Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
HW-1
HW-1
HW-1
Credit: © Mark Wade
Johannes Winkler was a founding member and president of the VfR. On 14 March 1931, his HW-1 lifted off from a field outside of Dessau, Germany, becoming the first liquid fuel rocket in Europe to be successfully launched.

Status: Retired 1931. First Launch: 1931-02-21. Last Launch: 1931-03-14. Number: 2 . Gross mass: 5.00 kg (11.00 lb). Height: 0.60 m (1.96 ft).

Johannes Winkler was a founding member and president of the VfR. In 1929 Junkers hired him to study the use of JATO units for rocket-assisted aircraft takeoff. The skepticism he met there led him to realize he had to prove the reality of the liquid fuelled rocket engine. Following a year of development, his tiny HW-1 rocket lifted off from a field near Dessau on 14 March 1931, becoming the first liquid fuel rocket in Europe to be successfully launched. Winkler used the still-futuristic propellant combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane, based on a finding by rocket theoretician Hermann Oberth that this was the ultimate rocket propellant combination short of the perfection of the liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen rocket.



Subtopics

HW-2 German sounding rocket. Johannes Winkler followed up his experimental HW-1 by the much larger and ambitious HW-2, which had an aerodynamic teardrop-shaped outer shell and a very respectful fuel mass fraction of 72% using an aluminum-magnesium structure.

People: Winkler. Country: Germany. Bibliography: 17, 47.
Photo Gallery

WinklerWinkler


HW-1HW-1


HW-1BHW-1B



1931 February 21 - . Launch Site: Dessau. Launch Vehicle: HW-1.
1931 March 14 - . Launch Site: Dessau. Launch Vehicle: HW-1.
1932 October 6 - . Launch Site: Pillau. LV Family: HW-1. Launch Vehicle: HW-2.

Back to top of page
Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
© 1997-2019 Mark Wade - Contact
© / Conditions for Use