German Rocket Society - Verein für Raumschiffahrt by Frank H. Winter - Part 6
From The Space Library
The following paper is ©2015 Frank H. Winter.
Contents |
Visits Of Pendray, Hirsch, And Others To The Raketenflugplatz
The 1 February 1931 VfR Mitteilungen, of only two pages, has no coverage at all on the Society's experiments and is almost entirely about rocketry and astronautical events abroad. (All the available issues of the Mitteilungen were primarily of news content anyway and in no way could this publication be compared to Die Rakete with its informative feature articles on several aspects of astronautics.)
The same issue briefly mentioned in passing, that, “At regular intervals our sister organization of the American Interplanetary Society gives us their handouts (their then, mimeographed Bulletin).” It was also noted that they held lectures “in the field of space travel about the same topics presented by our Society in previous years...” (i.e., the American Society was then not undertaking any experimentation.) Likewise, from the masthead of this issue we see that by this time, the VfR's “Foreign Office” (i.e. for receiving overseas mail), had now shifted from Wurm's office to the home address of Willy Ley at Berlin 40, Scharnhorststr. 24. Ley was ideal for this position since he was familiar with several foreign languages including (some English), French, Italian, and Russian, besides having other useful attributes.[1]
But the May 1931 issue was especially notable in reporting at length on the visit to the Raketenflugplatz of Mr. and Mrs. G. Edward Pendray, two of the founders of the American Interplanetary Society that was to be of great consequence to the American group, if not the VfR. (Pendray then Vice-President of the AIS, and his wife had planned the trip in such a way as to enable them to pay visits to several European rocket experimenters, sailing to Europe aboard the Ile de France then eventually taking a plane from Paris to Berlin.) The Pendrays arrived on Friday, 10 April at the Tempelhof Central Airport for a three-day visit in Berlin, the report begins. On the same evening they (the Pendrays) “held a three-hour discussion with our Vice-President, Willy Ley, regarding a plan for a central (i.e. international) bureau for space travel” that had been suggested by Esnault-Pelterie to the AIS when he had visited New York back in January.
“On the following Sunday (12 April 1931),” the report continues, “the guests visited the Berlin Raketenflugplatz. They attended a firing test on the new nozzle test stand which inspired their great admiration.” Pendray himself is quoted as later saying, “It was marvelous. In New York (when I return) I shall have to talk and talk and talk, for weeks and weeks, the rest of my life.” Pendray later recalled he had not met Ley previously but had corresponded with him and that besides Ley, Nebel, Klaus Riedel, several other VfR members were present. But by far, “the most memorable experience of the entire trip” was he and his wife (Leatrice Pendray) witnessing a static test of a rocket, a Mirak II type described below.
As on the German side, the Pendrays (and other AIS members) “were not aware at the time that Goddard's successful shots (i.e. rocket flights) since 1926 had been accomplished with liquid propellants,” Pendray added. At another meeting that evening, both Pendray and Ley signed a draft contract in which it was agreed that both organizations “would regard each other mutually as the same association and would have no secrets from one another and it was also verbally agreed that the AIS “now wanted to take up experiments.” “Moreover,” concluded the report, “we were also promised as much financial support as possible...” A few days after Pendray's visit, Esnault-Pelterie was duly informed of the draft document.[2]
As matters turned out, Pendray did report all he had seen to the AIS, in an evening lecture on 1 May, and wrote a most comprehensive article appearing that same month in the Bulletin of the American Interplanetary Society, then a follow-up, that provides us with excellent detailed accounts of the progress of the VfR's rocketry experimentation at that point, with sketches of various designs. It was directly from Pendray's Raketenflugplatz experience that the AIS started their own experimental program, based upon the Repulsor, although as noted below he only witnessed a Mirak motor test and received information on the Repulsor later, from Ley. But the altogether idealistic and even grandiose plan by Esnault-Pelterie for an “international exchange (of information) bureau for space travel” came to naught. So did the related, joint association contract. Pendray did make a donation to the VfR but beyond this, the promised “much financial support” never materialized.
