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62 33. ROCKET USED BY ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS

In certain areas the Royal Observer Corps occasionally fire a rocket about 4 ft. long and 3¼ in. diameter, weighing about 10 lb. The head is painted aluminium, and the metal work and the four-unit tail fin, green. The fins are approximately 4 in. diameter.

When fired, the rocket ascends to a height of some 1,500 feet and bursts expelling a parachute flare, while the metal framework and fins fall to the ground. The parachute is usually white but may be coloured.

34. GERMAN FLYING BOMBS

The flying-bomb (see Figures 82 and 83) is a mid-wing monoplane with a single fin and rudder and having a jet-propulsion unit mounted above the rear portion of the fuselage. The principal dimensions are as follows:—

Length of fuselage—21 ft. 10 in.

Length of jet propulsion unit—11 ft. 3 in.

Overall length (including the overhang of, propulsion unit)—25 ft. 4 in. <!"--Maximum diameter 2' 8¼" -->

Maximum diameter of propulsion unit—1 ft. 10¾ in.

Wing span—17 ft. 6 in. with little or no taper in the wings, or in another version (as shown in the silhouette)—16 ft.

Apart from the extreme nose of the fuselage and the elevators and the rudder, which are of light metal, the structure is entirely of steel, the fuselage being in sections bolted together. The central section of the fuselage comprises a cylindrical steel fuel tank of 150 gallons capacity behind which is a compartment containing two wire-bound spheres 1 ft. 9¼ in. diameter, filled with compressed air. In front of the fuel tank is the explosive charge weighing about 850 kg. in a steel casing approximately 2 mm. thick and designed to explode by means of sensitive impact fuzes.

There is a possibility, under certain circumstances, that a flying bomb may make a belly landing more or less undamaged and that a delay may occur before the explosion. One case of a 10 minute delay has occurred.

The light metal sheeting and airframe may be coloured light blue, dark green or black. A number (usually six figures) is sometimes painted in white 1 in. to 2 in. high on the right-hand (starboard) side of the fuselage and repeated on wings, tail plane and elevators. The markings "NICHT ANFASSEN " (Do not grip) and "Geprüft" (tested), also appear.

The fin is marked:-

The propulsion unit operates at about 40 cycles per second and the noise heard when the bomb is in flight depends on the distance away and the speed at which it is travelling. If at all near it gives a deep booming note and when quite close the rattle of the jet propulsion unit can be heard. At night it shows at the rear end a flame varying in colour from white to red.

If the bomb is damaged in flight by our defences the flames issuing from the rear may be abnormally long or they may appear from other parts of the jet propulsion unit.