This artifact, probably the first guided missile that was employed in massive

quantities and one of the biggest weapon systems in History, was a pioneer of the
modern cruise missiles, born from the

investigations about pulse-jet engines started in 1928 by the German expert in

aerodynamics Paul Schmidt. In 1939 the Luftwaffe ordered to the brand Argus the
development of a [i]Schmidtrohr[/span]

engine, which was materialized as the model As 109-014, with a thrust of 300 kg at
sea level. Such engine had an ensemble of flap-valves just after the air intake,
which alternatively admitted or

cut the entrance of fresh air, which was then sent against an aerodynamic pressure
by means of the ignition in the duct. The rate of operation was 47 Hertz and the
noise and vibrations were notable

(albeit there were numerous applications of this engine for aircraft as well as
missiles).[p]
After several years of hesitation, the Luftwaffe decided to authorize the
construction of a flying bomb propelled by the [i]Schmidtrohr[/span] engine, in the
19th June 1942. The main contract was

signed with the company Gerhard Fieseler Werke, whose proposal from 1941 had been
effectuated under the direction of engineer Robert Lusser. To the companies Walter
and Siemens were ordered,

respectively, the construction of the catapults for launching the missiles and the
guide system, based in an automatic pilot Askania. Guide was effectuated by means
of a compass that was regulated

before the launching, the automatic pilot, an aneroid for controlling the altitude
and a propeller regulator of the flight, which in the adequate moment would lead
the missile against the ground in

a pronounced dive.[p]
The very Gerhard Fieseler flew in the cuatrimotor Fw 200C that in December 1942
effectuated the launching of the first bomb, which was devoid of engine. The 24th
of the same month was launched from

Peenemunde West a complete bomb for the first time. The frantic rush to surpass the
A-4 rocket supported by the Wehrmacht was hampered by initial failures, but the
trials and training for

thedeploying of the first launching unit of the Luftwaffe started in July 1943. The
deploying of these missiles was quite cumbersome, since they were launched from
ramps mounted in reinforced

concrete and required an elaborated procedure for adjusting the gyroscopes before
being launched. To protect the secret of the project, this was designed as FGZ 76
([i]Flakzielgerat[/span], anti-

aircraft aiming device), but the missile was denominated Fieseler Fi 103 and
nicknamed V-1 ([i]Vergeltungswaffe[/span], weapon of revenge) by the Nazi
propaganda. For the inhabitants of London that

started to feel their attacks the 13th June 1944, it was [i]Doodlebug[/span].
Everybody sheltered when the intermittent engine of the missile that passed over
them stopped sounding. They had learnt
soon that the end of the noise was caused by the cut of the fuel feeding (despite
the pressurization of the deposits) caused when the missile started the dive.[p]
The production of at least 29000 missiles took place mainly in the gigantic
underground factory Mittelwerke, near Nordhausen, served by slave workers, with
additional production by Fieseler and

also Volkswagen in Fallersleben. However the intended saturation attack never

proved possible. The day of greater effort, by the Anti-Aircraft Regiment 155 (W),
was the 2nd August 1944, when 316

V-1 were launched from 38 catapults. In that time the British fighters and anti-
aircraft artillery equipped with proximity fuzes were winning the battle and only a
total of 2419 flying bombs

managed to reach London, out of around 8000 launched against the city. Another 2448
fell over Antwerp. From July 1944, about 1200 modified bombs were launched from
Heinkel He 111H-22 bombers, some

of them against the north of England. Also, a Fi 103 without engine was often
trailed in the test grounds at Rechling by a turbojet bomber Arado Ar 234B, in an
assemble destined to obtain longer

ranges for the missile. Finally, the Reichenberg IV was the manned operative
version that was planned and extensively tested (initially by well known people
such as Hanna Reitsch and Otto skorzeny)