A more popular article by Pendray, with selected photos of activities at the Raketenflugplatz, was his piece, “Daring Men in Seven Nations Aim to Harness Giant Rockets,” appearing in Popular Science Monthly for August 1931, in which he described the VfR's site as “The world's most extensive experimental ground for the study of rockets.” However, the “Seven Nations” was a sincere yet wholly inaccurate claim that included: Germany, Austria, the U.S., Russia, France, Italy, and Rumania. (Pendray was referring to the Austrian Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Höhen-forschung, the Scientific Society for High Altitude Research, that does not seem to have ever experimented with liquid-propellant rockets; the perpetually secretive rocket work of Goddard in the U.S.; various Russian groups, although he had no details; the work of Robert Esnault-Pelterie in France; the supposed, although it turned out to be fraudulent, claim of the American Dr. Darwin Lyon in Italy; and Oberth's supposed experimental work in Rumania.).[3]
Other Visitors to the Raketenflugplatz
Even earlier than the Pendray visit, the VfR had invited Esnault-Pelterie to come to the Raketenflugplatz but he was not available and he therefore delegated his friend the French banker and fellow founder of the REP-Hirsch, André-Louis Hirsch to visit in his place. According to a very brief mention in the Mitteilungen for May 1931, Hirsch arrived on 4 April and saw the test stand and possibly witnessed a static firing. But it is only stated that his real purpose was to “negotiate with us about cooperation in the rocketry field.” It appears Esnault-Pelterie was not only hoping Hirsch could help personally promote his (Esnault-Pelterie's) idea of the “international exchange bureau for space travel” but perhaps help them financially. This evidently led to a VfR official (probably Nebel) to start separate “negotiations” with the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Bank of Paris and of the Low Countries) to help finance their experiments. But this confounded the French (Esnault-Pelterie, et. al.), according to Torres and Villain, and similarly led nowhere.[4]
Among other notable visitors to the Raketenflugplatz over the years were newsmen, who were always welcome as it meant more publicity for the Society, and hence increased chances for both popular and business support for the Society and its aims. For example, the British diagrammatic (technical) artist G.H. (George Horace) Davis, who normally contributed to the Illustrated London News, was commissioned as a “special correspondent” by the American scientific magazine Popular Mechanics to make a visit.
The result was a well-illustrated feature in this magazine for March 1932, titled “From Europe to New York by Rocket?” with photos mainly of Riedel plus multiple drawings by Davis, including a two-page spread of the test stand and probably the best depiction of the elaborate arrangement of the stand with its various pulleys and cables and mirrors for remotely operating the valves from a “control house” (i.e. shelter). (This one picture, with callouts of parts and components, is rare for the period and shows how the stand operated.) Also included in the article is another unique drawing of several of the VfR's basic rockets, with callouts. Included in this set is an incredibly long (46 ft. or 14 m) single-stick type nose-driven type “Proposed (VfR) Transatlantic Mail-Carrying Rocket,” with a massive tear-drop shaped mail section at the base and perhaps 12 ft. (3.6 m) or so high, extending beyond the four fins. Typically, the text of the story is very generalized and elementary, along with the somewhat confused message that the VfR's goals centered upon the promise of the rocket for delivering “urgent mail and parcel post from Berlin to New York.” The possibility of rockets for spaceflight appears only in the finale of the article and is all too brief and unscientific.[5].
Another example of this type of magazine coverage of the Raketenflugplatz (although does not identity it as such) is found in the French popular scientific magazine, Je Sais Tout (I Know Everything), featuring the anonymously-written article “Pour voler plus vite, il faut voler plus haut!” (“To fly faster, fly higher!”), with several photos that were obviously taken at the Raketenflugplatz, including a man (later identified as Riedel) in a thickly-padded asbestos suit pouring in LOX in a rocket; Riedel also placing the old Oberth rocket on its original (although never used) launch stand; a night launch; and a man supposedly using radio to help track a falling rocket. (No details are available of the latter technical development although the emphasis on this article is upon the possible application of the rocket for exploring the upper atmosphere (i.e. the sounding rocket). Unfortunately, the VfR paid far too little attention to this logical, pre-spaceflight application of the rocket.
Another visitor to the Raketenflugplatz, was Alexander Domenicus, first president of the Deutschen Luftverbandes (German Aviation Society) and former Interior Minister, who attended some of the trials in the summer of 1931 and presented Nebel with a certificate recognizing the value of the VfR's work toward future high altitude research. Also, there was much newspaper coverage on the Raketenflugplatz, but this too was always very general in nature and sometimes appeared as “Sunday Supplement” features that more or less sensationalized rocketry overall and were very much part of the “rocket fad” of the period.
