Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft (GAPA) Launch Site
USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Launch site for Bomarc test vehicles, 1946-1947.
Boeing Airplane Company launched 38 two-stage GAPA solid-rocket-propelled test vehicles from this site located 3 miles east and 7 miles north of Knolls during a period covering June 13, 1946, through July 1, 1947.
A GAPA 600 series test vehicle, serial number 10, achieved stable supersonic flight on August 6, 1946. The program was subsequently transferred to Holloman AFB in New Mexico leaving a concrete launch pad (approximately 100 by 100 feet) and a 40- by 40-foot blockhouse. The 40-foot steel tower associated with the site has been removed. In 1980, the site was nominated for placement on the National Register.
Related
- Country
- USA