Fiesler
Fi 103 V1"Doodlebug" |
Engine:1x Argus 014 Pulsejet
Wing Span: 5.70 m
Length: 6 m
Height: 1.42 m
Weight: 2,250 kg
Maximum Speed: 645 km/h (in dive 800 km/h)
Ceiling: 3,050 m
Range: 330 km
Crew: none
Armament: 830 kg Amatol |
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spring 1944 the war was going badly for Germany. The first V1 "doodlebugs" were
launched on June 13th - a few days after the D-Day landings.
Easily
spotted from the air, the long
launching ramps were hidden in forests but were rapidly bombed
by the RAF. The Germans switched to mobile
ramps, which they then moved around the Pas-de-Calais
area.
Almost 9,250 V1's were fired against London, but less than 2,500
reached their target. In flight they were almost as vulnerable
as their ramps: about 2,000 were destroyed by anti-aircraft gunfire;
2,000 by fighter planes, and almost 300 by barrage balloons.
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