History of flight-powered flight- the invention of the long range missile

The V1 missile was the first cruise missile to be built. Although its guidance system was very primitive in comparison to modern day cruise missile, it struck fear in the hearts of citizens as they rained down on London. With the use of a new jet engine, known as the pulse jet, V1 missiles reached speeds of 656 km/hr and climbed to ceilings of up to 1km. They carried over 800 kg of explosives and caused immense devastation on impact.

Rocket power and the long range missile.
During WW II Germany developed the only rocket powered fighter to see operational service. The Messerschmitt Me 163B-1 Komet pioneered the swept-wing design common to most super-sonic fighters of today. The komet was designed to climb quickly at speeds of 900 km/h and reach altitudes in excess of 7 km. The fuel which powered the Komet was a mixture of C-stoff (hydrazine hydrate and methyl alcohol) and T-stoff (hydrogen-peroxide and water). This mixture was highly unstable and the sudden jolt of landing often mixed any unburnt fuel resulting in a massive explosion. More Komets were lost during landing than were shot down by enemy fighters. With only 10 minutes of flying time the Komet had a limited operational role.
The V1 missile was the first cruise missile to be built. Although its guidance system was very primitive in comparison to modern day cruise missile, it struck fear in the hearts of citizens as they rained down on London. With the use of a new jet engine, known as the pulse jet, V1 missiles reached speeds of 656 km/hr and climbed to ceilings of up to 1km. They carried over 800 kg of explosives and caused immense devastation on impact.
Most fighter aircraft were too slow to intercept a V1 missile and anti-aircraft gunners found it hard to hit such small, fast moving objects. The animation on the right shows how a pulse jet works. The pulse jet differs from other jet engines in that combustion inside the engine is not continuous but occurs in repeated explosions.These repeated explosions give the engine its characteristic buzz noise. One-way valves control the flow of air and fuel into the ignition chambers. Upon ignition these valves slam shut, forcing the gases to escape through the tailpipe generating thrust.
The awesome V2 rocket was the first intercontinental ballistic missile ever to be launched. Its use marked a new era in modern warfare. The V2 was fuelled by a mixture of ethanol and liquid oxygen. It was recognised as a revolutionary invention with uses far beyond the battle fields of Europe. Its superior technology and power provided the stepping stone for mankind to conquer space. V2 technology gave the Russian's the means with which to put mankind's first sattelite (Sputnik) into Earth orbit in 1957. Click to see a 240 kb video. Four years later in April 12 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Intense rivalry between the old USSR and the USA caused Kennedy administration to devote millions of dollars to the ambitious project of landing a human on the Moon. This feat was accomplished on July 21 1969 when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. By 1971 the Russians had a permanent, manned, orbiting space station called Salyut.
The Apollo program, which landed a man on the Moon in 1969, also benefited enormously from the German technology. View the video on the right of the huge Saturn 5 rocket taking off.
Exercises on the history of flight part (I) Exercises on the history of flight part (II) Internal combustion engine

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.