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A schematic drawing of the Askania rudder servo ‘Rudermaschine LRM 3’showing the critical compact dimentions of the device making it ideal for retro fit projects for smaller aircraft.

Photo shows cast aluminium thrust ring with electro-hydraulic servos in position. Note different crank lever shapes (pale green arm on servo) for fins 1/3 and 2/4 This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Photo shows a unique display at the Horst Beck Collection (HBC). Over many years Mr Horst Beck has painstakingly acquired and restored many A4-V2 missile parts – and in some cases, reassembled them into complete sub-assemblies. Shown here is part of the collection’s hydraulic servos and trim motor parts display. In the foreground we see four hydraulic servos, and behind them their A frame mounting ‘chairs’. The top shelf, from left to right, shows a servo with motor removed (and placed on its right). In the middle, two trim motors and chain sprocket gear-boxes for the aerodynamic trim surfaces on the trailing edge tips of fins 2 and 4. Next the pale green crank levers, the first longer one is for the hydraulic servo that controls the jet vanes and trimmers on fins 1 and 3. The shorter version minus the top horn, is used on the servos for fins 2 and 4. The last, silver coloured item,os a servo stabiliser (all the servos shown have one already fitted). Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Wreckage of hydraulic servo from fin 2 or 4 of V2 missile that fell on a farm in Essex in March 1945. The motor has been removed and we can see details of the oil gear pump and valve control gear. The 3 position electromagnetic relay switch is visible at the 7 to 8 o’clock position within the open aperture. The push rod that connects the relay to the gear pump valves is also visible as a short brown coloured rod with a fine wire connector at each end, running in towards the gear-valves from the 9 o’clock position. The point that provides electrical current for the motor (which runs all the time and in one direction only) can be seen at the three o’clock position. The black housing has two sets of brass tongues that receive the matching brass spades mounted on the base of the motor for power input. The motor drive shaft has a female square socket coupling to connect the motor to the middle drive gear of the gear pump. A small portion of the square drive shaft of the central gear can just be seen in the photo – in the centre of the valve control block.

Hydraulic servo from fin 1 or 3 of the V2 missile, collected with other debris following a combat impact.

This collection of parts were all found in vicinity of the Nordhausen manufacturing facility. parts include servo crankcase caps -top left, electro-magnetic switch installation plate – middle top, crank bearing covers – top right, gear pump blocks with base – centre, and crank-shaft, piston rod, and hydraulic piston – btm left. The deep recess on the piston circumference is for a rubber seal and is an interesting variation in ring seal design (at least 4 variations of piston design were employed, with three designs flown on combat missiles). A valve tilt seat is visible a little to the right of the piston. A broken servo mount stabiliser is shown – middle right. The cast piston rod, top right, has not been drilled and milled – the part is ‘raw’ as supplied by the manufacturer before machining has been completed. Normally the manufacturer’s details are machined off the metalwork – but not in this rare case. The three letter code gfa is clearly visible on the part and stands for the firm of Otto Fuchs Metallwerke.

Two Askania (designed) hydraulic gear pumps – the examples shown here have two ceramic insulators with with Nichrome wire type heating elements. The heaters are located at each end of the pump on the long axis. The pump on the right still has its power supply wires attached and was easily repaired and restored to full function in our workshop.This type of pump (with heaters) seem to be rare among the debris of European combat impact sites but fairly common in debris collections emanating from research flights in Peenemünde and parts of Poland. An explanation maybe that the oil could be warmed up sufficiently simply by starting all four hydraulic gear pumps sooner in the pre-launch sequence. The only downside being that the already noisey missile would be making yet more noise in the risky period leading up to launch.

