I'd be a little nervous letting that thing in the shop, but I can't deny it looks really freakin' cool.
-Expert
Facts[]
- Fact 1: This dome once capped the nose of a 9-foot, 188-pound AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile, and would have guided it to a high-temperature target.
- Fact 2: The AIM-9 Sidewinder was developed in 1953, and took its name from the side-to-side course corrections the missile made after launch.
- Fact 3: Test pilot and future Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra narrowly avoided disaster when he dodged his own Sidewinder, which had looped around to chase his plane.
- Fact 4: A misplaced Sidewinder made its way into Soviet hands in 1958, and by 1960 the reverse-engineered K-13 missile was in use on Russian fighters.
- Fact 5: A 2010 contract between the US Navy and Boeing guarantees a supply of Sidewinder missiles through at least 2055, giving it an operational life of over 100 years.