Fritz von Opel
Fritz von Opel was one of those early-20th-century rocket-besotted guys who pioneered this exotic means of propulsion. Just look at his rocket car go in the film clip above! (Narration in German, but not necessary to comprehension.)
But von Opel's innocent excitement had its darker side. I give you the 1929 newspaper article below. Specifically, the enlarged sentence.
Comments
He can't compare to my favorite German rocket-man WERNHER VON BRAUN! :lol: 😛 :coolcheese: :coolsmile:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 03/29/13 at 02:20 PM
Scary, the more he managed to do the more tht was accomplished for Hitler's rise.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/29/13 at 06:28 PM
Actually the first modern rockets were built and tested in England with the Germans copying and improving on the design, they later passed on that knowledge to the United States after being defeated in WW2. The trajectory followed by the Apollo mission to the moon was worked out in the 1930's by none other than Arthur C Clarke of '2001 A Space Odyssey' fame.
Posted by I know everything on 04/09/13 at 09:48 AM
@"Iknow everything". That's funny cause when asked mr.Von Braun said he learned how to build them from Robert Goddard :coolsmile:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 04/09/13 at 01:40 PM
Some of the early world land speed record attempts were done on unmodified (straight, of course) stretches of the Autobahn, as a specific way of lauding Nazism. A two-lane strip of concrete gets pretty narrow at high speed.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 04/09/13 at 10:14 PM
The British fired rockets against Ft. McHenry in the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner" with its lyrics about "The rockets' red glare."
Rocket development in Great Britain before 1939 was actually far greater than might have been expected given the conservatism that could be found in all sections of the military. The Americans sent over teams to learn about British rocket technology, such was its reputation.
By late-1940, a 3-inch rocket was brought into service. 128 of these small rockets could be fired from what was called a ‘projector’. In May 1940, it had already been decided that these rockets should be used against German aircraft. The firm G A Harbey in Greenwich was given the task of mass-producing these rockets and by September 1940, over 1,000 had been made. In October 1940, a rocket battery was formed led by Major Duncan Sandys to defend Cardiff using the three-inch rockets. On April 7th, 1941, the first German plane was downed by one of these rockets. By the end of April two rocket batteries defended the Welsh city. The batteries were known as ‘Z’ batteries - pictured above. Eventually, the ‘UP-3’ was linked up with radar and equipment that predicted the flight path of planes. When it exploded, the rocket had a lethal radius of 70 feet. The ‘UP-3’ was also increased in size to enable a larger warhead to be carried. By December 1942, 91 Z batteries existed in the UK.
Britain also developed air-to-surface missiles. These were a modification of the ‘UP-3’ and were nearly 6 feet in length and capable of nearly 1,000 mph. By 1942, they were being used operationally in the Royal Navy where they were primarily used against submarines. The army turned down the idea of having them as the army’s senior commanders deemed them ‘superfluous’ to requirements. The Royal Navy continued with the development of the ‘UP-3’ and came up with the ‘Mattress’ system, which was used in amphibious landings. The ‘Mattress’ system was used to devastating effect in the landings in Sicily and mainland Italy. It was this success in the ‘soft underbelly’ of Western Europe that persuaded the army to adopt ‘UP-3’ and an army version was used when the British and Canadian armies crossed the River Rhine.
Towards the end of the war the ‘Stooge’ was developed by the British. It was designed to attack planes, particularly Japanese kamikazes. The ‘Stooge’ was a radio-guided missile with a range of 8 to 9 miles. It reached a top speed of 500 mph and carried a 220lb warhead.
By 1949 the UK was on a par with the US in rocket and space technology and ahead of all other countries including the USSR. Sadly its scientist were then let down by short sighted politicians and starved of investment leading to its gradual demise although its satellite technology now leads the world.
Mr.Von Braun as clever as he was would have said anything including black was white to save his Nazi skin.
Rocket development in Great Britain before 1939 was actually far greater than might have been expected given the conservatism that could be found in all sections of the military. The Americans sent over teams to learn about British rocket technology, such was its reputation.
By late-1940, a 3-inch rocket was brought into service. 128 of these small rockets could be fired from what was called a ‘projector’. In May 1940, it had already been decided that these rockets should be used against German aircraft. The firm G A Harbey in Greenwich was given the task of mass-producing these rockets and by September 1940, over 1,000 had been made. In October 1940, a rocket battery was formed led by Major Duncan Sandys to defend Cardiff using the three-inch rockets. On April 7th, 1941, the first German plane was downed by one of these rockets. By the end of April two rocket batteries defended the Welsh city. The batteries were known as ‘Z’ batteries - pictured above. Eventually, the ‘UP-3’ was linked up with radar and equipment that predicted the flight path of planes. When it exploded, the rocket had a lethal radius of 70 feet. The ‘UP-3’ was also increased in size to enable a larger warhead to be carried. By December 1942, 91 Z batteries existed in the UK.
Britain also developed air-to-surface missiles. These were a modification of the ‘UP-3’ and were nearly 6 feet in length and capable of nearly 1,000 mph. By 1942, they were being used operationally in the Royal Navy where they were primarily used against submarines. The army turned down the idea of having them as the army’s senior commanders deemed them ‘superfluous’ to requirements. The Royal Navy continued with the development of the ‘UP-3’ and came up with the ‘Mattress’ system, which was used in amphibious landings. The ‘Mattress’ system was used to devastating effect in the landings in Sicily and mainland Italy. It was this success in the ‘soft underbelly’ of Western Europe that persuaded the army to adopt ‘UP-3’ and an army version was used when the British and Canadian armies crossed the River Rhine.
Towards the end of the war the ‘Stooge’ was developed by the British. It was designed to attack planes, particularly Japanese kamikazes. The ‘Stooge’ was a radio-guided missile with a range of 8 to 9 miles. It reached a top speed of 500 mph and carried a 220lb warhead.
By 1949 the UK was on a par with the US in rocket and space technology and ahead of all other countries including the USSR. Sadly its scientist were then let down by short sighted politicians and starved of investment leading to its gradual demise although its satellite technology now leads the world.
Mr.Von Braun as clever as he was would have said anything including black was white to save his Nazi skin.
Posted by I know everything on 04/10/13 at 03:19 PM
@I Know everything, What book did you lift that from? :coolhmm:
5 paragraphs is a lot to use without a citation, Don't you think? :coolmad:
BTW I was raised in and around Baltimore, Used to live near Fort street, as in fort McHenry. :coolsmile:
P.S. NAZI, SCHAMATZI!! Says Werner Von Braun! :coolsmile: :lol:
5 paragraphs is a lot to use without a citation, Don't you think? :coolmad:
BTW I was raised in and around Baltimore, Used to live near Fort street, as in fort McHenry. :coolsmile:
P.S. NAZI, SCHAMATZI!! Says Werner Von Braun! :coolsmile: :lol:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 04/10/13 at 11:07 PM
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Category: Inventions | War | Space Travel | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | Europe | Cars