relations with Russia, gleaned the technology shortly after.

[@spicy110]

I have a feeling you did not watch most of this video and you are stating things I said in it.

[@angelisreal]

@@spicy110 I did. I was simply adding to the beginning statements. Also, the other nations that "use the Sidewinder" are actually using clones of the US made versions.

[@chillyboi6597]

@@angelisreal i dont know how wrong you could be there

[@angelisreal]

@@chillyboi6597 do your homework, and then come talk to me.

[@chillyboi6597]

@@angelisreal what homework its literally my job lol. but hey edit your comment

[@burroaks7]

"try spinning that's a good trick"

[@jonipaananen9304]

Just a question, kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2LOhq2gmdCrfZo you say an alloy metal. Basically all metals used in industry are alloys, do you know what base metal it is? Steel, magnesium, aluminium, or something else?

[@spicy110]

Sorry that is correct its a habit of mine to refer to non ferrous unknown metals as a alloy. I would say they are aluminium or a aluminum mix.

[@Azman_Hamid]

Balloon brought me here

[@podulox]

Which one?

[@TheDesertraptor]

Newtons laws are pretty good.

[@robinwells8879]

Don’t tell anyone but the mericans gave the royal navy a quantity of these for the harriers to use in the Falklands War which was very hush hush because merica and Argentina were allies. All’s fair in love and war.

[@podulox]

And radios. (also hush-hush)

[@robinwells8879]

@@podulox and all the jet A1 the Vulcans and victors could drink, back when the special relationship was less of an abusive affair!

[@podulox]

@@robinwells8879 Vulcans & Victors - and a tiny island somewhere!!! I *Rly* wanna hear that story again! Gimme a Sec to see if I can find it!!!

[@podulox]

This might be it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXyqfX5_odBrrZY EDIT: Not ^that one... Maybe this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJSomY1opZmmb9E or this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/emS9lYKlbsmneZo

[@podulox]

We need to talk... (See one of your uploads for my explanation...)

[@tonydiesel3444]

The earth is flat and non rotating plane

[@HDSME]

Use a simple 15 dollar hobby tach!!!!

[@spicy110]

Tried that it didn't work, I think I would need to paint the wheel a different colour for contrast.

[@mrkiwijimmymrkiwijimmy2530]

.

[@ediposantos6574]

It’s the first peak my friend. Every periodic waveform wich is not a perfect sine wave will produce this pattern, the first peak is the fundamental and the higher frequencies are the harmonics, you can think of them as a kind of byproduct. A repeating pattern will never produce harmonics lower than the fundamental frequency, so you are looking for the lower peak

[@StaticMusic]

Aye this is the correct answer!

[@whawaii]

Yes. the lowest frequency is the fundamental one to use. All the others are harmonic multiples of the fundamental. Also, as a crosscheck, search for & listen to a 6000 Hz tone. You'll notice it'll be about the same pitch. As a side note, most people have a hard time really hearing a 15,000 Hz sound.

[@kurtbjorn3841]

I fired an AIM-9L as a USAF pilot over the gulf of Mexico back in the day. They regularly fire these in peace time as both a training session for the pilot and a data/reliability mission to ensure the stockpile is good to go. The target was a BQM-34 drone. They almost always replace the warhead with a telemetry device which tells the white coats how well the missile does, and if it passes within a lethal radius of the target, the expensive drone survives, but the shot is still a success. The missile was so good though it often speared the drone, not needing a warhead for a kill. Not mentioned is that each missile has a replaceable miniature argon bottle to cool the seeker head, which is critical for sensitivity. Before takeoff, we'd cool the seeker with a button push, and the mushy tone would crisp up. Anything with heat passing the seeker field of view would create the famous growl. You could then "uncage" the seeker, which is normally locked in bore sight, allowing the seeker to track even while still on the rail. While holding for takeoff, you could easily track a motorcycle on a road near the runway, or a lawnmower, anything with heat. These captive training missiles were not live, meaning they had no rocket motor or warhead. Any missile seen with brown or yellow stripes was a "war shot" or live missile, blue equals captive training missile. Firing the missile... yes it was cool. Cost-wise, it was like launching a sports car off the rail. Whoosh! gone. Lots of fun though.

[@Nauctshea]

The Soviet Vympel K-13 missile isn't just very similar to the AIM-9 Sidewinders, it is duplicated to a very high degree. When NATO forces captured some K-13 missiles, they found they could interchange parts from K-13s and AIM-9s and both missiles would still work. Ron Westrum in his book "Sidewinder" claimed the Soviets even copied the parts numbers directly from the AIM-9 to the K-13. Another story I head was that one country that had access to both US and Soviet hardware (Finland or Poland?) tried interchanging the missiles with opposing aircraft. They found that the missiles were recognized properly by the aircraft and functioned normally.