Still another visitor, or rather, user of the site, was Winkler himself. This was from September 1931; then in October, after he had completed his installations here, his first assistant, Rolf Engel, joined him. But Winkler's presence was kept more or less secret since he was allowed to continue conducting his private experiments on a remote part of the Raketenflugplatz complex and this work was therefore not officially under the VfR. This was towards his HW-2 rocket that did not turn out to be successful and is more fully described by Ley and Engel. (Incidentally, Engel's often candid manuscript, “Spaceflight-Projects as I saw them Nearly 50 Years Ago” also reveals that “Against Nebel he (Winkler) was not always fair. He tried on several occasions to obtain the entire terrain of the Raketenflugplatz for himself alone; at least, he wanted half of it. But the Ministry (Engel does not specify which Ministry) informed Nebel about this intrigue and the situation between the two groups became recently more and more tense and full of mutual distrust.”
On the other hand, Engel years later revealed that it was Hückel, the financial supporter of his experiments, who had been the one to convince Winkler to “join the group of the Raketenflugplatz.” One reason was that Junkers was not able to prolong Winkler's contract. Another was that Hückel believed that “a combined effort of both groups (the Raketenflugplatz and the Winkler teams), using mostly the same facilities...would be more effective...But negotiations between Nebel and Winkler were not easy...” It turned out that Winkler apparently opted to proceed only on his own, although was also in the difficult position of conveying this to his mentor Hückel, and getting his approval. [6]
Material Donations To The Raketenflugplatz And Manpower
By all accounts, Nebel was tremendously energetic (if not always scrupulous) in acquiring materials and equipment of all kinds for the Raketenflugplatz for their experiments, besides casting a wide net for potential supporting organizations and officials. With a used typewriter, hundreds of letters were sent to various companies and governmental organizations seeking whatever help he could get and often, with much success, including free lumber, tools like a lathe and drill press, aluminum rods, welding equipment, paint, screws, sheet aluminum, and so on. All too often, however, he stepped out of bounds. We need only cite one example, in a recollection by von Braun.
“Nebel,” he wrote, “once talked a Director of Siemens Halske, A.G. out of a goodly quantity of welding wire by vividly picturing the immediacy of space travel. Our own use for such wire was extremely small, but Nebel offered it to a welding shop in exchange for the labor of skilled workers, which we badly needed…Machine tools, raw material, and office equipment gradually accumulated as Nebel wove his spells around those who could spare them and who were vulnerable to space travel.” Sometimes Nebel also resorted to the (probably false and unethical) rationale that the requests were being made “in the best interest of national defense and this is also the opinion of the Reichsantalt.”[7]
There also exists, a long list of ca. 1931-1932 of donations of materials to the VfR that also provides the estimated monetary value at the time of this material, accordingly. Again, a few examples will suffice: Siemens & Halske, Berlin, light and power usage afforded to the Raketenflugplatz, 4,500 RM; Norddeutsche Kabelwerke, Berlin, cables, 3,500 RM; Deutsche Reichbahngesellschaft, Berlin (German State Railway Society, Berlin), machinery, 2,500 RM; Vereinigte Sauerstoffwerke, Berlin-Borsigwalde, liquid oxygen, 2,400 RM; Daimler-Benz, Stuttgart-Unterdürkmeim, one Dinos automobile, 1,000 RM; I.G. Farben A.G., Frankfurt, electronic material, 500 RM; Reichsfinanzministerium Berlin (Reich Ministry of Finance), customs-free gasoline for rocket experiments, 500 RM; Deutsche Reichspost, R.P.-Zentralamt (German Post Office, Central Office), Berlin, telephones and service, 500 RM; Dürener Metallwerke, Düren, Rheinland, aluminum, 300 RM; Rotaprint, Berlin, one Roneo copying machine, 300 RM; Hefter, Berlin, food, 300 RM; Hirsch-Kupfer, Berlin, copper material, 100 RM; Merzedes, Berlin, one typewriter, 100 RM; Kohnen & Jöhring, Berlin, overalls, 100 RM, and Schlossfabrik “Union,” Berlin, security locks, 20 RM.[8]
