HW-2 Credit - © Mark Wade Media Gallery

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 aluminium-magnesium structure.

The HW-2 was so ambitious that it had to be fired over the sea, so Winkler moved launch operations to the Baltic. Plans to launch from Greifswalder Oie were frustrated by the opposition of local officials, so the launch had to be finally conducted from the coastal site of Pillau in East Prussia. Unfortunately the salt in the sea air corroded the alloys of the rocket, and after the extended series of ground tests and the search for a launch site, the large rocket exploded on its first launch attempt. Winkler abandoned further practical research after this.

Manufacturer: Winkler. Launches: 1. Failures: 1. Success Rate: 0.00%. First Launch Date: 1932-10-06. Last Launch Date: 1932-10-06. Core Diameter: 0.40 m (1.31 ft). Total Length: 1.90 m (6.20 ft).

1932 October 6 - Launch Vehicle: HW-2.

• HW-2 Nation: Germany. Apogee: 0.0030 km (0.0019 mi). Following an aborted attempt on 29 September, Winkler launches his HW-2 rocket from Pillau on the Baltic. He had worked for months at the Raketenflugplatz developing the new device. However on launch day an explosive propellant mix developed in the internal compartments of the rocket, and after igniting and rising only 3 m, it was blown to smithereens.References: 47.

• Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space 1915-1960, NASA, 1961. Accessed at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.

• Ley, Willy, Rockets Missiles and Men in Space, Viking Press, New York, 1968. ISBN: 0670602264. Willy Ley was one of the great science writers and promoters of spaceflight in the 1950's. This book covers basic concepts and the history of rocketry up to the early 1960's. More at amazon.com...