[@chillyboi6597]

please look at the R3 missile and the Aim9B which is what was copied

[@nirfz]

"non patented plastic pokey" 😮 a C&Rsenal reference where i wouldn't have expected it! Very interesting video!

[@spicy110]

ayyy I though no one would get that, I am a patreon of C&R 🙂

[@stephenfowler4115]

There was a radar version of the sidewinder but whether it was ever used in combat I can't confirm. Modern versions of the sidewinder like Aim_9X still use heat sensitive detectors which are cooled by liquid nitrogen or helium. They can in some models also track ultra_violet radiation. They also have digital imaging capability which allows all aspect tracking of targets.

[@chillyboi6597]

almost accurate I believe it was the C model that was radar guided but the all aspect tracking came from the heat generated by friction at high speeds

[@jubuttib]

@@chillyboi6597 Yes, all-aspect capability came IIRC on the 9L, due to general improvements in the seeker design and sensitivity. Needed less of a contrast to gain a lock. This was decades before the 9X introduced imaging IR seekers to the Sidewinder family.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

The Sidewinder project was launched in 1947 in the garage of Dr. William Maclean (Father of the Sidewinder) as a personal project. I recommend reading Ron Westrum's excellent book on the development of the Sidewinder "Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999".

[@rlpederson]

I don't know if you will read these Spicy, but the rollerons were needed because all the forward canards were the only active control surfaces. Keep it simple with the mechanical control actuators all up in front with the guidance and seeker systems. of the engine kept the system far FAR more simple. But aerodynamically a forward canard can not do a roll command. It turns into a cork screw motion. So rather than build an active anti roll system they came up with the rollerons. Most all modern missiles (including the new AIM-9X) use aft fin control so the heavy rollerons are not needed. (also just to point out that the new AIM-9X is still IR but it uses an IR imager rather than a single pixel rotating sensor used in the original AIM-9)

[@scottwillis5434]

I enjoyed the video! 8:50 I expect the rough canard surface is anodizing or similar anti-corrosion coating; deliberately rough so paint or other coating will bond well. Title typo: should be "MISSILE".

[@mikethetexan76]

Fascinating! Are these spinning the whole time the aircraft is in flight? I wonder what kind of service life the bearings have.

[@spicy110]

To my understanding they are held still in flight by 2 bands that pop off at launch allowing the wheels to spin.

[@ioioioioio6026]

6:50, modern AIM-9 X still use IR sensors, some early variants like the AIM-9C used SARH guidance

[@11Tits]

Yes but we also know they have a contrast sensor on with the ir sensor. Allowing it to track cold targets

[@edwardpurkis1084]

Awesome video, a brilliant follow on to the video from curious droid:) I would agree the wheel is sitting on a press fit bearing, the pin on the bottom of the fluid bearing is probably threaded as if it fell out in flight the it would be a total loss of the unit. I expect you can get the unit apart but would require a very precise application of force, i.e. custom made tooling to hold it perfectly and pull it apart. Part of the coating on the canards will be aimed as reducing heating. Them turned into air flow at nearly two the speed of sound will have serious heating affect.

[@bob2161]

Great video. I'd already seen the older one, really enjoyed the more "in depth" look and explanations. I'm really curious about two things that I've not been able to get answers for. Perhaps someone here knows the answers and will be willing to share their knowledge. First; Is there an official name for the spinning wheel? Second; Do these wheels spin for the entire that the plane is flying, or only once the missile is fired from the plane. I can think of logistical problems in either scenario. If they spin the entire flight, I would think that would wear out the bearings. Depending on what plane is carrying the missile, a sortie can last 4 or more hours. I don't believe it's unreasonable to think it possible that one of these missiles would fly several dozens of sorties over it's service life, without ever being fired. If the don't spin up until they are launched, I would think this would cause some instability issues during the beginning of the missile's flight. That means an unstable missile, in close proximity to the plane that launched it. I can see that leading to some horribly unintended outcomes.

[@spicy110]

The whole unit is called a rolleron, the wheel would be a gyro wheel. I believe the missile have bands around the fins that hold all the wheels in place in flight but pop off at launch. 🙂

[@bob2161]

@@spicy110 Thanks! I knew the entire mechanism was called a rolleron. It was the spinning wheel itself that I didn't know. I'm aware of some of the interesting nomenclature the military comes up with when it comes to naming things. I was imagining something along the lines of: Rotor, High Speed, Gyro, Air Driven, Passive Stability Unit, Unfinished, DO NOT PAINT The band that comes off at launch brings me back to that initial stability issue. Obviously, it works, for the missile to be as successful as it is, for as long as it has. Thanks again for the quick response, and the great videos. Cheers

[@martindinner3621]

If the rollerons function as indicated in their patent listing, they spin throughout the flight. The locking tabs at the back appear to disengage under the g-shock of launch. The bearings are probably over engineered to allow for wear.