Insofar as personnel for the Raketenflugplatz, there was always a handful of dedicated volunteers. We also saw that through an arrangement with a welding shop, Nebel was able to acquire skilled workers. These draftsmen, electricians, sheet workers, and mechanics, von Braun continued, “were only too happy to take up residence rent-free in one of our buildings and to maintain...(their) skill at...(their) trade.” In addition, according to Herbert Schaefer who joined the VfR in April 1932, “We engineers received our meager pay from...the Ingenieurdienst (Engineering Service)...with funds coming from the Arbeitdienst (Work Service)...a type of WPA (Works Progress Administration of the U.S, during the Depression)...” In other words, among the “volunteers” at the Raketenflugplatz during those days of mass unemployment were some engineers who received very modest welfare checks while similarly still keeping up with their engineering skills in helping the VfR in their experiments. According to Nebel writing in the Raketenflug, Nr. 7 for December 1932, the VfR used the Arbeitdienst from March of that year, first with eight men and then after August, with 15 men and they were found very useful for the development at that time of the four liter (one gallon) rocket.[9]
Other Regular Contributors at the Raketenflugplatz
Among the regulars at the Raketenflugplatz were, besides Nebel and Riedel (who was already in contact with Winkler and Wurm by October 1929 and had joined at that time), Riedel's friend Kurt Heinisch, who had joined the same month; Paul Ehmeyer, an unemployed electrician from Austria; Rolf Engel (although he left in October of 1931 to join Winkler at Dessau, as his first assistant); Herbert Schaefer (from April 1932); the jobless engineers W. Wohle (also known as Wörl); and Hans Hüter (also known as Hueter); the “outstanding mechanic” Hans Bermüller, in the words of Engel (although Bermüller very soon joined the Winkler-Engel team); Helmut Zoike who had joined in October 1930 at age 15; and von Braun, although it is not known how often he came but in his case, his family were from comfortable circumstances and he resided at home. (Jelnina and Rohrwild rightly point out it is difficult to know whether Engel participated or merely visited the Raketenflugplatz out of interest.) Yet, thanks to Karlheinz Rohrwild of the Hermann-Oberth Raumfahrt Museum in Feucht, Germany, we can add a few more names of VfR members who were present by 1932: two men by the names of Richter and Hund, and two women (apparently secretaries) by the names of Fraulein Bela (Miss Bela) and Fraulein Herkt (Miss Herkt).
Others who joined by 1932 were: H. Dix, Werner Dunst (whom Schaefer remembers as only being involved in administrative work), Kurt Prill (or Brill as it is sometimes given), and Johannes Wagner. Irmgard Kudwein, Riedel's fiancée and future wife later known as “Babs” Riedel, assisted at the Raketenflugplatz in helping to make parachutes for the rockets in special sewing room or area for this task; she also dyed the chutes red in order for them to be better seen. Later says Günzel, when monies came from the city of Magdeburg for Project Magdeburg, described below, the “right parachutes” could be bought, which cost 400 marks. And in the case of Riedel, he had become an enthusiast in the possibilities of spaceflight ever since the age of twelve, in 1914, when he read Lasswitz's novel, Auf Zwei Planeten. His sister, Freda Riedel, later remembered that he often said, "I'm determined to go to the Moon" and as a young man was “convinced that a trip into space was possible.”
According to Ley, (in the earlier days of the site) sometimes there were as many as sixteen people at the Raketenflugplatz site, including two secretaries, although we do not have the names of all of these individuals. (This number may have been based upon the 1932 group photo, Fig. 18.) Nonetheless, with Nebel's driving force - and in fairness, he should be given credit for this - there was quickly assembled a reasonably equipped team that was able to complete the construction of their first large static test stand (made up partly of the old Oberth rocket launcher) by 12 March 1931. Riedel largely led the “technical side” of this group whereas Nebel supervised the Raketenflugplatz that included gathering materials and funding. Later, it apparently became more normal for the regular staff to amount to about half a dozen people, seven days a week.
Finally, in this section it should be noted that the Mitteilungen for March 1931 was markedly different in that it presented the first, although only known published balance sheet of the finances of the VfR and had been worked out for the previous operating year of 1930. Also, on the opening page of this issue is a lengthy commentary of the financial situation of the Society based upon the balance sheet. (The balance is arranged into side-by-side two columns, one for “Revenue” and the other for “Expenditures.” Underneath each category are month by month records of monies received and spent, accordingly.
Thus, under “Revenue” is a monthly accounting of “Donations,” “Collections” (of membership dues), and “Loans.” The listings under “Expenditures” is especially interesting as these include not only items like “Office supplies,” “Machinery” (i.e. tools), “Rent,” as well as “Coal, light” (heating and light) and “Practical Work” (i.e. a very general term covering costs for experimentation),” but monies paid for “Propaganda” (advertising and probably also the cost of the Mitteilungen), the “(Max) Valier Funeral,” and “Salaries.” It therefore appears some of the members, or specialists, were actually paid. Ley, in the second part of his “The End of the Rocket Society” article reveals that during 1931 he was quite busy on the lecture circuit but also participating in radio interviews on rocketry and spaceflight and that “I did not speak a word without being paid for it, and the VfR got half of the gross proceeds.” But it is unknown if he had undertaken similar paid lectures in 1930.
Unfortunately, the 1930 balance sheet is a very basic one and offers no further details. Moreover, the salary figures only appear sporadically, not on a regular basis, nor at the same rate. (They range from 90 Reichmarks to 590 Reichmarks for given months.) Hence, we can only surmise that the salaries were, at the very least, for secretarial help and perhaps also for the services of a technical specialist now and again. Nonetheless, the total revenue for 1930 for the VfR amounted to 13,098 Reichmarks (then, $ 54,880), while the expenditures came to 12,447 Reichmarks (then, $52,152), not inconsiderable amounts for the time.
The amounts for “Practical Work” (experimentation) averaged 558 Reichmarks (then, $ 2,338), almost every month; while the rent (for the Raketenflugplatz) was fixed at 60 Reichmarks per month, which may have been the true figure rather than as remembered by Ley. (If so, the monthly rental fee would have still been absurdly low, at the equivalent of about $ 14.30 per month, or in 2015 values, like paying about $ 193.50 monthly for all that property. Thus, Ley may have also been faulty in his memory, that the rent was annual rather than monthly.) As for the commentary, one observation was that the balance showed a deficit but this was explained that “a large number of members had not complied with their (membership fee) obligations” for 1930. The same issue of the Mitteilungen reported that Hugo Hückel “was elected to the Board of the VfR.”
The newspaper Berliner Tageblatt must have been furnished with a copy of the VfR's balance sheet earlier since in their issue of 20 January 1931 is a follow-up article on the Raketenflugplatz they had run earlier (on 2 November 1930), in which they now interpreted the balance sheet as a positive message, since it manifested a decided “turning point” for the Society. The “illusions of 1929” (concepts only), they observed, had dissipated and in their place there now “came vigorous practical work.” But the article also reported, with some hyperbole, that progress had “considerably increased” internationally, with interest shown in the Society's work by many states, “even in Africa, Java, South America, and Siberia.”[10]
The Experiments At The Raketenflugplatz
First Year's Experiments Summarized
As can also be seen, reports on details of the experimentation at the Raketenflugplatz at the time were meager; more complete records may have been kept but if so, they were likely lost upon the later dissolution of the VfR and/or during the war. Moreover, according to Jelnina and Rohrwild in their paper “Reflections of the Technical Developments of the Group Raketenflugplatz Berlin-Reinickendorf in the Literature and Historical Resources,” based on Rohrwild's ten-year analysis of the data and conclusions found in the historical literature on the overall experimental rocketry activities of the VfR, the available material is “often fragmentary, contradictory, and inexact.” We will therefore now summarize the experimental phase of the VfR, based largely on the findings of Jelnina and Rohrwild as well as drawing from the earlier accounts by Ley; Pendray's 1931 articles; available copies of the Society's Mitteilungen and Raketenflug; and other sources. [11]
Overall, according to the Society's Mitteilungen for December 1931: “One year of the Raketenflugplatz is behind us.” This report then summed up the results: “270 firing tests on the test bench, 87 launches of liquid-fuel rockets, 32 demonstrations including 9 public demonstrations, from which we were able to record revenue, and one excellent successful exhibition in Kiel in the Nordic harbor marine and transport exhibition, mark the successes we have in this recorded year.” Ley's private notes on the first “official” year of experimentation break down the “demonstrations” (i.e. static firings) and points out that there had been 23 “demonstrations for clubs and societies” (i.e. Exhibits and not true test static runs) and nine “for publicity” (i.e. probably this meant static runs and also not strictly test runs, for newspapers, magazines, and even for a “newsreel.”) Ley also pointedly notes that Nebel presented the demonstration runs to “prospective donors” then later charged “engineering societies” and the like a “flat fee” to witness tests. He adds in his “The End of the Rocket Society” article, that the first demonstration “runs (i.e. static tests) - and later demonstration flights - provided a part of our income (in addition to membership fees, donations, and fees for lectures that could also include demonstration runs) lecture fees amounted to about 150-200 Marks. In any case, the number of 87 launches of liquid-propellant rockets, as well as the number of firing tests, for that matter, may or may not be accurate since the Mitteilungen was co-edited by Nebel and Ley and Nebel was all too often known for exaggeration. In fact, these numbers seem excessive for the period from the available records.
