Model 122B Alpha Draco WS-199D

The USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory played a pioneering role in the development of aerospace vehicles. A complete spectrum of programs have been investigated since 1958 through the current activities and projected into the 1990s. The Laboratory began its activities with participation in the precursor studies which led to Project Mercury. It was responsible for the aerodynamic, performance and aerothermodynamic tasks of the X-20 before the establishment of the Systems Program Office. The Laboratory was strongly involved with the X-7A, a ramjet test vehicle, where basic aerothermodynamic and structural information was obtained at Mach numbers in excess of four.

This was followed by considerable configuration analysis and testing including significant involvement with the very successful flight testing of the Alpha Draco vehicle. The Alpha Draco was a precursor to the Boost Glide Reentry Vehicle later flown from the Western Test Range. Tthe boost glide vehicle was a missile that could travel great distance by skipping on the Earth's atmosphere, and using a body of revolution to distribute the heat.

McDonnell agreed to design, build, fly and deliver the data of three such vehicles for $5 million, and they did it. It was built in Building 32 in St. Louis. It was about a 45-foot long two stage solid-rocket missile. the first stage comprising a Thiokol TX-20 solid-fuel rocket of the type used in the MGM-29 Sergeant theater ballistic missile, and the second stage using a Thiokol TX-30 solid-fuel rocket.

In 1959, the Air Force evaluated the high-speed characteristics of a lifting body during three test flights that were part of a larger research effort called WS-199. With significant involvement from the AFFDL, McDonnell developed the Model 122B Alpha Draco boost-glider as part of WS-199D. Each lifting body–shaped glider was launched to 92,000 feet by a two-stage launch vehicle derived from the Sergeant Battlefield missile. After being accelerated to Mach 5, the Alpha Draco vehicle glided toward a preprogrammed location about 240 miles downrange, where it entered a terminal dive into the ocean.

The first two Alpha Draco flights on February 16 and March 16, 1959, were successful, but the third flight, on April 27, 1959, did not fare as well and was destroyed by range safety after it deviated from its planned flightpath. Despite the failure, the program verified the basic principles of boost-glide vehicles, and provided limited data on hypersonic aerodynamics and thermodynamics. The program demonstrated that the vehicle was able to generate lift/drag ratio of 3.5 to 1, allowing it to greatly extend its range.