"Wendover Willie" is a story of reverse engineering during WWII

[Pauke! Pauke!]

I had a chance to visit the Hill AFB Museum. Very good displays and many interesting examples of aircraft and equipment. Best of all, it was free but I recommend putting at least a dollar in the plexi-glass donation bin. "Wendover Willie" is a nice example of a Republic-Ford JB-2 "Loon." These missiles were reverse engineered from pictures and sketches of German V-1s coming in through intelligence sources and later from examples of crashed V-1s from Britain.

Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic-Ford_JB-2



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[jmig]

Having a group of the former German rocket engineers had to help too.

[Pauke! Pauke!]

The project was started in 1944 prior to surrender in May of 1945. But I agree Werner von Braun and all those Peenemünde technicians that escaped the Soviets helped very much.


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[Dain Arns]

Sounds like a fun trip.
I'll have to mark that down on the list of aviation museums I still need to visit, someday.

I have always had a fondness for the early rocket designs from Von Braun.
Willy Ley's writings helped as well.
Some of my favorite model kits were the Von Braun/Ley designs.

Disney's "Man and the Moon" is on YouTube.
Here is the segment with Von Braun explaining a trip to the Moon...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILjXGfTkKvk

EDIT: Got to include parts 5 & 6. I forgot how much fun it is to watch "the future!"...

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[Bjoern]

Having a group of the former German rocket engineers had to help too.

Why did the USA win the Space Race?
- Because their Germans were better than the ones the Russians had.

:d


(The Russians got rid of theirs fairly early. They just helped to get their rocket tech going.)

[jmig]

Why did the USA win the Space Race?
- Because their Germans were better than the ones the Russians had.

:d


(The Russians got rid of theirs fairly early. They just helped to get their rocket tech going.)

It was more than that. The politics of the Stalin era were not conducive to "outside the box" thinking. Politics and bureaucracy really stymied the Russian - German engineers.

[TeaSea]

I'm curious...did any German engineers consider air launch of the V1?

Seems to me that would have been the significant breakthrough.

[kilo delta]

I'm curious...did any German engineers consider air launch of the V1?

Seems to me that would have been the significant breakthrough.

From wiki..

from July 1944 to January 1945, the Luftwaffe launched approximately 1,176 (V-1's) from modified Heinkel He 111 H-22s of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 3 (3rd Bomber Wing, the so-called "Blitz Wing") flying over the North Sea. Apart from the obvious motive of permitting the bombardment campaign to continue after static ground sites on the French coast were lost, air-launching gave the Luftwaffe the opportunity to outflank the increasingly effective ground and air defences put up by the British against the missile. To minimise the associated risks (primarily radar detection), the aircrews developed a tactic called "lo-hi-lo": the He 111s would, upon leaving their airbases and crossing the coast, descend to an exceptionally low altitude. When the launch point was neared, the bombers would swiftly ascend, fire their V-1s, and then rapidly descend again to the previous 'wave-top' level for the return flight. Research after the war estimated a 40% failure rate of air-launched V-1s, and the He-111s used in this role were extremely vulnerable to night fighter attack, as the launch lit up the area around the aircraft for several seconds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_(flying_bomb)

[Bjoern]

It was more than that. The politics of the Stalin era were not conducive to "outside the box" thinking. Politics and bureaucracy really stymied the Russian - German engineers.

That too. Also, the pressure to catch up to the US was exceptionally high.


If you've got four hours to spare, I highly recommend BBC's "Space Race". It tells the story from both sides from the start to the moon.

[hubbabubba]

Why did the USA win the Space Race?
- Because their Germans were better than the ones the Russians had.

?????????
You must be thinking the "moon race".

The "space race" was definitely won by the Soviets. They were the first to put an orbital satellite, a living creature, and a man up there.

[RedGreen]

?????????
You must be thinking the "moon race".

The "space race" was definitely won by the Soviets. They were the first to put an orbital satellite, a living creature, and a man up there.

The Soviets had an advantage in that safety wasn't nearly as important in their space program. When Alan Shepard went into space his odds were pretty darn good that he'd come back in one piece. Yuri Gagarin's odds were more along the lines of 50/50, at best.

[Bjoern]

?????????
You must be thinking the "moon race".

The "space race" was definitely won by the Soviets. They were the first to put an orbital satellite, a living creature, and a man up there.

"A race in space to the moon."

Happy? ;P

[hubbabubba]

The Soviets had an advantage in that safety wasn't nearly as important in their space program. When Alan Shepard went into space his odds were pretty darn good that he'd come back in one piece. Yuri Gagarin's odds were more along the lines of 50/50, at best.

Both sides took risks. The Redstone rocket on top of which Alan Shepard was strapped was nothing else than a dignified German V2.

When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'

taken HERE.

Sending people in the void of space on top of tons of high-explosive in tiny metallic air bubbles that will be heated white hot on re-entry always was, and will always be, a calculated risk.

"A race in space to the moon."

Happy? ;P

Not really...

The first man-made object to impact the moon was the Soviet Luna 2. So were the first pictures taken and transmitted to earth of the far-side of the moon (Luna 3), the first controlled landing on the moon (Luna 9), and the first artificial satellite put in moon orbit (Luna 10).

Other considered "essentials" maneuvers for a moon mission were also Soviets' first; first multiple crew (Voskhod 1, 3 men), first EVA (Voskhod 2, Aleksei Leonov), first unmanned (Cosmos 186/188) and manned docking (Soyuz 4/5).

Sergei Korolyov's untimely death was probably the main cause of Soviet demise. By that time, "their Germans" were long gone and had been replaced by a very competent "home made" rocket-scientists' generation.

So, Bjoern, I would propose "The race to send a man to the moon and bring him back to earth alive and well."

It may not be as "catchy", but it has the merit to be in accordance with facts. Then, I will be happy... :-/

AIGH (All In Good Humor)

[Bjoern]

"The race to send a man to the moon and bring him back to earth alive and well."

Agreed.

What's next..."The race to send a man to the Moon, from there to Mars, to get back to the Moon, to get back to Earth"? :d

[hubbabubba]

Agreed.

What's next..."The race to send a man to the Moon, from there to Mars, to get back to the Moon, to get back to Earth"? :d

I wish...

At my age, I doubt that I will see the first human being walking on Mars, but you may have a chance. If, rather than a race, they would make it a cooperative effort, this would certainly shorten the delays - and increase my chances by the same token.

The eleven years old boy who skipped school (with his teacher's consent!) to look at fuzzy black and white TV when the first men (all Moon missions in fact) walked on another celestial body is yearning to see humanity go further, this time for other reasons than a stupid pr*ck contest.

[stiz]

i only watch the first part of the moon trip vids .. but thats some pretty clever thinking, in a way its a shame they didnt do it that way.

[Bjoern]

At my age, I doubt that I will see the first human being walking on Mars, but you may have a chance. If, rather than a race, they would make it a cooperative effort, this would certainly shorten the delays - and increase my chances by the same token.

I think privatization of the more "mundane" tasks in spacefaring (launching satellites, supplying the ISS...generally anything in Earth's orbit) will free up resources for the "official" space exploration institutions, so maybe we'll see a "Mom, look at me, I'm on Mars!" sign by 2025 or so.

The eleven years old boy who skipped school (with his teacher's consent!) to look at fuzzy black and white TV when the first men (all Moon missions in fact) walked on another celestial body is yearning to see humanity go further, this time for other reasons than a stupid pr*ck contest.

Who hasn't seen it back in the day.

Even my dad got to see it on west german TV (that nearly everyone in East Germany received).