under the horizontal stabilizer. These produced for 1.6 seconds, launching the missile off the long launching rail at an acceleration of 8g. As the booster rockets gave the missile a tail-heavy center of gravity, a cup-shaped counterweight was fitted to the nose. At booster burnout, the missile having reached a speed of over , the boosters and counterweight were ejected and the main rockets fired. Like many early missiles of the era, the Stooge was boosted to the approximate altitude of the attacker and then flown onto an intercept course. Flares located in fairings on the wing tips provided a bright source for the operator to track visually. After launch the missile levelled off and a simple gyroscope-controlled autopilot, located in the forwards portion of the fuselage, kept the Stooge flying in a straight line. Control of first the elevators and then, 3 seconds later, the ailerons were released to the operator - the delay necessary for the gyro control to stabilise first. Using radio control, the operator would fly the missile into a position in front of the target, and then adjust the path in order to collide with the target. Control was via the ailerons and elevator, the vertical stabilizer did not contain a movable rudder. Flight testing The first prototypes, with fixed controls, flew after seven months from the start of development at the end of World War II. Development continued with a number of test firings at the Rocket Experimental Establishment at RAF Aberporth at Aberporth, Wales. It is believed that around twelve Stooges were constructed by Fairey, the most successful of the test launches being that of the sixth missile, achieving an altitude of and a range of before the flight was terminated by range safety, the missile having passed out of sight of the operator. The Stooge, on its launcher, was displayed at the Radlett Aerodrome in 1947. Radlett, northwest of London, was the site of a major Handley Page factory and host of early meetings of what would become the Farnborough Airshow. Although the programme failed to yield an operational weapons system, experience gained from the testing of Stooge assisted in the development of the Fairey Fireflash air-to-air missile. See also Brakemine, another early UK missile using beam riding guidance rather than radio control References Citations Bibliography "Fairey's First Guided Missile", Flight, 17 April 1947, pp. 344–345 Fairey Aviation Company Surface-to-air missiles of