Some great shots! Just out of curiosity does anyone know why the Sidewinder installation is purely vertically orientated while the Magic installation is canted outwards towards the wingtips?
Phantom, I put the question to a chap who has fired a few in his time;
Without knowing the exact reason, it will vary from different aircraft/missile combination and configurations, the following are proposed as input to the discussion:
The flow field in the region of the missile will affect the immediate response of the missile on separation. During wind tunnel testing of both the aircraft + the missile, over the entire range of angles of attack, certain decisions get taken on how the missile will be optimally placed. In flight test however, missiles have a mind of their own and the interaction with shockwaves presents its fair share of possible permutations. Why is this important? Many reasons = the path of the missile must preclude impact with the aircraft, both the wing and the fuselage and the exhaust plume should not facilitate ingestion of the hot gasses = compressor stall, etc. So, there are numerous aspects to be considered.
Also the sensor look angle may have to be considered; in other words, picture this. When the aircraft is tracking a target, it is usually at a moderate angle of attack (pitch attitude); at installation of the missile, the missile is suspended at a negative pitch angle so that during the tracking of a target, the sensor boresight is close to zero; this also assists in overcoming what I would call ‘missile jump’, as the missile has to make the adjustment for pitch angle offset – I hope this is not too exhorbitant an explanation.
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