The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named Reichenberg, was a late-World War II German crewed version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the Fieseler Fi 103) produced for attacks in which the pilot was likely to be killed (as actually intended, for use of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service's Ohka rocket-powered kamikaze suicide anti-ship missile) or at best to parachute down at the attack site, which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", V. Gruppe of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.
The first real flight was performed in September 1944 at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, the Reichenberg being dropped from a Heinkel He 111. However, it subsequently crashed after the pilot lost control when he accidentally jettisoned the canopy. A second flight the next day also ended in a crash and subsequent test flights were carried out by test pilots Heinz Kensche and Hanna Reitsch. Reitsch herself experienced several crashes, which she survived unscathed. On 5 November 1944 during the second test flight of the R-III, a wing fell off due to vibrations and Heinz Kensche managed to parachute to safety, albeit with some difficulty due to the cramped cockpit.
[The picture shows the test pilot Hanna Reitsh posing with the 'device'. She was one of the German's top female test piolts during WW2. More of her later.....]
3 comments:
ramjet tank? rocket powered life boat? brave lady, anyway...
From Wiki:
The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named Reichenberg, was a late-World War II German crewed version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the Fieseler Fi 103) produced for attacks in which the pilot was likely to be killed (as actually intended, for use of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service's Ohka rocket-powered kamikaze suicide anti-ship missile) or at best to parachute down at the attack site, which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", V. Gruppe of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.
The first real flight was performed in September 1944 at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, the Reichenberg being dropped from a Heinkel He 111. However, it subsequently crashed after the pilot lost control when he accidentally jettisoned the canopy. A second flight the next day also ended in a crash and subsequent test flights were carried out by test pilots Heinz Kensche and Hanna Reitsch. Reitsch herself experienced several crashes, which she survived unscathed. On 5 November 1944 during the second test flight of the R-III, a wing fell off due to vibrations and Heinz Kensche managed to parachute to safety, albeit with some difficulty due to the cramped cockpit.
[The picture shows the test pilot Hanna Reitsh posing with the 'device'. She was one of the German's top female test piolts during WW2. More of her later.....]
amazing!
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