227:. I will not rest until I have accomplished that." At a speech on the donation of a RAK 2 replica to the Deutsches Museum, von Opel mentioned also Opel engineer Josef Schaberger as a key collaborator. "He belonged," von Opel said, "with the same enthusiasm as Sander to our small secret group, one of the tasks of which was to hide all the preparations from my father, because his paternal apprehensions led him to believe that I was cut out for something better than being a rocket researchist. Schaberger supervised all the details involved in construction and assembly (of rocket cars), and every time I sat behind the wheel with a few hundred pounds of explosives in my rear, and made the first contact, I did so with a feeling of total security As early as 1928, Mr. Schaberger and I developed a liquid rocket, which was definitely the first permanently operating rocket in which the explosive was injected into the combustion chamber and simultaneously cooled using pumps. We used benzol as the fuel," von Opel continued, "and nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer. This rocket was installed in a Mueller-Griessheim aircraft and developed a thrust of 70 kg (154 lb.)." By May 1929, the engine produced a thrust of 200 kg (440 lb.) "for longer than fifteen minutes and in July 1929, the Opel RAK collaborators were able to attain powered phases of more than thirty minutes for thrusts of 300 kg (660-lb.) at Opel's works in Rüsselsheim," according to Max Valier's account.
239:
kp, with a total burning time of 132 seconds. These properties indicate a gas pressure pumping. The first missile rose so quickly that Sander lost sight of it. Two days later, a second unit was ready to go, Sander tied a 4,000-meter-long rope to the rocket. After 2000 m of rope had been unwound, the line broke and this rocket also disappeared in the area, probably near the Opel proving ground and racetrack in Rüsselsheim, the "Rennbahn". The main purpose of these tests was to develop the propulsion system for the aircraft for crossing the
English channel. Therefore, the flights of these two (compared to the airplane) small rockets were not published. The combustion tests with the aircraft rocket engine proceeded very successful. Unfortunately the plane was destroyed during a nightly transport on a truck on the Opel factory grounds, as the senior boss Wilhelm von Opel felt disturbed by the engine noise and wanted to stop this new “dangerous madness” of his son.
231:
251:. Without warning, Sander was arrested by the Gestapo on 31 January 1935. His company was subordinated to a trustee of the military, so it was expropriated and all documents were confiscated. After three months in custody, Sander was released, only to be arrested again in November 1935. After a year in custody, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and a fine for treason. Sander had also sold his missiles to Italy and England. Since these were older versions of his powder rockets, he did not consider this to be forbidden. Sander speculated that the Army Weapons Office ("
94:
17:
109:, leading to speed records for automobiles, rail vehicles and the first public manned rocket-powered flight in September 1929. Months earlier in 1928, one of his rocket-powered prototypes, the Opel RAK2, reached piloted by von Opel himself at the AVUS speedway in Berlin a record speed of 238 km/h, watched by 3000 spectators and world media, among them
238:
Max Valier also reports the launch of two experimental liquid-fuel rockets by Sander on 10 and 12 April 1929. In his book “Raketenfahrt” he describes the size of the rockets as of 21 cm in diameter and with a length of 74 cm, weighing 7 kg empty and 16 kg with fuel. The maximum thrust was 45 to 50
50:
From 1925, the Sander line-throwing rocket pistols designed by him for the rescue of shipwrecked people belonged to the equipment of the rescue stations and boats of the German
Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People and many similar organizations around the world. In 1925, Sander bought the
42:
Sander was the son of a professional soldier. He went to school in Uslar on the southwestern edge of the
Solling and then learned to be a mechanical engineer. At the Technikum Strelitz in Altstrelitz in Mecklenburg he became an engineer around 1908/09. In 1909 Sander moved to Bremerhaven. Here he
181:
and attached rocket motors to it, creating the world's first rocket plane on 11 June. The aircraft exploded on its second test flight, before Opel had had a chance to pilot it himself, so he commissioned a new aircraft, also called the RAK.1, from
129:
and many more sports and show business celebrities. A world record for rail vehicles was reached with RAK3 and a top speed of 256 km/h. After these successes, von Opel piloted the world's first public rocket-powered flight using
222:
on 30 September 1929, von Opel is quoted as saying: "Sander and I now want to transfer the liquid rocket from the laboratory to practical use. With the liquid rocket I hope to be the first man to thus fly across the
152:, and achieved a top speed of 75 km/h (47 mph) in it, proving the feasibility of the concept of rocket propulsion. Less than two months later, he reached a speed of 230 km/h (143 mph) in the
234:
Friedrich Sander, Opel RAK technician August Becker and Opel employee Karl Treber (from right to left) in front of liquid-fuel rocket-plane prototype while test operation at Opel
Rennbahn in Rüsselsheim
51:
Schultz ship telegraph factory in
Bremerhaven, which gave him a larger, two-story factory building at Fährstrasse No. 26 as a prerequisite for accepting development contracts offered by the Navy.
