Originally posted by William Robison
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Oh come now! The small unidentified aircraft is a "Regulus," even if you didn't recognize it the name is clearly painted on the side facing you in the picture! It was referred to as an "Unmanned Bomber," what we now call a cruise missile. The Regulus and the Snark both used celestial navigation, but weren't very accurate.
Only one engine? You're missing an engine!
WLR
Yup. The Regulus was one of those interim weapons systems that had its sole existence due to the fact that the USN did not want to let the USAF have the only nuclear capability. The AJ-1 Savage is another one of those rather unlikely nuclear delivery systems from the same era...just a stopgap until the big Polaris missle subs came around.
How about this: I actually HAVE a Regulus! It's a Berkeley ARF jetex model from the fifties, and it flies alright! I had to climb a tree to retreive it once. If I remember right, they did add an elevator...