This guy is a nut. [Archive]

Mike Mercury

09-05-2016, 7:01pm

pulse jets are :cool: ... they also they can run on a variety of fuels.

http://www.bbrclub.org/V1%20on%20LAUNCHERBW.jpg

The V-1 was made with a fuselage constructed mainly of welded sheet steel and some versions may have had wings built in steel or possibly of plywood. The simple Pulse jet engine pulsed 50 times per second, and the characteristic buzzing sound gave rise to the colloquial names "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug" (after an Australian insect).

http://www.bbrclub.org/VI%20NOSE%20CONEBW.jpg
The V-1 guidance system used a simple autopilot to regulate height and speed. This used a weighted pendulum system providing fore-and-aft attitude measurement to control pitch damped by a gyrocompass, which it also stabilized. The gyrocompass was set by swinging in a hangar before launch and controlled pitch and roll. The gyroscope stayed trued up by possibly sensing the magnetic field of the earth, and from the fore and aft pendulum. This meant that rudder control was enough without a separate banking mechanism. A countdown timer driven by a small propeller on the nose determined when target range had been reached. Before launching the counter was set to a value that would reach zero upon arrival at the target in the prevailing wind conditions. As the missile flew, the airflow turned the propeller and every 30 rotations of the propeller counted down one number on the counter. This counter triggered the arming of the warhead after about 38 miles. At the point when the counter reached zero the missile made two detonating bolts were fired. Two spoilers on the elevator were released, this caused the missile to have its forward flight “spoiled” and a stall in the air began. At the same time the linkage between the elevator and servo was jammed and a device cut off the control hoses to the rudder servo, setting the rudder in neutral. These actions led the V-1 into a steep dive. However the dive caused the fuel flow to cease, which stopped the engine. The sudden silence after the buzzing alerted listeners that the V-1 would impact soon. German scientists fixed the fuel shutoff and by the time the last V-1 fell, the majority had impacted under full power. With the counter determining how far the missile would fly, it was only necessary to launch the V-1 with the ramp in the rough direction and the autopilot controlled the rest.

The first test flight of the V-1 was in late 1941 or early 1942 at Peenmunde. British Intelligence was aware of the existence of the device but details were sketchy. At that time only solid fuel rockets were considered to be in existence and the idea of a rocket that could fly over a 100 miles was dismissed. By the time it was realised it was not solid fuel that was in use the British had very good knowledge of what was going on. The British fed false information about the effect of V1 impacts to confuse the German intelligence service. On 13th June 1944 a week after D day the first V-1 struck London next to the railway bridge on Grove Road, Mile End which now carries a commemorative plaque. Eight civilians were killed in the blast.

Fighter aircraft tried to bring down the V1 by using a technique that required coolness and bravery.
http://www.bbrclub.org/spit%20tipsV1.jpg

By sliding the wingtip to within six inches (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing would cause disruption of the airflow and could cause one wing of the Doodlebug to rise. What was found was that if the V1 wing tip was made to raise this would cause the gyros to be overridden in theory and practice would cause a dive to the ground with no recovery. At least three V-1s were destroyed this way.

The V-1 launch sites could launch about 15 bombs per day, although this was never consistently achieved; the record was 18 in one day. Only a quarter hit their targets due to a combination of defensive measures mechanical unreliability and guidance errors.

Two electronic aids arrived to in mid-1944 to help AA Command, both developed in the USA, by using a British invention known as the cavity magnetron (Today this is what makes your microwave work!!). Centimetric gun-laying radars were excellent and along with the newly developed proximity fuse made anti-aircraft guns much more dangerous to attacking aircraft and V1’s.

17% of all flying bombs entering the coastal 'gun belt' were destroyed by guns in their first week on the coast. This rose to 60% by 23 August and 74% in the last week of the month, when on one day 82% were shot down. The rate improved from one V-1 destroyed for every 2,500 shells fired initially, to one for every 100. This still did not stem the problem, however, and the threat was not properly contained until the launch sites could be captured by infantry.

Almost 30,000 V-1s were made. Approximately 10,000 were fired at England; 2,419 reached London, killing about 6,184 people and injuring 17,981. 4,261 V-1s had been destroyed by fighters, anti-aircraft fire and barrage balloons. We were lucky that D-day took place when it did. If it had happened much later it is frightening to think of the damage the V1 would have caused as it was not until the allies had overrun every launch that the attacks were prevented.