Fieseler Fi 103 (Vergeltungswaffe 1 or V1) at the Military Aviation Museum, Kamp Zeist (the Netherlands)
The V-1 (Vergeltungswaffe 1 or V1) flying bomb was an early pulsejet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The V-1 was designed under the codename "Kirschkern" (Cherry Stone) by Robert Lüsser of the German aircraft factory Fieseler and Fritz Gosslau of the Argus Motoren company, with a fuselage constructed mainly of welded steel sheets and wings built of plywood. The simple Argus-built pulse jet engine pulsed 50 times per second and the characteristic buzzing sound gave rise to the colloquial names "Buzz Bomb" or "Doodlebug" (a common name for a wide variety of insects). It was known briefly in Germany (on Hitler's orders) as "Maikäfer" (May Bug) and "Krähe" (Crow). The V-1 could reach a maximum speed of 656 km/h (407 mph) flying between 600 to 900 metres (2000 to 3000 ft) and had originally a maximum range of 240 km (about 150 miles) but this was improved to 420 km (about 260 miles) to allow for it to be launched from Holland. The V-1 weighed 2150 kg (4740 lb), including the gasoline fuel and a 850 kg (1874 lb) warhead. The first of the so-called Vergeltungswaffen (retaliatory weapons or reprisal weapons) designed for terror bombing of London, the V-1 was fired from launch sites along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts. The first V-1 was launched at London on 13 June 1944, one week after the successful Allied landing in Europe. At its peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was overrun by Allied forces. After this, the V-1s were directed at the port of Antwerp and other targets in Belgium, with 2448 V-1s being launched. The attacks stopped when the last launch site was overrun on 29 March 1945.
- Author
- Matthijs van Wageningen
- Created on
- Wednesday 28 May 2008
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- Argus Motoren, Buzz Bomb, Camp Zeist, cruise missile, Fi 103, Fieseler, flying bomb, Fritz Gosslau, Kamp Zeist, Militaire Luchtvaart Museum, military, Military Aviation Museum, MLM, museum, Nederland, Netherlands, pulse jet engine, pulsejet, Robert Lüsser, Soesterberg, UAV, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, V-1, V1, Vergeltungswaffe 1, weapon
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