429:
47:, who had existed from 1853 and was known as the inventor of the whaling cannon. Sander soon expanded the factory's products to include signal rockets.
101:
Fritz von Opel and Sander were instrumental in popularizing rockets as means of propulsion for vehicles. In the 1920s, they initiated together with
255:") wanted to develop and manufacture the missile weapons itself. His company was run as Donar GmbH für Apparatebau without him. He died in 1938.
434:
218:
in
Washington, DC, the Opel group was also working on liquid-fuel rockets (SPACEFLIGHT, Vol. 21,2, Feb. 1979): In a cabled exclusive to The
35:
and rocket technology engineer as well as manufacturer remembered for his contributions to rocket-powered flight as key protagonist of the
20:
Friedrich Sander (left) and Fritz von Opel (right) in front of Opel RAK 1 rocket-powered aircraft. Rebstock, Frankfurt. 30 September 1929
444:
247:
From 1930, Sander (with other pyrotechnics factories) began secretly manufacturing rockets for military purposes, at the direction of
439:
62:
to provide rockets to propel cars and aircraft as a means of popularizing the use of rockets for propulsion and for promoting the
424:
230:
215:
194:, a rocket-powered railway car powered by 30 solid-fuel rockets which had reached a speed of 254 km/h (157 mph).
85:
He was married to Cäcilie Sander and had three boys: Hans HW (1918-1998), Bruno (1918-1983) and
Herbert (1920-?).
264:
Projekt RAK – Das
Raketenzeitalter begann in Rüsselsheim, a documentation from Klaus F. Filthaut, München 1999.
365:
353:
301:
70:, the world's first large-scale rocket program, involved the creation of the world's first rocket car, the
115:
339:
419:
414:
97:
Opel RAK.1 - world's first public flight of a rocket plane on 30 September 1929 at
Frankfurt-Rebstock
178:
279:
248:
187:
121:
206:
Liquid-fuel rocket development, test launches and a planned flight across the
English channel
43:
worked in various areas. In 1920 he took over the company of master gunsmith H. G. Cordes in
252:
224:
211:
274:
219:
59:
408:
170:
126:
387:
183:
135:
105:, co-founder of the "Verein für Raumschiffahrt", the world's first rocket program,
32:
326:
313:
44:
198:
191:
157:
153:
149:
131:
110:
102:
79:
71:
55:
28:
166:
106:
67:
36:
354:
https://opel-tv-footage.com/v/The%20RAK%20Protocoll?p=4&c=86&l=1
302:
https://opel-tv-footage.com/v/The%20RAK%20Protocoll?p=4&c=86&l=1
93:
16:
352:"Das RAK-Protokoll", a 25 minutes documentary on the Opel RAK program
300:"Das RAK-Protokoll", a 25 minutes documentary on the Opel RAK program
190:
on 30 September 1929. In the meantime, another mishap had claimed the
329:
article by Walter J. Boyne in Air Force Magazine, September 1, 2004
229:
92:
15:
148:
On 15 March 1928, Opel tested his first rocket-powered car, the
75:
63:
386:
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Daedalus / Raketenflugplatz Berlin
197:
Also in 1928, Opel built and test ran a rocket-powered
78:, and the world's first purpose-built rocket plane
388:http://www.raketenflugplatz-berlin.de/sander.htm
327:https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0904rocket/
275:Matthias Blazek: "Die Raketenversuche von 1928"
8:
367:The History Of The Rocket-Powered Motorcycle
293:
165:Later that same year, he purchased a
66:company. Their joint projects within
7:
430:People from the Province of Silesia
340:"Opel Sounds in the Era of Rockets"
398:Filthaut, Projekt RAK, pp. 197 ff.
