AMP
Silbervogel Antipodal-Bomber 1/72 Scale Plastic Model Kit AMP 72014
Theme: Military
Era : 1946-1959
Scale : 1/72
Material : Plastic
Series: Legendary Aircrafts
Recommended Age Range: 12 Years & Up
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The Silbervogel (German for "silver bird") was a liquid-propellant rocket-powered suborbital bomber project, produced by Eugen Senger and Irene Bredt in the late 1930s for the Third Reich/Nazi Germany. It is also known as RaBo (Raketenbomber - "rocket bomber"). It was one of a number of designs being considered for the "America" bomber mission, which began in the spring of 1942 and focused exclusively on transatlantic range piston-engined strategic bombers, such as the Messerschmitt Me 264 and Junkers Ju 390. , the only two airframe types built and competed. When Walter Dornberger attempted to generate interest in military spaceplanes in the United States after World War II, he chose the more diplomatic term antipodal bomber.
The design was significant as it incorporated new rocket technology and the lifting body principle, foreshadowing the future development of winged spacecraft such as the X-20 Dyna-Soar of the 1960s and the Space Shuttle of the 1970s. Ultimately, it was deemed too complex and expensive to manufacture. The design never went beyond layout testing.
The Silbervogel was intended to fly long distances in a series of short jumps. The aircraft was to begin its mission by advancing along a 3 km (2 mi) long railroad track on a large rocket-powered skid to a speed of about 1,930 km/h (1,200 mph). Once airborne, it would fire its own rocket engine and continue its climb to 145 km (90 mi), after which it would travel at around 21,800 km/h (13,500 mph). It would then gradually descend into the stratosphere, where the increasing air density would create lift against the plane's flat underside, eventually causing it to "bounce" and climb again, where this pattern would repeat itself. Due to aerodynamic drag, each bounce would be shallower than the last, but it was still calculated that the Silbervogel would be able to cross the Atlantic, deliver a 4,000-kilogram (8,800 lb) bomb to the continental United States, and then continue its flight to landing sites. location somewhere in the Empire of Japan - Pacific Ocean, total distance 19,000 to 24,000 km (12,000 to 15,000 miles).
The design was significant as it incorporated new rocket technology and the lifting body principle, foreshadowing the future development of winged spacecraft such as the X-20 Dyna-Soar of the 1960s and the Space Shuttle of the 1970s. Ultimately, it was deemed too complex and expensive to manufacture. The design never went beyond layout testing.
The Silbervogel was intended to fly long distances in a series of short jumps. The aircraft was to begin its mission by advancing along a 3 km (2 mi) long railroad track on a large rocket-powered skid to a speed of about 1,930 km/h (1,200 mph). Once airborne, it would fire its own rocket engine and continue its climb to 145 km (90 mi), after which it would travel at around 21,800 km/h (13,500 mph). It would then gradually descend into the stratosphere, where the increasing air density would create lift against the plane's flat underside, eventually causing it to "bounce" and climb again, where this pattern would repeat itself. Due to aerodynamic drag, each bounce would be shallower than the last, but it was still calculated that the Silbervogel would be able to cross the Atlantic, deliver a 4,000-kilogram (8,800 lb) bomb to the continental United States, and then continue its flight to landing sites. location somewhere in the Empire of Japan - Pacific Ocean, total distance 19,000 to 24,000 km (12,000 to 15,000 miles).