For certain, there was the production of “Ufa Tonwoche Nr. 60” - “Weekly Sound” (i.e. talking newsreel) No. 60 probably made at some time between August and October 1931. It was exclusively devoted to activities at the Raketenflugplatz and was shown in movie theatres. “Unfortunately,” reported the Mitteilungen for December 1931, “the...rocket engine exploded on the first attempted flight while still on the ground” all while being filmed. The original version of this rare footage is kept in the Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv (German Federal Archives/Military Archives) in Freiburg, Germany. Insofar as the VfR's overall performance records is concerned, the situation of the Society was far more complicated in 1932-1933 and it is difficult if not impossible to obtain “official” figures for that later period to arrive any grand, overall totals of both flights and static tests.[12]
Before covering the actual experiments, it is very important to first note that Pendray, in the introduction of his May 1931 article observed that “Goddard...(had) prevented the results (i.e. the details) of his work from becoming public (due to his secrecy).” Furthermore, he added it was then believed that his (17 July) 1929 rocket flight was sent up “by a series of explosions, instead of continuous fire (continuous burning). It is difficult to see how this was managed, but in any case, it is clearly not the solution to the problem.” We now well know, of course, that Goddard's liquid-propellant rockets were all propelled by “continuous burning” and that Pendray and his fellow members in the young American Interplanetary Society were quite ignorant of his work and consequently arrived at a wholly inaccurate conclusion. Pendray's statement also clearly proves the AIS could not approach Goddard at all in the pursuit of their own intended experimental program and he strictly relied upon what he learned from his visit to Germany.[13]
Secondly, Pendray observed that Oberth, Esnault-Pelterie and others were “convinced” that in designing and constructing liquid-propellant rocket motors, pumps would be necessary to inject the liquids into the combustion chamber. But “it remained for Nebel and Riedel...to show that for the present, at least, pumps of a mechanical type are not necessary”, as gaseous pressure-fed systems would work. “Their work,” he added, rests upon the experiments performed by Oberth, Valier and Dr. (Paul) Heylandt prior to 1930...To Oberth and Valier belong the credit for discovering...” (gas-pressurization)...and...Nebel set (it) out in his first Mirak...(to do this.) But again, Pendray's conclusions were erroneous in several respects.
To begin with, Goddard had consistently used the gas-pressurization method of propellant-feed since the early 1920s as a simple and logical engineering approach before he set out to develop his own light-weight pumps for his larger rockets from the early 1930s. Hence, neither Oberth nor Valier could be “credited” for this discovery. Also, it was the people (or person) who worked for Heylandt, primarily the engineer Walter Riedel (no relation to Klaus) and not Heylandt himself who also applied this approach, as did Valier in his first work with liquid-propellants. Lastly, we cannot be entirely sure that Nebel was the key man in either designing or building the VfR's first Mirak; it is possible Klaus Riedel played a bigger role but that Nebel characteristically took full credit for it.[14] Continue to Part Seven
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
Footnotes
- ^ “Kleine Umschau...IV,” VfR, Mitteilungen, 1 February 1931, p. 2; “Abt. Ausland,” VfR, Mitteilungen, 1 December 1930, p. 4.
