first ever 2 stage rocket

anyone who watches mythbusters will know about this.
one where they try to bust the myth where the confedirates were the first ever to build a 2 stage rocket where it could fly over 100miles

mythbusters



^that isnt the rocket in question just one of the few that they built to see how they worked

anyone think that was plausable in that time period
to create and launch a weapon that far
with most having decent accuarcy (spital tails and so on)

[edit on 15-4-2006 by bodrul]

Originally posted by bodrul

anyone think that was plausable in that time period
to create and launch a weapon that far
with most having decent accuarcy (spital tails and so on)

NO - the first question i was when a question like this comes up are

1 - why didnt they use it ???

2 - why is there zero credible documentation to back up the claim

3 - where are the building block technologies to get to the 100 mile rocket ? - all other victorian artillery rockets were 500 to 2000m range - so 100miles is a quantum leap why would logically spawn 5 mile , 10 mile , 20 mile and 50 mile rockets on the road to the holy grail of a 100 mile rocket

fin , spin and other rudimenatry stabilising systems were tecgnicaly posible

the brittish congreaves rocket was " quite " accurate - but the accuravy was only good enough to target the " box " formations of a intantry company [ 100 to 150 men ] @ ranges of about 1000 yards


a 100mile rocket needs ACTIVE course corrections - ie gyro stabilisation - just a 0.5 degree deviation from the launch path would miss a medium sized city at 100 miles range .


and sych precision was not achieved till WWII - the tech simply did not exist in ACW america


[edit on 15-4-2006 by ignorant_ape]

Originally posted by ignorant_ape

Originally posted by bodrul

anyone think that was plausable in that time period
to create and launch a weapon that far
with most having decent accuarcy (spital tails and so on)

NO - the first question i was when a question like this comes up are

1 - why didnt they use it ???

2 - why is there zero credible documentation to back up the claim

3 - where are the building block technologies to get to the 100 mile rocket ? - all other victorian artillery rockets were 500 to 2000m range - so 100miles is a quantum leap why would logically spawn 5 mile , 10 mile , 20 mile and 50 mile rockets on the road to the holy grail of a 100 mile rocket

fin , spin and other rudimenatry stabilising systems were tecgnicaly posible

the brittish congreaves rocket was " quite " accurate - but the accuravy was only good enough to target the " box " formations of a intantry company [ 100 to 150 men ] @ ranges of about 1000 yards


a 100mile rocket needs ACTIVE course corrections - ie gyro stabilisation - just a 0.5 degree deviation from the launch path would miss a medium sized city at 100 miles range .


and sych precision was not achieved till WWII - the tech simply did not exist in ACW america


[edit on 15-4-2006 by ignorant_ape]

Exactly! Most people don't realise that the Nazi WunderWeapons had gyros to allow some kind of long range aiming and alot more accurate maps to use than back then. Infact I gather the later V-2 had radio guidance sensors in the fins that allowed a radio controled course adjustments during the initial boost phase to 'correct' launch errors. That apparently cut the CEP from 17km to around 5-6km....which was pretty darn good for a 250km range missile in the early 1940s technology.

[edit on 16-4-2006 by psteel]