An Opel-Sander Rak-3 car on a track for a test drive on 23rd June, 1928 in Germany. Men fix rocket boosters on the car. The car moves at a high speed. It releases smoke as it moves. Crowd watches the car from a hill above tracks. Photographers take pictures. The car gets damaged. A techincian takes a kitten from the car. Technicians arrive in a car. In another test drive the car explodes. Wreckage falls near the tracks. Technicians view the wreckage.
An Opel-Sander Rak-4 car on a track for a test drive on 4th October, 1928 in Germany. The car moves at an uncontrollable speed. It releases large amount of smoke as it moves. Crowd watches the car standing from a hill above tracks. Photographers take pictures. The car explodes. Wreckage falls near the tracks. Scientists view the wreckage.
A Volkhart R1 car during a test runs in December, 1928 in Germany. Several banks of rockets are seen fitted to the rear of a car. Photographers take pictures. The car seen on test track. Rockets ignite and the car begins to move. Sets of rockets ignite progressively propelling the car faster. But it does not attain notable speed. On a second trial, the rocket car attains a much higher speed and coasts to a stop.
April, 1931 in Germany. View of a closed sled resembling a small airplane fuselage, fitted with runners underneath and bundles of rockets on each side. It sits on a frozen lake. BR-1 is painted on its side. A man arrives and climbs into the cockpit. The rockets ignite and accelerate the plane somewhat erratically, as it moves along the lake surface.
Descriptions and diagrams of various model airplanes used in experiments with solid powder propulsion, in Germany starting in 1927. Diagram of a 'Storch' model airplane. Diagram of "Ente"(Duck) model airplane. An Opel full scale model "Ent" airplane being checked out on a launching rail at an airfield. Fritz von Opel makes adjustments at the rear of the airplane and, assisted by several other men, moves the airplane along the launch ramp and back again. On the side of the plane is written: "Sander AK-1." Photographers take pictures. The first manned test of an Opel "ent" airplane is undertaken by the Research Institute of the RhonRossitten-Gesellschaft (RRG) under the direction of Fritz Stamer. In the first three trials the airplane fails to rise and simply skids along the ground. However, on the 4th try, it successfully flies off the launch rail in an extended high speed flight, for three-quarters of a mile in just under one minute. The successful flight is then shown in slow motion from two different camera angles.
Successful test of the first German Post office mail rocket at Dummersee, Germany, on April 15,1931. It carries 180 pieces of mail (postcards). Reinhold Tiling is seen with his mechanic, Friedrich Kuhr, who holds the rocket, as Tiling inserts a cylinder containing compressed powder fuel. They then invert the rocket and Tiling affixes its nose cone. A post office official hands pieces of mail to Tiling, who places them into the rocket. They position the rocket on its launch stand and fire it. Uniformed Postal officials (and some military officers) watch the rocket as it rises smoothly after launch. Larger, better, and lighter metal (aluminum) are developed in 1931-32. Friedrich Kuhr standing next to a huge rocket with a wing span of 4 meters.
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