Collections & Exhibits

Regulus Restoration

History of Regulus Missle

  The design for our Regulus I (SSM-N-8a or RGM-6B) guided missile was begun in 1947 by Chance Vought to satisfy a U.S. Navy requirement for a missile capable of carrying a 3,000 lb payload 500 miles at Mach 0.85.  The result was a sub sonic, J-33 turbojet powered cruise missile that also utilized 2 solid fueled rocket engines during launch.  It was 30 ft long with a 10 ft wing span, 4 ft in diameter and weighing 10,000 – 12,000 lbs. There were 514 Regulus missiles built. 

  The first Regulus I was flown in March 1951 with the first submarine launch being completed in July 1953 from the deck of a modified World War II fleet submarine, USS Tunny (SSG-282).  Before the end of Regulus I service with the Navy there would be five Regulus submarines including the USS Tunny’s sister ship USS Barbero (SSG-317), two purpose built diesel submarines, USS Grayback (SSG-574) and USS Growler (SSG-577) and the nuclear powered USS Halibut (SSGN-587).  The Tunny and Barbero were each modified with a water tight hangar on their after decks capable of holding two Regulus missiles, the Grayback and Growler were each built with a pair of water tight hangars extending back from their bows making each submarine capable of carrying four Regulus missiles, while the Halibut was able to accommodate five missiles in a hangar integrated into the hull of the submarine.  Additionally four U.S. Navy cruisers were modified to carry the Regulus cruise missile as were 10 aircraft carriers.  Of all these vessels only one, USS Growler, still exists.  It is on display, complete with Regulus missile, at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York.

  The Regulus represented the U.S Navy’s first nuclear deterrent of the Cold War a role that would later be filled by the Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident submarine launched ballistic missiles.  It was a direct descendant of the German V-1 “Buzz bomb” and a forerunner to the modern Tomahawk cruise missile.

Restoration

  After guidelines were developed to govern what steps would be taken to restore the missile, restoration was begun in late fall 2004. The missile was moved from its resting place in the museum’s “bone yard” where it had sat in the New England weather for a number of years.  The elements had faded its navy blue finish, some of its fittings had rusted, and there was some structural damage to the underside of the craft, but overall it has been found to be in remarkable shape. 

  Before any work began, a walk around of the missile was completed with a digital camera and hand sketches made to fully documenting every insignia and every stencil on the aircraft.

  The first step was to gently sling the missile off the engine stand it had been resting on and separate it into major sub-components; the nose was removed as was the tail section, then the engine (whose rotor was amazingly found to still spin like a top) was pulled.  Restoration then focused on the center fuselage and vertical tail until winter weather forced all work inside.

  Winter and into the spring was spent tearing the J33-A-18A engine down to sub-components. An engine stand was design and fabricated by Roger Pelletier. Another set of digital photos was taken on the engine and a maintenance manual was located to help disassembly.  The J33 consists of dual inlet compressor and single stage turbine. The compressor section was separated from the turbine. The compressor remained in the engine stand for future work.  The turbine section was completely disassembled where it was found that  all 12 of the engine’s combustion chambers had mouse nests in them, yet the bearings throughout were pristine.

  With the engine all in pieces and the weather warming up again, our focus shifted back to the fuselage and prepping it for painting.  The painting process has begun with stripping the tail section down to bare aluminum and acid etched, in preparation for a coat of primer. Painting on this project is going to be handled in stages. As each subassembly is brought in, paint will be removed from the outside first, interior skin and structure will be inspected and spot corrosion control and priming will be completed. The outside surface will then be primed and the assembly secured until everything has been completed. Final assembly and last minute spot primer will be applied. After the missile has been completely reassembled, we will apply the final top coat of paint and stenciling.

 Corrosion control has always been an important aspect of the restoration process at the museum.  Our ability to authentically replicate many of the military colors has become increasingly difficult to maintain as many of the general aviation suppliers do not follow federal standard specs.   Discussions were held with PRC-DeSoto, the aviation division of PPG paint in hopes that we could locate a product that would provide a durable finish and still allow us to match the FS colors exactly. After meeting with the northeast area PRC representative it was determined they have water based (non chromate) primer that is used throughout the commercial and general aviation industry and is compatible with one of their polyurethane aviation paints that can be tinted to match any of the federal standard colors we require to complete the project. We are looking forward to applying this new system on the missile.

Presently the restoration team consists of Jim McGuire, Mike Sirosky, Rob Hubbard and Chris Niggemeier. Jim, Mike and Rob have been working on the engine and fuselage components while Chris Niggemeier has been using his skills as a licensed A&P mechanic to repair the extensive sheet metal damage.

The current intent of this restoration is to display the missile in its original markings and paint scheme with its engine fully restored as a separate display.