- ^ “Amerikanisher Besuch auf dem Raketenflugplatz,” VfR, Mitteilungsblatt, May 1931, p. 1; Winter, Prelude, pp. 75-77; G. Edward Pendray, “Early Rocket Developments of the American Rocket Society,” in Durant and James, eds., First Steps, pp. 141-142.; Félix Torres and Jacques Villain, Robert Esnault-Pelterie du ciel aux étoiles, le génie solitaire (Éditions Confluences; (Bordeaux), 2007), pp. 276-277. For Esnault-Pelterie's visit to New York, see, “Two Thousand at Museum Meeting,” Bulletin, The American Interplanetary Society, No. 7, February 1931, p. 1. It is beyond the scope of this treatment to go into the subsequent development of rocket technology by the American Interplanetary Society (later named the American Rocket Society) from its roots as a result of the 1931 Pendray visit. Suffice it to say, American rocketry has several roots.
- ^ Winter, Prelude, p. 78;Pendray, “The German Interplanetary,” pp. 5-12; G. Edward Pendray, ”Daring Men in Seven Nations Air to Harness Giant Rockets,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 119, August 1931, pp. 30-31, 120. For more on the claim of Dr. Lyon that had also been perpetrated on the VfR see Winter, Prelude to the Space Age, pp. 77, 99, 147, 198. The VfR, however, learned of the fraud by the end of the year. See, “Raketenschwindel in Tripolis,” VfR, Mitteilungen, December 1931, p. 4. Still another result of the Pendray visit was lengthy coverage of the VfR's experimental Mirak series of rockets (up to the Mirak 3) in the first book in the English language of spaceflight, The Conquest of Space (1931) by David Lasser, first president and one of the founders of the American Interplanetary Society. Lasser obviously obtained much of his material from Pendray, although also had direct communications with Ley who likewise provided photos, including the classic still scene of the Moon rocket from “Frau in Mond.” See, David Lasser, The Conquest of Space (Penguin Press: New York, 1931), pp. 40-41, 62-63, 70-73, 75-76-78, 80-81, 83, 179. Lasser calls the VfR the German Interplanetary Society. It may be said that coverage on the VfR also appeared in the first British-published book devoted to spaceflight, Rockets Through Space - or the Dawn of Interplanetary Travel by P.E. Cleator. Consult, P.E. Cleator, Rockets Through Space (George All & Unwin Ltd.: London, 1936), pp. 42 ff., 58-59, 64, 143, 146, 157, 160-161.
- ^ “Amerikanisher Besuch,” p. 1; Torres and Villain, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, p. 277. For an account of the visit of Hirsch see, “Récents Progrès d'Astronautique - Allemagne,” Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France, 45 Année (1921), pp. 352-353.
- ^ G.H. Davis, “From Europe to New York by Rocket?” Popular Mechanics, Vol. 57, March 1932, pp. 458-464.
- ^ “Pour voler plus vite, il faut voler plus haut!”Je Sais Tout, 27 Année, December 1931, pp. 515-519; Günzel, pp. 51-52; Winter, Prelude, p. 42; Ley, Rockets, Missiles, pp. 154-155; Engel, pp. 273275;Irene Sänger-Bredt and Rolf Engel, “The Development of Regeneratively-Cooled Liquid Rocket Engines in Austria and Germany, 1926-42,” in Durant and James, eds., First Steps, pp. 222-223; Engel, “Spaceflight-Projects,” p. 25; (note on rocket flight of Karl Poggensee), on titled and number page of typed manuscript in Willy Ley papers, NASM, Box 39, folder 4, “Rockets, Rheinhold Tiling, 1932-33.” Letter, Engel to Emme, with attachment, evidently Engel's first and longer draft of his paper on Winkler, “A Man of the First Hour,” copy in “Johannes Winkler” file, NASM. Within the Willy Ley collection is even found a two-part illustrated feature in Swedish on the Raketenflugplatz, “Raket-Flyveplads” (“Rocket Flying Place”), in Verden og VI, 21 Äarg., 25 February 1931, pp. 15-16 and “Nogle Billeder fra Berlins Raket-Flyveplads” (“New Pictures from Berlin Rocket Flying Place”), Verden og VI, 21 Äarg., 11 March 1931, pp. 10-12, copies in Willy Ley collection, NASM, Box 10, folder 2. As regards to meteorological or sounding rockets, according to Ley, in February 1931, Karl Poggensee, whom he calls a “member of the German Rocket Society (i.e. the VfR)” successfully launched a large experimental solid-propellant rocket near Bremen that carried “a barograph, a camera, and a white mouse” and reached an altitude of 790 m (2,600 ft), a parachute gently lowering the payload for recovery. This might be interpreted as the earliest known successful sounding rocket since it carried up an instrument, the barograph used to record atmospheric pressure at maximum altitude. However, this was not an official VfR flight; moreover, the VfR experimenters refrained from using solid-propellants.
