| Manufacturer: |
Blohm & Voss
|
Country of Origin: Germany
Dimensions:
Overall: 21ft x 15ft 9 13/16in. (640.08 x 482.19cm)
Materials:
doped fabric covering for wings
The Bv 246 Hagelkorn (Hailstone) was a German air-to-surface unpowered missile
of World War II. It was an experimental guided glide bomb released by a carrier aircraft, usually Heinkel He 111 or Junkers Ju 88, at a distant range. Stability was attained by a gyroscope, while guidance was to be by a radio beam transmitted from the parent aircraft. The high aspect ratio of the wings provided a very large 1:25 gliding angle which permitted a missile release as far as 210 km (130 miles) from the target, with a release altitude of 35,000 ft. The missile was never deployed.
This wing fabric was removed from the metal core, cement-covered wings of the Smithsonian's Hagelkorn during restoration. The missile and its wings was a gift of the U.S. Naval Supply Center, Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, Virginia.
Transferred from the U.S. Navy, Naval Supply Center, Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, Va.
