The Cherokee was an experimental rocket built by the Cook Electric Co. for use by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the 1950s for the testing of

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an ex ...

History

Made from aluminum, Cherokee was a blocky, simple design that was designed for air-launch from a

B-29 bomber The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

.Shinabery, Michael.
Whoosh failures were 'instructive'
". October 26, 2008. ''

Alamogordo Daily News ''Alamogordo Daily News'', founded in 1898, is a daily newspaper published in Alamogordo, New Mexico. It carries local news as well as syndicated content from Associated Press and others. History ''Alamogordo Daily News'' claims 1898 as its f ...

''. Accessed 2014-05-17. It was operated as part of Project Whoosh, an effort to determine if the use of ejection seats at supersonic speeds was feasible.Burgess and Dubbs 2006, p.107. Launched from the B-29 mothership at an altitude of Parsch 2003 it would fire a solid-fueled rocket to accelerate to supersonic speed, at which point the ejection seat, containing an anesthetized

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

as a test subject, would be fired. The first test took place on January 26, 1954, at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...

; another test in June was held before the project moved to

Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, and a census-designated place in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Th ...

, with two further tests being carried out in July 1955 and April 1956.Bushnell 1958, p.56. None of the four chimpanzees used in the tests survived due to difficulties with the ejection system, however the project was considered a partial success.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Burgess, Colin, and Chris Dubbs.
Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle
'. 2006. New York: Springer Publishing. . * Bushnell, David.

'. Historical Division, Office of Information Services, Air Force Missile Development Center, Air Research and Development Command, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. 1958. Accessed 2014-05-17. . * {{USAF missiles Experimental rockets of the United States Equipment of the United States Air Force Ejection seats Boeing B-29 Superfortress Animal testing in the United States