[@ryanpeck3377]

@@martindinner3621 The tabs(bands) at the back hold the wheel in place during flight. They unlock during launch allowing the wheel to spin. That prevents unnecessary wear on the bearings

[@mliittsc63]

I'm pretty sure the gyros only spin at launch. Allowing them to spin during flight would create more drag than keeping them stationary (granted, a small amount of drag relative to the plane, but every little bit counts). I know this sounds counterintuitive, and not knowing better, I would guess that allowing them to move would lead to less drag, but as I understand it, if it spins then the air is doing work, while if it doesn't spin the air is not doing work. On the other hand, fighter jets have a lot of things that cause drag, and they are very non-airplanelike in many ways. If you apply enough power you can make anything fly. The fact that there is a band AND a lock seems to argue for them not spinning as well.

[@Shaman2be]

They were pinned during flight using a crossed dacron cord arrangement. The rotation of the rolleron in the airstream reduced some vibration that was observed on highly maneuverable aircraft. Upon launch the dacron cord would burn through and the rolleron would unpin, allowing it to provide a bit of gyroscopic stability for the inherently unstable missile. They didn't call it the sidewinder just because it was a cute name. The guidance system used bang-bang navigational control signals for the canards. (the little stubby control surfaces on the guidance unit. After the guidance unit came the influence fuze. This enable the missile to track to an average signal strength received from the IR unit in the nose and the signal from the fuze further back. This then enhanced the scissor like action of the warhead. Neat system.

[@michaelmarks5012]

I believe the front fin is made of titanium alloy. The color & texture & sound looks very similar to aircraft landing gear trunnions that I've machined.

[@spicy110]

I just had a thought and checked them with a magnet, and they strongly attract a magnet so they must be a steel based alloy.

[@smeggyhead1]

My analysis: There are 24 teeth on that wheel. The Spectroid app shows the pitch reached 6656Hz. So it looks like the wheel reached 277rps (16,640rpm) (the pitch certainly is not 15kHz (6656Hz is the correct peak value). You can confirm this by using a signal generator app and compare both pitches manually)

[@frutt5k]

Let's do some math. The wheel diameter looks something like 10 cm. Circumference is around 30 cm. The fin-speed of the wheel will be less than the airspeed of the missile. Let's take the 2000 km/hr, which boils down to 555 m/s Divide the 555 by 0.3 and you have the rps: 1850 rps or 110.000 rpm More testing required I guess.

[@throngcleaver]

@@frutt5k The rolleron has a pair of airfoils standing vertically in front of the wheel. They are shaped in a way that increases the velocity of the airflow, just like a venturi does. The top speed of any AIM-9 is still classified, but it exceeds Mach 3, which is roughly 1,932 knots, or 2,223 mph. Let's assume that the top speed of the missile, plus the venturi effect, comes out to 2,500 mph. The wheel measures 3" in diameter, giving us a circumference of 9.42". The math shows 280,000 rpm, assuming the tip speed of the wheel is at 2,500 mph. An air compressor at 90psi will not come close to producing a Mach 3 air stream. Just sayin'. I would guess that smeggyhead1 is pretty close with his 16,000+ rpm.

[@frutt5k]

@@throngcleaver Your guess is as good as mine. We're just supposing.

[@throngcleaver]

@@frutt5k I have a rolleron I bought on eBay and actually measured the wheel. Your assumption of 10cm is 33% larger than the true diameter. A smaller wheel would turn at a higher RPM than a larger one, based on the outer diameter velocity being the same. 2,000 kph is only Mach 1.67. I know that the published number for the speed of an AIM-9 is Mach 2.5+. I also know that the much older AIM-4 series of missiles claimed as much as Mach 4 for a top speed, so I chose 2,500mph because it falls roughly halfway between Mach 3 and Mach 4. I don't make guesses without having factual information from which to base them on.

[@frutt5k]

@@throngcleaver Looking at how many decimals you use I come to the conclusion that you should not do too many calculations of this kind.

