NIKON D80
ƒ/7.1
135 mm
1/800
100

My rocket roared off the pad straight as an arrow, which is rare for a V-2, and just kept going and going on an Aerotech N2000.

Here is a short video montage from the ground with some sweet sounds, and I pasted a series of frame grabs below.

Side note: This straight flight comes from three solid lead bricks up in the nosecone. While the V-2 is an iconic design harkening back to comic book spacecraft, it is incredibly unstable if it lacks nose weight. When the U.S. rocket pioneers tested a variant of this design in White Sands (without a warhead up top for safety) it rose a couple hundred feet, and then went into a wild spin. Once it burned off enough fuel weight to become stable, it came out of the random spin and screamed off horizontally. By the time the UTC observers in the bunker peeked up again, it was on its way to Mexico. It crashed into a Mexican graveyard where the remaining fuel exploded. I can only imagine the conversations that ensued to keep the whole episode quiet…

8 responses to “Big V2.1 Blastoff”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Each frame is uncropped, so you can get a sense of relative scale.

    Ignition on the 20 ft. Mavericks Rail:
    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.55.15 PM

    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.55.56 PM

    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.56.14 PM

    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.56.48 PM

    Blast zone…
    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.57.06 PM

    and then a dirt clog hits the bottom of the wide-angle lens!
    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.50.08 PM

    Kicking up dirt, 30 ft. up…
    Screen shot 2010-07-25 at 12.53.56 PM

    Reply
  2. tifotter Avatar
    tifotter

    Great side note. Awesome photos per usual.

    Reply
  3. : Nils Avatar
    : Nils

    Magnificent! Congratulations on the successful flight.

    Reply
  4. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    you would still think that forward weight is a bad thing….but its a "fat" rocket…and maybe the nose gets unstable in turbulence….
    Great shots !!

    Reply
  5. tonyjurvetson Avatar
    tonyjurvetson

    The V-2 was designed to fly nose heavy. It had to carry a 1650 pound warhead of the high explosive Amatol,, a mixture of 60% TNT and 40% ammonium nitrate encased in a 6 mm thick steel nose cone weighing an additional 500 pounds..

    Of the 5950 V-2s built 3600 were launched in anger. 2100 were captured by the Allies and formed the foundation for the space programs of the Soviet Union and the United States. V-2s continued to fly, for six years after the war ended, over the steppes of Russia and deserts of the southwestern United States. An original unmodified V-2 reached an altitude of 132 miles, the highest ever obtained by a V-2 , on August 22 1951, at White Sands, New Mexico. The last American captured V-2 flight took place on September 19 1952.

    It is estimated that by taking advantage of the V-2 work done, the United States saved at least a decade and billions of dollars that would have had to have been spent to reach the same level of technology,

    Reply
  6. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    thanks for all that history..
    OK…I have to ask…whats your relation to j ?
    My favorite was the V2 WAC Corporal series @ White Sands.

    Reply
  7. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Papa Tony!

    Reply
  8. tonyjurvetson Avatar
    tonyjurvetson

    And a proud Papa,

    The eight V-2/WAc Corporal rockets named Bumper, set many records. The first Bumper flew on May 13 1948. Bumper # 5, fired on February 24 1949 reached an altitude of 248 miles, a new record. Bumper # 8 was the first missile fired from Cape Canaveral on July 24 1950. The Mexicans asked us to relocate from White Sands after the first recorded missile attack by the United States Army against a friendly neighbor. It is interesting to note that , that the flight was not aborted for fear it would crash on El Paso, so it was allowed to fly into Mexico. See Steve’s note above and this link:
    elpasotimes.typepad.com/morgue/2009/01/v2-rocket-off-cour…
    Bumper # 7 attained a speed of Mach 9, the highest sustained speed that had ever been reached in the Earth’s atmosphere on July 29 1950.

    An interesting chapter in rocket development. Now smaller V-2s fly in Nevada!!!

    Reply

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