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By: - 22nd July 2006 at 16:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
V1 flying bomb cutaway
I doubt it, since it had a spar and ribs, which could have been covered in plywood, for example (I also doubt that the Germans would have wasted large amounts of expensive aluminium sheet).
Cutaway from page 111 of "Air Warfare"by Peter G. Cooksley
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 18:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Although the cutaway drawing does mention that the ribs and the tubular spar are metal on some "models"; but it doesn't say which metal is used or what the covering was.
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 18:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
http://www.constable.ca/v1.htm
states that the wings were made of wood.
Mind you, I never believe uncorroborated statements published on the Internet!
Any experts out there?
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 21:29 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Next time someone is at Dux, give the one there are tap and see what it is made of!, unless it's a mock up :rolleyes: .
John.
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 21:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Received my Friends of Duxford card renewal the other day, but it's a bit far away and I'm busy, otherwise I would love to nip over and check it! Aren't there a few in other museums, too, such as Lambeth, the Science Museum and Cosford?
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 22:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If anyone could say it was not a V1, what could it have been? The wing was definitely rusted red, and I have wondered about that for most of my long life! Thanks for input.
Bri
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 22:30 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
http://www.constable.ca/v1.htmstates that the wings were made of wood.
Mind you, I never believe uncorroborated statements published on the Internet!
Any experts out there?
The article also suggests that the V1's were "faster than any aircraft at that time" ; so presumably none were ever intercepted by Spitfires, Typhoons , or Meteors etc
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 22:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
"Machine gun bullets had little effect on the sheet steel structure"
This article seems to be a little more credible . . .
By: - 22nd July 2006 at 22:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
"The V-1 was an odd and ingenious weapon, designed to be cheaply built in large numbers. Early production items were largely made of metal, though wooden wings were quickly introduced."
The plot thickens!
http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/jet%20age/cruise.htm
By: - 23rd July 2006 at 00:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The V2 Rocket stored at the RAAF Museum Point Cook years ago (now with the AWM) appeared to be made from steel sheeting? rather than aluminium, could this have possibily been the rear fin from a V2 in the crater?
regards
Mark Pilkington
By: - 23rd July 2006 at 10:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The crater was not big enough for a V2, but thanks for the input Mark.
The V1 was fast, no doubt about it - I remember the damn things going over! So would wooden wings have stood up to that?
Perhaps someone from a museum could physically check. I've seen them at the RAF Museum Cosford (amazing selection of German missiles and a supurb collection of planes) and museums elsewhere which I can't remember.
Bri
By: - 23rd July 2006 at 12:35 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I nearly posted last night that the one at Cosford had a steel spar and concrete wings but I now think that was another German missile. Unfortunately I can't remember which one.
By: - 23rd July 2006 at 13:04 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Concrete wings eh! presumably the markings on the wings were blue circles...
Bri, I'm sure that wooden wings would be up to the job as one of the interceptors was the Mossie, I would think that the wartime footage (possibly gun camera) of the intercepts of these flying bombs was proof enough that not only were the planes fast enough to catch them ,but their armament was sufficient to do the job (by that time all our fighters had cannon) I would have thought the logical material for the wings would be steel as long term corrosion proofing wasn't an issue, and the easiest thing to attach to a steel bomb casing would be steel, and with the "benefit" that during the explosion the "wings" become a lethal extension of the shrapnel blast.
By: - 24th July 2006 at 07:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
We have the tail of a V1 (trawled up from the North Sea) and it is made from sheet steel so I would think the wings would be from sheet steel as well.
HTH
Cees
By: - 24th July 2006 at 10:41 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
HP57 seems to have the answer to the steel wing query, thanks!
Another query for this thread: was the engine of the V1 fitted with explosive bolts, so that it was ejected to cause more damage? I shall explain why I would like to know...
My parents were luckily inside their indoor shelter (a steel table you could sleep under, I think called a Morrison shelter) when a V1 dropped nearby destroying many houses and other buildings. My mother found the engine at the bottom of the stairs amongst the wreckage of our roof.
They didn't exactly enjoy good health from this event, but that's too personal to relate here.
Bri
By: - 24th July 2006 at 11:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Bri,
Don't think so. The V1 was nothing more that a way to get a ton of explosives to London. The warhead is at the front with the engine at back. If the thing went off the engine (and other bits) would have been scattered all over the place. Explosive bolts would have been a waste of recources. And with a bit of imignation the warhead would be one hell of an explosive bolt in itself. :rolleyes:
Cheers
Cees
By: - 24th July 2006 at 11:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Would any wing survive diving headlong into the ground in very close proximity to one ton of high explosive?
By: - 24th July 2006 at 12:24 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Would any wing survive diving headlong into the ground in very close proximity to one ton of high explosive?
Bits of it, quite possibly, although how big those bits might be...!
By: - 24th July 2006 at 12:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
My parents were luckily inside their indoor shelter (a steel table you could sleep under, I think called a Morrison shelter)
Bri
Correct. Named after the politician Herbert Morrison, the 1940 Minister of Supply.
It was intended for people with no garden in which they could bury an Anderson shelter.
Moggy
By: - 24th July 2006 at 17:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
i seem to recall a very battered looking V1 at the museum in pourville near dieppe, and it looked rusty all over, the whole thing being pretty much a uniform rusty colour.
Posts: 388
By: bri - 22nd July 2006 at 16:10
Does anybody know if the V1 flying bomb (buzz-bomb) had steel wings?
Reason is, I remember the wreckage of an aircraft in a crater during WWII which was there for some time, and a wing protruding from the crater became rusty. Obviously steel, so was it a buzz-bomb?
The wreckage was located just inside the grounds of an asylum on the south side of Tooting Bec Common, South London. An anti-aircraft gun was nearby on the common, so the crew may have shot the thing down.
Bri