[@Mrflash222006]

The model is still in one piece 👍

[@spicy110]

Oh yes dude I would not let your hard work go to waste, it sits on the shelf with the fins. 🙂

[@jubuttib]

10:03 Having to be behind the target plane had very little to do with the maneuverability of the missile (though extra maneuverability certainly helps on head-on shots!) and much more to do with the seeker capabilities of the older models. They simply weren't good enough to get and maintain a solid lock unless they could see the exhausts of the engine(s), so you needed to be behind them to get a reliable shot off. Some sources even say that the B model was basically blind to anything cooler than the tailpipe of a jet (partly due to sensitivity, partly due to the part of the spectrum the seekers of the day worked at). The gimbal system was also another reason, in the B model for example the seeker could only turn at 11 degrees per second, so it would have had trouble following a target that's moving across it's nose really fast, further limiting it to fairly low maneuvering rear-aspect shots on that aspect as well. The AIM-9L was the first all-aspect Sidewinder, with both a sensor sensitive enough (and in the correct parts of the spectrum) and gimbals fast and accurate enough to allow you to fairly reliably make shots from any aspect against a highly maneuverable target. And as an additional note, the AIM-9X is the first Sidewinder model with an imaging IR sensor, meaning it can also detect shapes, sizes, etc. and use that to recognize and track targets (really helpful against countermeasures like flares, which surprisingly are not shaped like jets), whereas older seekers were mostly IR detectors (kinda like the difference between a light detector and a camera, though there's more to it than that). The turning around bit isn't really related to the missiles being designed to come at targets from behind, there's really no need for that (you just wanna get close and go BOOM). There's absolutely no need for the missile to fly past the target, turn around and then head for the tail pipes, that'd be a colossal waste of energy overall. The "turning around" thing of modern missiles is more to do with lock-on after launch capabilities (LOAL), meaning the missile doesn't need to have a lock on the target when it's launched. It can be told where the target is, fly towards that area, and try to find the target once it's looking in the correct region. For example the French Rafales have demonstrated a shot using the MICA IR missile where they used the datalink between the planes to give the missile a target, that was behind the plane launching the missile. The missile launches forward, turns around, and begins seeking the target in the area where the datalink said it was. IIRC the Israeli Python has also shown this capability, and the block II version of the 9X should be able to do it as well, but AFAIK it hasn't been demonstrated.

[@TristanMorrow]

naive rpm equation for the flywheel/gyroscope, if this helps: no teeth to count just measure the wheel. max missile speed (in/m) over (circumference (in) * pi) = pi/m or rpm

[@jmans4928]

And what is the advantage between the rolleron and a regular aileron , because the rolleron is consuming rocket energy when is not in use and a regular aileron doesn't.

[@johnhawks5035]

Could we see the shaft bearings for the Rolleron? I am guessing these need some kind of maintenance to keep them mission-ready (for years?).

[@robinwells8879]

I believe that the bloodhound ground to air missile also used the annular chain mechanism for chopping up the target kinetically. 😳

[@kablammy7]

it just occurred to me that back in 1995 when one of the very first online player games was popular ( Descent ) - the favorite joystick for most people to use was the microsoft sidewinder now - since i have a couple of kawasaki z900 bikes - i will check out your other videos

[@SoloRenegade]

rough surface = cheaper and easier to produce consider this is going supersonic and air behaves a bit different ahead and behind the shockwave than subsonic aerodynamics. Most likely the surface roughness achieved just didn't matter enough. And consider it could be painted as well, which would act to smooth the surface. When this was invented, CNC machining wasn't a thing. Complex machining operations were costly and time consuming.

[@osmacar5331]

something you are doing wrong with the gyro, you are not doing it at the point of rotation. it's be more pronounced if you do. point of rotation is where it bolts onto the missile.

[@Enkelados1]

Appreciate the video, but there is so much needless rambling going on, it could have been half as long with the same information.

[@Pirate85getready]

AFAIK only the Aim-9C was Radar guided, but it was not a big success and so it went into the past.

[@ThePretendgineer]

The canard has that texture because they're sand cast aluminum. They're made as cheaply as possible.

[@AbdurRahman-fm1xj]

Rubbish working explanation with too much unnecessary talk.

[@Ravan_Caw]

Interesting update thanks 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@simonlucken213]

was anyone else confused how the stabilization works, as the gyroscope seems to me to turn the aileron in the direction where its would emphasize rather than damped the unstable movement of the missile. is the intent to stabiles it in pitch and yaw or roll?

[@dirkmohrmann8960]

At 17:28 you can see that it works to counter roll. He rolls the fin up in the frame, the aileron moves up as well, which would cause an aerodynamic force opposite to the force he introduced. Yaw and pitch are controlled with the canards on these.

[@jefflayton4339]

@@dirkmohrmann8960 Exactly. It works like a sort of automatic trim tab

[@Attaxalotl]

You are officially KZbin's AIM-9 Sidewinder guy now.

[@guysavage3347]

Just casually pulling parts off your Aim 9. A real one.

[@john1182]

smarter every day just did a video on the am9-m your about to see some serious views

[@slacinace]

question how the hell did you get this part and how can i get some