On Saturday 22 June 2002 16:52, Jon Glass wrote:
> on 6/22/02 2:57 PM, Karel Jansens at kareljansens_at_tiscalinet.be wrote:
> > The "yet" is a bit too much. The Nazis had manned test versions of the
> > V1, which was propelled by a pulse-jet aka ramjet. Rumour has it they
> > were a little bit easier to fly than a brick...
>
> Were not these things "kamikaze"-type things? I remember seeing photos
> of them, and thinking how morbid...
The manned versions were used to test the flight properties of the V1.
AFAIK they were never used as kamikaze bombers (Germany had a _huge_
shorteage of pilots by the end of the war, so it wouldn't have been wise
to use them up in one-mission jobs). Besides, the autopilot on the V1 was
reliable enough for the type of missions if flew (terror bombing).
There were massive casualties with the manned versions, but only because
it took them quite some time to get the things to fly right.
-- Karel Jansens."Ceteris censeo Fenestras delendas." (Cato - de Terrore Portarum)
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