In Service: 13 June 1944 to 1945
First Flight:
Manufacturer: Fieseler
Number built: 30,000 plus
Type: Surface-to-Surface Missile
Guidance system: gyrocompass based autopilot
Length: 7.9 m
Wingspan: 5.3 m
Diameter: m
Weight: 2,180 kg
Engine: 1 ×
Argus
As 109-014 pulse jet engine producing up to 300 kg of
thrust
Maximum speed: 645 km/h
Range: 370 km
Warhead: 850 kg Amatol 39
Fuze:
Launch Platform: Fixed, later
He
111
Operators: Luftwaffe
Variants:
Fieseler Fi 103
Fieseler Fi
103R
Other: Missiles
Articles:
German
rocket draws gawkers on I-5
The Fieseler Fi 103 or more commonly known as the V-1 flying
bomb was designed as a (Vergeltungswaffe 1) retaliation weapon
by Germany during the Second World War. The V-1 was known
by many names Buzz bomb, Doodlebug, Flying Bomb, Robot Bomb,
Fieseler Fi 103.
The V-1 was developed at
Peenemünde
by the Luftwaffe during the World War II. The V-1 flying bomb
was the first of Germany's vengeance weapons (Vergeltungswaffen)
designed to wreak absolute terror and havoc on Great Britain,
The Fieseler Fi 103 was fired from prefabricated launch sites
along the French and Dutch coasts, the first V-1 flying bomb
attack came on the 13th of June 1944 on London a week after
D-Day, at its highest over 100 V-1 flying bombs were launched
a day at southeast England more than 9,000 were launched against
the United kingdom. As the Allied forces overran Europe, Germany
lost its launching sites and the last V-1 was fired in October
1944.
Robert
Lusser of the
Fieseler
aircraft manufacturer and
Fritz
Gosslau from the
Argus
engine manufacturer designed the Fieseler Fi 103 under the
codename Kirschkern, the construction of the fuselage was
mainly welded sheet steel and the wings were built in the
same manner but if resources were short then plywood, could
and was often used.
The first complete V-1 airframe was delivered 30th of August
1942, and soon after the
Argus
109-014 was delivered. The first aerial tests started
on the 28th of October 1942 with the first unpowered flight
at
Peenemünde,
after being fitted beneath a
Fw 200 (Kondor). And on the 10th of December 1942 the
first powered flight was undertaken, but this time the
He
111 was used to piggyback the Fieseler Fi 103.
This clip shows the Fieseler Fi 103, V-1 Flying bomb in-flight
and exploding on the ground this is probably a test flight.
The Warplanes of the Third Reich.
ISBN-10: 0385057822
German Aircraft of the Second World War.
ISBN-10: 0370000242
Hitler's Luftwaffe.
ISBN-10: 051718771X
For a complete list of
sources