A manned and suicide bomb

[Guest ericthered1975]

War is a time of extreme measures and no doubt one of them took shape in Fieseler Fi103. The following website brings a special report containing an amazing collection of photos of this German design tested by the Luftwaffe in the final years of World War II. To access the photos, visit the link below:

 

http://aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.com.br/2011/01/um-bomba-voadora-tripulada-e-suicida.html

 

Best Regards!

 

 

[shafs64]

Hanna Reitsch tested these aircraft very brave women.

 

 

[old man emu]

I think you'll find that she is the woman in one of the photos.

 

The plan was to provide the chance for the pilot to bail out:

 

"It was proposed that a He 111 bomber would carry either one or two Reichenbergs beneath its wings, releasing them close to the target. The pilots would then steer their aircraft towards the target, jettisoning the cockpit canopy shortly before impact and bailing out. It was estimated that the chances of a pilot surviving such a bailout were less than 1% due to the proximity of the pulsejet's intake to the cockpit".

 

I would imagine that the idea would be that the pilot flew the thing under power until the fuel ran out and the pulse jet stopped sucking in air, then the pilot could acquire his target and set up a trajectory before jettisoning the canopy and getting out. A lot of aircraft crashed during development and testing, probably due in many cases to structural failure of the airframe, and the usual pilot-in-type-conversion mistakes. Hanna had a few prangs herself.

 

Their actual use was cancelled because it was held that premeditated suicide in this way was contrary to the code of the Teutonic warrior. It was OK for a badly wounded pilot to take out an enemy bomber by crashing into it. (Both sides did it).

 

OME

 

 

[shafs64]

these weapons where there last stand. they where going thought a lot of pilots towards the end of the war as it turned into a number game. the allies where shooting down five Germans to one allied aircraft.