OK guys, I need some help… I was a Mace A RFML launch crew guy, so my TAC Missile expertise was answering radio checks and watching TV…
Can someone please advise where the airframe (fuselage?) serial number can be found on a Mace?
Per my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong), the number painted on a Mace’s tail was the serial number of the airframe. Nose sections, warheads, etc. were typically swapped between airframes during maintenance, and each had its own separate serial number.
So… If no number is painted on a Mace’s tail (as in the photo below), where can someone find the ‘official’ number that should be painted on the tail?
Click on image to enlarge.
What are the locations of the serial numbers for the nose and warhead sections? Can they be viewed without disassembling the missile?
The number currently painted on the tail of the ‘Wildwood’ Mace appears that it may have been ‘borrowed’ from a Mace that was restored in 2006, and is currently on display at the USAF Space and Missile Museum at Patrick AFB, FL. In order to research the heritage of the ‘Wildwood’ Mace, we need to determine its original tail number.
If you can help, please send me an email. russ@TacMissileers.org
Thanks!!!
Russ
ps – Another ‘dumb’ question. – How can I visibly tell a Mace A from a Mace B…? I’ve been told that the photo above is a Mace B. What distinguishes it as a B vs. an A?
Response from George Mindling (3/7/2010)… Thanks George!
“The only visible difference I know of is the nose section: The “A” had a fiberglass radome and the “B” had a solid aluminum section with a drop down panel on the lower left side for the AAU reference. Except for some differences like the “B” bird had a pitot tube while the “A” did not doesn’t mean much on displays as the pitot tubes are always removed from the “B” bird and the panel is filled over.”