London Blitz vs V1

"M. J. Powell" wrote:

Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

You appear to be a bit confused.

Quote: Constance Babington-Smith's "Evidence in Camera": "Late that
evening, when Douglas Kendall got back from a day's meeting in London,
he made straight for the army section. With Simon and Rowell he
looked quickly at each of the eight sites - each one partly in a wood,
and each apparently to have a set of nine standard buildings, some of
them strangely shaped. Then he settled down to gaze at the site which
was furthest advanced. It was near Bois Carre. Three of the
buildings were unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. Except -
yes - they were like something. The took his mind back to winter
sports before the war, for they reminded him of skis.

'Skis', he thought aloud. 'That's what they look like - skis'."

Quote RV Jones "Most Secret War": "The information was confirmed by
photographic sortie E/463 of 3rd November, which showed that the most
prominent feature were ski-shaped buildings 240-270 feet long, from
which the sites were promptly named".

Quote: From Edward Leaf's "Above us all unseen": "The photographs
revealed three ski-shaped buildings (from which the sites took their
name) and a ramp which pointed directly at London".

The launch ramps were fairly straight, though a few do seem to have
saggy middles - I have a number of films of launches and none of the
ramps bears the slightest resemblance to a ski. The fixed concrete
ramps at the ski sites were all straight. The only ones that seem to
have a slight "dip" in the middle are the modified site ramps. I
doubt this was intentional. Probably the hastily laid concrete "pins"
had not been carefully aligned. Or had sunk into the ground a bit.

Eugene Griessel

In message , Eugene Griessel
writes
"M. J. Powell" wrote:

Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

You appear to be a bit confused.

Quote: Constance Babington-Smith's "Evidence in Camera": "Late that
evening, when Douglas Kendall got back from a day's meeting in London,
he made straight for the army section. With Simon and Rowell he
looked quickly at each of the eight sites - each one partly in a wood,
and each apparently to have a set of nine standard buildings, some of
them strangely shaped. Then he settled down to gaze at the site which
was furthest advanced. It was near Bois Carre. Three of the
buildings were unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. Except -
yes - they were like something. The took his mind back to winter
sports before the war, for they reminded him of skis.

'Skis', he thought aloud. 'That's what they look like - skis'."

Quote RV Jones "Most Secret War": "The information was confirmed by
photographic sortie E/463 of 3rd November, which showed that the most
prominent feature were ski-shaped buildings 240-270 feet long, from
which the sites were promptly named".

Quote: From Edward Leaf's "Above us all unseen": "The photographs
revealed three ski-shaped buildings (from which the sites took their
name) and a ramp which pointed directly at London".

The launch ramps were fairly straight, though a few do seem to have
saggy middles - I have a number of films of launches and none of the
ramps bears the slightest resemblance to a ski. The fixed concrete
ramps at the ski sites were all straight. The only ones that seem to
have a slight "dip" in the middle are the modified site ramps. I
doubt this was intentional. Probably the hastily laid concrete "pins"
had not been carefully aligned. Or had sunk into the ground a bit.

Ok! OK! I was wrong! I was overloading the few memory cells that I have
left.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell