Project Natter: Last of the Wonder Weapons : the Luftwaffe's Vertical Take-off Rocket Interceptor

Front Cover
Classic, 2005 M12 31 - 144 pages
In 1944, in response to the bombing of German cities and factories by the Allies, an inventor named Erich Bachem developed 'Projekt Natter' ('Viper'), an extraordinary, highly-secret, vertical take-off, semi-expendable, single-seat rocket-fighter armed with a nose-mounted 'honeycomb' of 73-mm or 55-mm spin-stabilized air-to-air rockets as well as 30-mm cannon. The Natter was intended to offer high-speed defense of key targets. Once blasted into the air from its vertical launch tower, the pilot of the Natter was to climb towards an enemy formation using an internal rocket, target an enemy bomber and fire his battery of rockets. He would then use the remaining kinetic energy to climb higher than the bombers in order to mount a ramming attack. Just before impact, the pilot was to trigger a mechanism that would activate an ejection seat and separate the rocket unit, which would return to earth by means of an automatically deployed parachute for reuse. Relatively little has been published on the Natter and this book will provide a detailed and definitive account of this unusual but fascinating aircraft. This will be required reading for all those interested in the history of the Luftwaffe during World War II, particularly for those fascinated by the radical and revolutionary projects which German aircraft designers contrived toward the end of the Nazi regime.

Contents

Preface
4
Abbreviations and Definitions
12
Early concepts
20
Construction begins
28
20
36
28
43
22
55
Towards an operational design
63
part 2 Siebers flight and its consequences
76
including medical aspects
99
Retreat and capture
105
Sequelae
112
Copyright

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