Close-up of Askania gear pump relic with oil heaters. This picture shows an unusual feature on the otherwise normal cast aluminium base of this gear pump. The knurled knob positioned between the oil flow balance adjusters has a purpose that is unknown to us. The two oil-flow balance adjuster valves visible in the picture have slot head adjuster screws and you can also see the knurled circumference on each screw. This parallel knurling is engaged by a crease formed in the facing surface of the copper spring strips. The function of these strips is to create tactile feedback that the technician making the adjustment can feel in the handle of the screwdriver. This was done because the gear pump needed to be adjusted in a dark and narrowly confined space.

Gear pump showing flow adjusters (two slot head screws nearest bottom of picture) and ceramic heater elements situated at each end of the block. The square drive shaft coupler (corroded but still identifiable) has been highlighted in red paint. The open holes either side are the main control valve guides. The copper spring strips visible on each oil flow adjuster provide locking and tactile feed-back for the adjusting process. This relic was recovered from Usedom island.

Hydraulic gear pump with close up detail showing ceramic heater element insulators with flat, possibly nichome, metal strip element threaded through them. This oil heating system was designed to maintain a specific viscosity of the oil regardless of environmental temperature, to better maintain oil flow rates and thus pump efficiency. The heating system is found only rarely on surviving relics.

Photo shows a flown graphite jet vane complete with mounting plate and fasteners as well as pre-flight centre index tip. V2 relic from the Horst Beck Collection (HBC). Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

V2 missile graphite jet vane defector replica made for V2 Rocket History.

V2 missile graphite jet vane defector replica made for V2 Rocket History. This accurate replica shows the distinctive pantograph mill tool ‘witness’ marks well.

Photo shows four restored graphite jet vane support blocks and bearing housings. The round plates we can see here act as heat sinks and allow heat to radiate away from the support block and bearing to help prevent expansion due to relatively rapid and uneven temperature distribution accumulation. The graphite vanes were quite brittle and cracking caused by rapid and uneven expansion could cause the vane to disintegrate. The area around the graphite vanes was exposed to the accumulation of heat not merely as a result of duration of the motor burn time but temperature was also increased at higher rates as the jet plume expanded with the decreasing atmospheric pressure as the missile gained altitude. This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Photo shows restored air-rudder and fin detail. The grey painted barrel-strainers are both adjusted independently to reduce slack in the drive chain and avoid introducing a deflection bias in the air rudder. The 1.9kg counterbalance weight normally located at the top of the trim fin (or air rudder) is missing in this presentation. This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Photo shows partially restored air-rudder and fin detail. The image on the left shows the relationship of the trim motor to the air rudder drive shaft on fins 2 and 4. A chain similar in gauge to the type used on a push-bike and yet, at the other end of the shaft, the chain transmitting the torque of the trim motor to the air-rudder drive sprocket has a heavy gauge chain similar to that found on a 1000CC motor-cycle! This excellent restoration is the work of Horst Beck. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Ernst Steinhoff, chief of the BSM workshop (Guidance and Control) in the development works Peenemunde.

Original mpe 1944 drawing number 3207 C of main fuel valave. (mpe = Heimat-Artillerie-Park Karlshagen, Werk Nord Peenemünde).

Relic of main alcohol valve with manufacturer code aeq (aeq = Bartoc & Co., Maschinenfabrik u. Giesserei Hedwikow,bei Caslau (Caslav) Czech Republic). An air (nitrogen) inlet pressure of 440 to 530 psi (30 to 36 Bar) was required to close this valve against its internal spring and the force of the turbo-pump. The large nut at the top is the connection for the fuel return (or ‘revolving’line) pipe, and the air and electrical input ports can be seen to the right (air), and left (elec.) just below this point. V2RH image

Relic of main alcohol valve showing seat flange and fibre sealing washer. the ten fuel pass-through holes can be seen on the central core of the valve. V2RH image

Relic of main alcohol valve with manufacturer code aeq (aeq = Bartoc & Co., Maschinenfabrik u. Giesserei Hedwikow,bei Caslau (Caslav) Czech Republic). An air (nitrogen) inlet pressure of 440 to 530 psi (30 to 36 Bar) was required to close this valve against its internal spring and the force of the turbo-pump. The large nut to the right is the connection for the return (or ‘revolving’line) pipe. The valve is shown in the closed position. V2RH image

