Reichenberg device
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Reichenberg was the code name for a manned Fieseler Fi 103 version, which was built in the course of this development during the Second World War . It was also referred to as V4 and was a V1 modified as a kamikaze weapon (see also: German military project " Self-sacrifice "). The Japanese also took up this principle and manufactured the Yokosuka MXY-7 .
description
The Reichenberg device with the RLM number Fieseler Fi 103 (also called V1 by the propaganda) was a test aircraft to test the suitability of the construction and the aerodynamics. Instead of the automatic flight control, the machine was converted with a pilot's cabin and manual flight control with ailerons. It was also built and used in a two-seater version for training purposes. The training versions had a landing skid similar to the Me 163 . A total of around 175 modified V1s were produced, most of them at the Neu Tramm air ammunition facility .
There were preparations to use the Reichenberg device as a kamikaze weapon. To this end, the military operation Self-sacrifice was launched. The self-sacrificing pilots were subordinated to Kampfgeschwader 200 . However, after the intervention of the squadron commander Werner Baumbach, this organization was no longer used by Hitler. The allegedly planned operation against the Allied bomber groups never took place - the machine could never have endangered it due to poor flight performance.
One of the few surviving specimens is exhibited in the La Coupole Museum in Helfaut - Wizernes , Pas-de-Calais département in northern France, on loan from the City of Antwerp . Another copy has been in the Swiss Military Museum Full since 2015 .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data Fieseler Fi 103R-IV |
|---|---|
| Type | manned flying bomb |
| length | 8 m |
| span | 5.72 m |
| Takeoff mass | 2250 kg |
| Engine | an Argus Pulso jet pipe 109-014 with 350 kg thrust |
| Top speed | 650 km / h horizontally, 800 km / h in a dive |
| Range | 330 km |
See also
literature
- Hanna Reitsch: Flying - my life. JF Lehmanns, Munich 1972. ISBN 3-469-00558-3 .
- Hanna Reitsch: Flying - my life. German publishing company, Stuttgart 1951.
- Airplane types in the world. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1997. ISBN 3-86047-593-2 .
- Bill Gunston, Tony Wood: Hitler's Air Force. Salamander Books Ltd., London 1977.
- The Complete Encyclodepia of World Aircraft. Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5 .