243:Imprisonment in Third Reich period
31:– 15 September 1938) was a German
14:
74:and the first rocket glider, the
54:In 1928, he was approached by
1:
435:20th-century German engineers
216:National Air and Space Museum
134:, a rocket plane designed by
461:
445:German automotive pioneers
281:Raketenmänner – Rocket Men
177:is "duck" in German) from
440:German aviation pioneers
370:, Jalopnik, May 24, 2010
125:, world boxing champion
25:Friedrich Wilhelm Sander
89:Opel RAK rocket program
235:
98:
21:
233:
96:
19:
425:People from Kłodzko
201:called the Monster.
27:(25 August 1885 in
236:
179:Alexander Lippisch
99:
22:
249:Walter Dornberger
188:Frankfurt-am-Main
186:, and flew it at
122:Woman in the Moon
452:
399:
396:
390:
384:
378:
377:
376:
375:
362:
356:
350:
344:
343:
336:
330:
324:
318:
317:
314:"The Rocket Men"
310:
304:
298:
460:
459:
455:
454:
453:
451:
450:
449:
405:
404:
403:
402:
397:
393:
385:
381:
373:
371:
364:
363:
359:
351:
347:
338:
337:
333:
325:
321:
312:
311:
307:
299:
295:
290:
271:
261:
259:Further reading
253:Heereswaffenamt
245:
225:English Channel
212:Frank H. Winter
208:
156:, driven by 24
141:
91:
58:, on behalf of
29:Glatz (Kłodzko)
12:
11:
5:
458:
456:
448:
447:
442:
437:
432:
427:
422:
417:
407:
406:
401:
400:
391:
379:
357:
345:
342:. 23 May 2018.
331:
319:
305:
292:
291:
289:
286:
285:
284:
277:
270:
269:External links
267:
266:
265:
260:
257:
244:
241:
220:New York Times
207:
204:
203:
202:
195:
162:
161:
113:, director of
90:
87:
60:Fritz von Opel
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
457:
446:
443:
441:
438:
436:
433:
431:
428:
426:
423:
421:
418:
416:
413:
412:
410:
395:
392:
389:
383:
380:
369:
368:
361:
358:
355:
349:
346:
341:
335:
332:
328:
323:
320:
315:
309:
306:
303:
297:
294:
287:
283:
282:
278:
276:
273:
272:
268:
263:
262:
258:
256:
254:
250:
242:
240:
232:
228:
226:
221:
217:
214:, curator at
213:
210:According to
205:
200:
196:
193:
189:
185:
180:
176:
172:
171:Lippisch Ente
168:
164:
163:
159:
155:
151:
147:
146:
145:
144:
139:
137:
133:
128:
127:Max Schmeling
124:
123:
118:
117:
112:
108:
104:
95:
88:
86:
83:
81:
77:
73:
69:
65:
61:
57:
52:
48:
46:
40:
38:
34:
30:
26:
18:
394:
382:
372:, retrieved
366:
360:
348:
334:
322:
308:
296:
280:
246:
237:
209:
184:Julius Hatry
174:
142:
140:
136:Julius Hatry
120:
114:
100:
84:
53:
49:
41:
33:pyrotechnics
24:
23:
420:1938 deaths
415:1885 births
169:named the "
45:Bremerhaven
409:Categories
374:2012-05-30
288:References
199:motorcycle
158:solid-fuel
150:Opel RAK.1
132:Opel RAK.1
116:Metropolis
111:Fritz Lang
103:Max Valier
80:Opel RAK.1
72:Opel RAK.1
56:Max Valier
167:sailplane
39:program.
160:rockets.
143:Timeline
107:Opel-RAK
68:Opel-RAK
37:Opel-RAK
192:RAK.3
154:RAK.2
175:Ente
119:and
76:Ente
64:Opel
173:" (
411::
138:.
82:.
316:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
