WW2 panjandum weapon (rocket powered pin wheel bomb)

Whos willing to scale down and build a model version of this silly rocket powered weapon?

[video=youtube;DJQqXXENYsI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJQqXXENYsI[/video]

These things were a bad idea even for their intended use. Looks like they forgot which way to orient their girandola LOL

Early in the war those would have worked most excellently...for frightening horses...if it didn't kill the guy lighting it off...

dave carver said:

Early in the war those would have worked most excellently...for frightening horses...if it didn't kill the guy lighting it off...

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I hadn't thought of the horse factor.

Yea, no. This is dangerous enough without it being rebuilt in hobby form. Someone rebuilt a modern version of it and tested it, you will be able to find it on youtube.

It was about as effective as the V1 and V2. They should have made thousands of 4 engine bombers, and perfected the jet fighter.

We would be speaking German today.

And make a deal with Russia for oil instead of trying to take it. Produce no surface Naval Fleet, all subs. The tons of steel in the Graf Zeppelin, Tirpitz and Bismarck would have made a lot of U-Boats, with those England would have been cut off. As it was it was a near thing, the Germans almost managed to strangle England. I have to admit they got good mileage from Bismarck but in reality that was a lot of wasted tonnage.

rstaff3 said:

I hadn't thought of the horse factor.

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I saw something that was kind of a shocker, the Germans had more horses at the beginning of the war than they did trucks. The horses have the advantage of not needing petrol

They should have offed Hitler early on. I guess there were many attempts. I read about one, on a plane, that used a wine bottle in his luggage, with a chemical time fuse, brit.

But it was cold back there, and it did not go off. The Stauffenberg bomb was close, but it was behind a pillar.

I saw that on history channel back when I had TV, and loved it! Even the name is fun to say.
Just as ridiculous as the Pidgeon and Cat bombs, but hey, you have to try everything sometimes.

dave carver said:

And make a deal with Russia for oil instead of trying to take it. Produce no surface Naval Fleet, all subs. The tons of steel in the Graf Zeppelin, Tirpitz and Bismarck would have made a lot of U-Boats, with those England would have been cut off. As it was it was a near thing, the Germans almost managed to strangle England. I have to admit they got good mileage from Bismarck but in reality that was a lot of wasted tonnage.

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Yeah, it was a German time of go big or go home. Also they could have spent the saved money on better encryption, once Enigma was cracked, so did the uboat fleet.

I really want to build the panjandrum on a small scale. With the right precautions it wouldn't be that dangerous.

mbecks said:

I really want to build the panjandrum on a small scale. With the right precautions it wouldn't be that dangerous.

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The only precaution I'd advise is taking it to Black Rock to the middle of the playa, nothing to burn for miles....

dave carver said:

The only precaution I'd advise is taking it to Black Rock to the middle of the playa, nothing to burn for miles....

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Fortunately for hobbies like this in Canada it's a barren wasteland of snow right now. Very hard to ignite that stuff.

mbecks said:

Fortunately for hobbies like this in Canada it's a barren wasteland of snow right now. Very hard to ignite that stuff.

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An ice covered lake...not so much of a good idea right now. Things are melting, right?

Hey, launch from the bank...don't plan to recover.

Things will be melting big time soon. It's -30*c out today and supposed to be 8*c by Wednesday. That quick change is going to be a shock on the body.

dave carver said:

And make a deal with Russia for oil instead of trying to take it. Produce no surface Naval Fleet, all subs. The tons of steel in the Graf Zeppelin, Tirpitz and Bismarck would have made a lot of U-Boats, with those England would have been cut off. As it was it was a near thing, the Germans almost managed to strangle England. I have to admit they got good mileage from Bismarck but in reality that was a lot of wasted tonnage.

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Incorrect about the Graf Zeppelin. It was a duralum (aluminum) frame for weight reduction. Very important for a lighter than air ship. Plus Zeppelins didn't have any really practical
strategic value in WW2. Too easy to shoot down. Although the blimps were used for submarine patrols and I'm aware of a rescue at that time by word of mouth.

An old guy had this godawful hideous scar in his lower left leg. Asked him how he got it and told me how he was a pilot before the war in 41 and was training in Bell P39's.
Was flying in a group on the west coast by San Francisco. He got a plane that was just overhauled, took off and was climbing when he said the plane snap rolled to the left,
he stomped on the right rudder pedal fed in right aileron and nothing. He said was just above 3000'AGL, pulled the door quick release and got out asap. He believes his lower leg
contacted the wing or part of the tail. Yanked the ripcord and just managed to have a good canopy just before he hit on an ocean mud flat. Took stock of himself, saw he had an open
compound fracture of his left lower leg and realized he wouldn't be walking out of there. Says he was a mile offshore and was able to wave to his buddies who dipped their wings
and called for help. Shortly he saw military trucks onshore about a mile away. To make matters worse, the tide started to come in. The mud was too soft for anyone to come after him
on foot. I was like, "How in the world did they get you out?" He said, "You won't believe me." I replied, "Try me." Well, they called a nearby naval air station and out came
a blimp to pick him up! The pilot hovered just off the mud flat, three corpsman jumped out with a litter and then loaded him on the blimp for the ride back.

Turned out he developed a bone infection in the open fracture and in the pre-antibiotic era sat out the entire war in a VA hospital as the infection became chronic.

This was pre-internet days but I eventually checked some of the facts and the P39 arrived in 1941 and was used for training. Chuck Yaeger wrote about flying them. The Navy did have blimps before the war and it's plausible that this fellows account is true. Lord knows that hideous scar on the lower tibia certainly could have been from an open fracture and resultant osteomyelitis.

Kurt

ksaves2 said:

Incorrect about the Graf Zeppelin. It was a duralum (aluminum) frame for weight reduction. Very important for a lighter than air ship. Plus Zeppelins didn't have any really practical
strategic value in WW2. Too easy to shoot down. Although the blimps were used for submarine patrols and I'm aware of a rescue at that time by word of mouth.

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Graf Zeppelin was also the name of an aircraft carrier, which consumed great amounts of steel but never became operational.

Reinhard