Rocket & Ramjet Powered Aircraft

Re: Shmidly Rocket powered Aircraft

Hi Hesham!

This article is called "Rocket engineering nowadays". Of course "nowadays" for 1937, when it was published in Nauka i Tekhnika (Science & Technology) magazine. It is kind of review of different peoples' work in this field, in different countries. Fritz Schmiedl, the Austrian engineer (whose surname the Google "translated" back from Cyrillic as "Shmidly" :mad: ) is mentioned as the author of the V-7 "postal rocket" successfully tested near Graz on February 2, 1931. But he doesn't have any connection to this rocketplane (or "reaplane") project which is proclaimed to be French, but unfortunately the author's name isn't mentioned.

More about Schmiedl here: http://www.astronautix.com/astros/schmiedl.htm.
 
OK my dear Stargazer,


I will change the name of topic.
 
Hi,


when I said we spoke about this aircraft before,I was right,here is the same concept.
 

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On 4 June 1931 William G. Swan, aged 29, used rocket-power to stay aloft for over Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a glider powered with 10 small rockets.

Swan was a stunt pilot barnstormer wanted to promote himself and the Steel Pier amusement park in Atlantic City. He attached ten solid-fuel rocket motors of 50 pounds thrust each to his high-winged glider, just beneath his seat. All the rockets could be ignited by the pilot.

In front of a crowd of 2000 people, Swann ignited just one rocket. The glider, from a standing start, took off and flew 1,000 feet distance at an altitude of 100 feet.

The next day, Swann attached twelve rockets (in two bundles of six) to the glider and ignited all of them. Despite facing a strong wind, he took off at a speed of 35 mph, managed to achieve an altitude of 200 feet and remained up for eight minutes.

Sources:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OvsHRzz6UV4C&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=swan+rocket+glider&source=bl&ots=dmgqwSrcdN&sig=et2gtF66naSyuXl5uMTT-BxNbJg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB39LPjrvLAhXFOhQKHdFpAtYQ6AEIQjAH#v=onepage&q=swan%20rocket%20glider&f=false
Aero Digest August 1931
 

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My dear Cy-27,

the same airplane and same person from Modern Mechanix.

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/first-rocket-glider-launched-successfully-in-actual-tests/
 

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I have often wondered if a rocket glider could be operated as a Part 103 ultralight in the USA, but I think the rules require an internal combustion engine. ;)
 
A rocket is internal combustion, it just doesn't have a piston or other means to close off the combustion chamber ;D
 
Opel-Sander-Hatry RAK-1 Raketenflugzeug

During the late 1920s, Fritz von Opel had undertaken a variety of publicity stunts involving rocket-powered vehicles (gliders, cars and trains) called Opel-RAKs, for the Opel company.

He was assisted in these projects by rockets manufacturer Friedrich Sander. The Opel RAK-1 (also later known as the Opel RAK-3) was the world's first purpose-built rocket-powered aircraft. It was designed and built by Julius Hatry under a commission from von Opel. Hatry first flew it on September 30, 1929 in front of a large crowd at Rebstock near Frankfurt-am-Main. All three names, Opel, Sander, and Hatry were painted on the aircraft (with Opel’s most prominent), as was the RAK-1 designation (see images in attached pdf article).

Earlier, in June 1928, Fritz von Opel had purchased an Alexander Lippisch-designed sailplane, named the Ente, and fitted it with rockets. Opel did not get the chance to fly it, however, as the aircraft was destroyed by an engine explosion on its second test flight.

The RAK-1 had a typical glider wing, under which a pod was suspended to accommodate the pilot and sixteen solid rocket engines. The tail plane was mounted on booms behind the wing and high out of the way of the rocket exhaust. Opel flew the RAK-1 it over 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in 75 seconds of flight, but landed hard, damaging the aircraft beyond repair. Opel planned to build a second rocket plane, but lost interest before the project was completed.

The aircraft is sometimes referred to as the Opel-Hatry RAK-1 or Opel-Sander RAK-1 in acknowledgment of its constructor and the supplier of its engines respectively. In other references it is called the RAK-3 to distinguish it from Opel's previous RAK-1 and RAK-2 rocket cars.

General characteristics (RAK-1)

Crew: Pilot
Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph)
Range: 1.5 km (4,900 ft)
Loaded weight: 1,700 kg (771 lb)

Sources:

Aero Digest 1929

See also:

http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/OPEL%20ROCKET%20VEHICLES.htm
 

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Actually, I just checked the text and found no such restriction. Hmmm, anyone interested in an aluminum tube and dacron Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet?

You can by 30% hydrogen peroxide on Amazon, then freeze distill it up to 90% or so; there are hobbyists who do just that. I wouldn't investigate the limb/person and eyes/person ratios too closely, though.
 
From Flying magazine 1940-3.
 

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"The Ente (German: duck) was the world’s first full-sized rocket-powered aircraft. It was designed by Alexander Lippisch as a sailplane and first flown under power on June 11, 1928, piloted by Fritz Stamer as part of the Opel-RAK rocket program led by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier."


The pictures are of a very nice 3 meter flying model and there is a free plan available: https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=13070&pth=brwspics
 

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You can by 30% hydrogen peroxide on Amazon, then freeze distill it up to 90% or so; there are hobbyists who do just that.
l

Ah no, freeze concentration of HTP will only get it to 56%. At this fraction, the whole H2O2 and water mixture freezes solid at about-34C. Partial pressure distillation is what you need for higher concentration but even this struggles to get consistently much above 70%, although with great care/attention to detail 80%is just about possible. For 80+% it’s gets very tricky and involved with a thermodynamically balanced fractional distillation tube being preferred. From memory. there’s a high purity creation method which yields more or less 100% but is really difficult to do with nasty consequences if you get it wrong.
 
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Please don't try this at home...

Just lab-strength peroxide was scary enough. We used it as part of an ashing process to check for 'mineral adulterants' in meds etc, when acid-breakdown alone just generated a chunk of intractable char resembling pumice-- Or an Apollo heat-shield.

There's also the small detail that catalytic / trace quantities of various metals or metal salts will so cause near-explosive dissociation of your peroxide. Mostly-harmless if small amounts, akin to BLEVE if more. Think 'Live Steam', and be not there...
 
Here is 1929 British Pathe / Gaumont Graphic Newsreel footage of Fritz von Opel flying the RAK-1 at Frankfurt, after a couple of failed attempts. The footage also provides some nice detail of the cradle and rail system the rocket plane used for take-offs. Friedrich Sander also appears in the film.
YouTube - British Pathé: "AVIATION: Fritz Opel rocket plane tested in Frankfurt" (1929)

This is contemporaneous footage from Universal Newsreel, some of it taken from the side opposite of the Gaumont cameramen.
YouTube - CriticalPast: "Fritz Von Opel with his Opel RAK 1 rocket air plane"
 
Суперавиация и суперартиллерия 1929

what was this ?.
 

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What was this ?,a hypothetical design only ?;

Schematic longitudinal section through a ramjet aircraft.
The hatched parts contain the fuel.
 

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