The chart shows water delivery in litres per minute per injector

HAP11 drawing of standard 3304D fuel injector screw insert. showing details of primary swirl cavity and orrifice and all additional apertures including the four small cooling pores. HAP11 (Heimat-Artillerie-Park 11, AKA armament code: mpe), drawing number 4554D, Deutsches Museum München

HVP drawing no 1203D showing burner cup ‘diffuser system’ disposition for 19-pot head (at this stage the 25 ton thrust injector head had nineteen so called ‘pre-chambers’ or pots as no central fuel valve was present). HVP drawing dated 1939.

Drawing from the Army Experimental Station Peenemünde dated 1939. The specification describes an insert template that could be used for a range of outlet and inlet orifice sizes. The German text beginning (eingedrehte …) translates as ‘Center-line of screw used for holes to be drilled later’, and the hole dimensions are not specified on this document. HVP drawing number 1113 E, Deutsches Museum München

Diagram showing cut-away presentations of the settled configuration of standard four ‘swirl’ inserts used in the V2 rocket engine’s 18-pot head from 1943 until the end of the war. The inserts are shown with their drawing code identification. All of the insert types used in the injector head are shown, however there were additional screw-in type fuel supply inserts, used to provide a fuel cooling balance function, located radially in the lower part of the combustion cavity.

Single nozzle insert test rig used by V2 Rocket History to test spray shape and volume at fluid supply pressures consistent with fuel pressures specified for the injector head of summer 1944. A 2131E fuel injector insert is installed in the holder at the front of the test rig, but as the thread was the same on all inserts the nozzle can be changed for other models easily with aid of a pin spanner. See video for a demonstration of this simple test system.

Single nozzle insert test rig used by V2 Rocket History to test spray shape and volume at supply pressures consistent with fuel pressures specified for the injector head of summer 1944. The test system features an adjustable pressure regulator and fluid pressure gauge. For test purposes the device was simply connected to a relatively high pressure mains water supply. And although water does not have the same viscosity of the 75% Ethenol to 25% water mix of the V2’s fuel it was considered close enough by the German technicians, who regularly used plain water as a substitute when testing issues related to furl flow rather than combustion. A 2131E fuel injector insert is shown installed in the holder at the front of the rig, but as the thread was the same on all inserts the nozzle can be changed for other models easily with aid of a pin spanner. See video for a demonstration of this simple test system.

Sectioned general assembly view of the V2 turbo-pump (TP) dated September 1942. This image has been edited to show TP and document data closer together than the original.

Relics of the A4 25-ton 1941 aluminium injector head. See other photos in this series for more detail. Photo courtesy Horst Beck Collection

Part of the ‘Standard’ series A aluminium head from 1941 to early 1942. Showing the position of standard type LOX injector. The brass fuel injector inserts type and position pattern on the relic seem to be of the standard type with the row of 3 inlet aperture type inserts positioned furthest from the LOX injector. Photo courtesy Horst Beck Collection

Injector head relic from February 1945 showing injector insert type and pattern. Photo www.v2rockethistory.com

This photo shows a presentation of important vales from the A4-V2 missile. From the left: Main alcohol/B stoff valve (from the centre of injector head. Alcohol tank valve. Main LOX valve (with sub valve). Alcohol (B stoff) tank pressuring valve. Image courtesy Horst Beck Collection

Photo shows main valves. Photo copyright: The Horst Beck Collection

Trade literature advert for the Preschona company (Adolf Meyer) in Berlin, Germany. The company was a supply contractor and (among other items) manufactured the non-return valve for the steam turbine exhaust heat exchanger, employed to volatilise a small portion of liquid oxygen (LOX) to pressurise the LOX tank to maintain critical flow volume to the LOX turbo-pump.