Rockets

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "At the top-secret research center at Peenemünde, a German island in the Baltic, the Ministry of Aviation makes the first powered test flight of the rocket-powered Me-163 V1 KE+SW. Test pilot Heini Dittmar flies the revolutionary plane with its Walter RI-203b engine and achieves speeds of over 800 km/hr. Dittmar will continue testing this prototype throughout the fall, flying it roughly once a day while it is being tested, and achieve speeds over 1000 km/hr.

The swept-wing plane is extremely dangerous to fly for several reasons, including the fact that its rocket engine only works for about seven minutes to get to altitude, and then the pilot must glide from extreme heights to make an unpowered landing - with only one opportunity to "stick the landing." In addition, the fuel is composed of two separate liquids that must be keep separated until ignition - and if for some reason they come into contact with each other, a massive explosion occurs.

 

[AndyJWest]

Another of the many hazards was that one of the two liquids, the oxidiserT-Stoff, was  80%-concentrate hydrogen peroxide: corrosive to human skin.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by AndyJWest

[Irishratticus72]

1 hour ago, AndyJWest said:

Another of the many hazards was that one of the two liquids, the oxidiserT-Stoff, was  80%-concentrate hydrogen peroxide: corrosive to human skin.

 

 

 

 

Explains a lot of Blondes in the third reich. 

[jollyjack]

That type peroxide did not work ...