- ^ Wernher von Braun, “Reminiscences of German Rocketry,” Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 70, May-June 1956), p. 127; Winter, Prelude, p. 41. For other examples, consult Winter, Prelude, pp. 41-42, and especially the autobiographical work by Nebel himself, Die Narren von Tegel, but again, this source is not always trustworthy.
- ^ “Stifftigen für den Ausbau des Raketenflugplatz,” (ca. 1931-1932), copy in “Germany, 1930-1935” file, NASM.
- ^ Von Braun, “Reminiscences,” p. 127; Winter, Prelude, pp. 41-42; Interview, Herbert Schaefer by Frank H. Winter, 10 January 1977, Washington, D.C., notes in collection of Winter; (Rudolf Nebel), “Start der ersten bemannten Rakete im Frühjahr 1933 in Magdeburg,” (with mention of Arbeitsdienst source of manpower), Raketenflug, Nr. 7, December 1932, p. 2; “Quittungen,” Die Rakete, 15 January 1929, p. 16. For a general description of the buildings, including living quarters at the Raketenflugplatz, see Ley, Rockets, Missiles, p. 138. Willi Pigard of Berlin, who had donated money to the VfR according to Die Rakete for January 1929, is later also supposed to have been a member of the Raketenflugplatz team, although in what capacity is unknown.
- ^ Winter, Prelude, pp. 39, 42, 45; Engel, p. 272; Jelnina and Rohrwild, pp. 35-36, 38; Engel, p. 273; Letter, Helmut Zoike to Frank H. Winter, 26 December 1978, copy in “Helmut Zoike” file, NASM; “Zur Lage,” VfR, Mitteilungen, March 1931, p. 1; “Bilanz 1930,” VfR, Mitteilungen, March 1931, p. 3; “Veränderungen,” VfR, Mitteilungen, March 1931, p. 4; Jelnina and Rohrwild, p. 34; “Auf den Spuren von Klaus Riedel,” copy in “Klaus Riedel” file, NASM; Karl Werner Günzel, Die fliegenden Flüssigkeitsraketen Raketenpionier Klaus Riedel:Versuchsgelände Bernstadt/Oberlausitz und Raketenflugplatz Berlin von den Anfängen der Raketentechnik (Weserland-Verl.:Holzminden, (Germany)), (1994), pp. 9-10, 23, 57, 104; “Raketen-Flugplatz (sic.) Berlin,” Berliner Tageblatt, 20 January 1931, p. 6; Ley, “The End of the Rocket Society (– Part 2),” p. 59. For a more complete biography of Riedel, consult also, Günzel, Die fliegenden Flüssigkeitsraketen Raketenpionier. In her September 1987 interview with Günzel, “Babs” Riedel said she kept a VfR parachute as a keepsake then later gave it to Helmut Zoike who promised her that he would later hand it over to a museum but it is not known if this was ever done.
- ^ Jelnina and Rohrwild, p. 33.
- ^ Ley, Missiles, Rockets, pp. 145, 151; “Raketenflugplatz 1931,” VfR, Mitteilungen, December 1931, pp. 1-2; Jelnina and Rohrwild, p. 34; Ley, “The End of the Rocket Society (– Part 2),” pp. 62-63.
- ^ Pendray, “The German Rockets, “ p. 5.
- ^ Pendray, “The German Rockets, “ pp. 5-6. For details of Goddard's technical accomplishments that were wholly unknown at the time, consult Goddard and Pendray, eds., The Papers of Robert H. Goddard, cited above.
