Opel-Sander RAK.1
| Opel-Sander RAK.1 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Rocket plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Julius Hatry |
| First flight: |
1929 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
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The Opel Sander RAK.1 was a rocket aircraft made by the German manufacturer Opel .
history
The German industrialist Fritz von Opel financed the first manned rocket flight on June 11, 1928 on the Wasserkuppe with the Lippisch duck and the pilot Fritz Stamer .
Since the Lippisch duck burned on the third attempt, he contacted aircraft manufacturer Julius Hatry to buy the RAK.1 , an almost completed glider specially designed for rocket launches. Hatry and Fritz von Opel signed a contract that stipulated that Hatry should complete the aircraft and fly in; then Opel was supposed to demonstrate the RAK.1 publicly. After this demonstration, Hatry was supposed to fly the aircraft across Germany again.
On September 10, 1929, Julius Hatry flew about 1.4 km near Kelsterbach after a rocket-assisted rubber rope launch.
Fritz von Opel took off on September 30, 1929 in front of a large audience and running cameras at what was then the Frankfurt-Rebstock airport on the Rebstock site . The successful third launch that day was preceded by two failed attempts in which the propulsion rockets ignited too late after the catapult launch. The plane reached a speed of 100 kilometers per hour and a height of about 20 meters. After 80 seconds and about two kilometers of flight, the drive failed. The aircraft was badly damaged on landing and was not made airworthy again. Opel was unharmed.
construction
Julius Hatry built the shoulder decker in wood. The double vertical stabilizer was connected to a common horizontal stabilizer at two arms on the wing . The tail unit was thus far away from the exhaust gas jet of the solid fuel rocket.
The 16 solid rockets came from Friedrich Wilhelm Sander , who with Fritz von Opel made numerous experiments with solid rockets as propulsion. The Opel works manufactured the 18-meter-long catapult with rocket sled for the launch in Rebstock.
A full-size replica of this aircraft is on display in the Technoseum in Mannheim.
See also
Web links
- Christof Vieweg: The world's first manned rocket flight. German pioneering achievement. Welt Online , September 29, 2009, accessed January 5, 2020 .
- Opel history 1920-1929. In: Media. Opel , archived from the original on April 19, 2016 ; accessed on January 5, 2020 : "Rocket aircraft RAK 1"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Explosives as a motor. (Video) Interview with the inventor of the rocket plane. In: one day. Spiegel Online , accessed on January 5, 2020 (interview with Julius Hatry).
- ↑ a b c explosives as a motor. (Video) The rocket plane takes off. In: one day. Spiegel Online, accessed January 5, 2020 .
- ↑ Mannheimer Julius "Uss" Hatry constructs the world's first rocket plane. In: Mannheim². City of Mannheim, accessed on January 5, 2020 : "Breathing fire like a comet and wrapped in white steam."
- ↑ rocket plane. Opel Sander. State Museum for Technology and Labor in Mannheim, accessed on January 5, 2020 : "Julius Hatry monitored the replica according to the original plans."