[AR] Re: video of V-2 launch procedures
- From: <willsrw@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 13 May 2019 20:35:19 -0500
Henry
Had the German built ME 262 instead of V2s, the Allied bombing campaign over
Europe would have been seriously hindered. I've read comments that a much
larger Me 262 force might have delayed VE Day by as much as a year. Other
problems were also catching up with the Third Reich, like a lack of fuel.
Goring had advocated for more Me 262s but Hitler wouldn't hear of it. Some of
my Air Force History types friends speculate more Me262s may have also pushed
the Allies into turbine technology much quicker. Needless to say, Hitler bet
on the wrong technology.
Rick Wills
-----Original Message-----
From: arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Henry Spencer
Sent: Monday, 13 May, 2019 12:56 PM
To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [AR] Re: video of V-2 launch procedures
On Sun, 12 May 2019, Ken wrote:
No, that's what I meant, if Hitler used sensibility he would of pumped
more money and sooner into the V-2, even 6 months sooner and England
would of surrendered under a barrage of V-2 ballistic missile attacks.
Hardly. Dropping occasional 1t loads of high explosive at random on London and
its vicinity simply wasn't very useful. Even multiplying the number of V-2s by
a factor of ten -- straining the limits of what a more aggressive program might
have done -- would merely have elevated it from a minor nuisance to a somewhat
more serious nuisance. The average V-2 fired at London killed two people in
England; the entire V-2 campaign against London and Antwerp delivered less high
explosive than a single large RAF bombing raid on Germany.
"... those of us who were seriously engaged in the war were very grateful to
Wernher von Braun. We knew that each V-2 cost as much to produce as a
high-performance fighter airplane. We knew that German forces on the fighting
fronts were in desperate need of airplanes, and that the V-2 rockets were doing
us no military damage. From our point of view, the V-2 program was almost as
good as if Hitler had adopted a policy of unilateral disarmament." -- Freeman
Dyson (who was living and working in London).
The first successful V-2 flight was back in 1943.
1942, actually (Oct 3rd). But there is a big difference between "first
successful flight" and "ready for operational service" -- in fact, even when it
did go into service, the V-2 wasn't really ready, as witness the large number
of failures. (About 1600 fired against Antwerp produced about 600 hits.)
Henry
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