but never used.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/ww2_german_secret_weapons/
fieseler_fi_103_flying_bomb.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/ww2_german_secret_weapons/
fieseler_fi_103_flying_bomb.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[fs]In July 1944 British air observers received silhouettes of flying bombs with
eight different types of wing, including an elliptic one, but actually there were
only two models: one of parallel

edges and another of shorter wingspan and inclined wings. Many bombs were not
painted and some had different colors.[/span][p]
[aimg96]high_res/ww2_german_secret_weapons/fi_103_factory.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
ww2_german_secret_weapons/fi_103_factory.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[fs]When the 50000 slave workers at Nordhausen were freed the 10th April 1945, they
were ready for delivery the last of more than 20000 missiles produced.[/span][p]
[aimg96]high_res/ww2_german_secret_weapons/
fi_103_and_supermarine_spitfire.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/ww2_german_secret_weapons/
fi_103_and_supermarine_spitfire.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[fs]The British fighters - namely the Spitfire - used a risky maneuver consisting
in touching with the end of the wing the flying bombs, in an attempt to destabilize
them, taking them out of their

route.[/span][p]
[box]
[b][fl]The V-1 in detail[/span][/span][p]
The V-1 was intended to be cheap to produce; the fuselage was built in welded sheet
steel and the wings in plywood. Weight was about 2.15 tonnes, carrying 567 liters
of fuel and a warhead

containing 850 kg of a powerful explosive called Amatol, the same carried by the V-
2. Maximum speed was about 640 km/h and operational range was around 250
kilometers. There was a solid structure
in the middle of the bomb, composed of three basic elements assembled together: a
tubular spar for the wings, a handle in the upper part to hoist the bomb and a
brake shoe in the lower part for

attaching the bomb to the catapult. In the nose of the missile there was a small
propeller whose rotation was transmitted to a counter; this allowed to know the
distance covered, to arm the warhead

and later actuate in the pitch rudders in the precise moment to start the dive of
the bomb, which caused as well the cut of the fuel admission to the engine, a small
deficiency that would be later

fixed. There was also in the nose a stabilized gyromagnetic compass enclosed in a
sphere, whose purpose was to monitor the stabilizing gyroscope located in the rear
part of the fuselage, below the

engine intake, accompanied by a dry battery that gave energy to the circuitry. An
aneroid altimeter kept the altitude within acceptable levels, never surpassing 3000
meters, since the pulse-jet

engine required certain atmospheric conditions to work. Pitch, yaw and heading were
controlled by the automatic pilot which was composed of or assisted by the diverse
elements previously described.

In the rear end of the fuselage pneumatic servo-actuators moved the direction
rudder and the pitch rudders in the rear stabilizers; there were no pitch rudders
in the wings. The fuel tank was

located in the center of the fuselage and was filled through the cap located just
before the hoist handle. There were two spherical deposits, reinforced with wire
and containing compressed air,

which was used to send the fuel to the engine and to operate the servo-actuators.
The explosive charge was located before the fuel tank and was triggered by
percussion fuses.[p]
The pulse-jet engine was simple to produce and had a much smaller consumption of
fuel than a conventional rocket engine of the same power. In the fore section of
the engine a vertical duct led the

fuel towards nine fuel injectors, located in an ensemble containing as well a set
of flap-valves with springs (blinds). In this type of engine the thermodynamic
process works at constant volume and

variable pressure. Since this kind of reactor lacks any turbines, it requires an
initial speed to start working; this was achieved by the launching catapults. The
air crossed the intake and the

blinds, at the pressure created by the flight speed. Pressure would then be growing
in the combustion chamber, where at a certain level the mix of air and liquid fuel
would explode. The pressure

created by the explosion would close the flap-valves, therefore being exhausted
exclusively through the rear section of the engine, creating so the driving force
that propelled the bomb. When the

gases of the explosion were gone, the pressure disappeared and the blinds opened
again, allowing the admission of fresh air and repeating the cycle again and again,
in the case of the Argus pulse-

jet engine, 47 times per second.[p]

[/div][p]