Armed with a German-English dictionary and Google Translate on my computer screen, I begin to translate.
However, I should perhaps offer a little more background on how I got to this point. I was led to the Wasserfall through a route that I'll bet is very common to those interested in WWII German technological advances; specifically those related to rocketry. I'm referring of course to the A-4 ("V-2") rocket. In reading just about everything I could get my hands on concerning the A-4 (and from a very young age), there are many incidental references to the Wasserfall missile, but they tend to be tantalizing snippets. Given the impact this missile might have had on the conduct of the war if it had commanded the time and resources afforded the A-4, it is definitely a candidate for focused study - but where to learn more?
Some of the topics I wanted to learn more about include:
(1) The mid-body fins. I know they were placed there in order to give the missile the enhanced maneuverability that would be needed during a short flight into the wings or fuselage of a B-17, but did these fins also have control surfaces, and, if not, why not? By the way, this mid-body fin configuration coupled with conventional fins at the rear of the missile is also found on the Nike anti-aircraft missile and I believe was the result of the influence of postwar German rocket scientists working with the U.S. government.
(2) The hypergolic fuel mixture and how the chemistry was chosen for this missile.
(3) The state of the guidance technology. This would have been the key to a successful implementation.
O.K., so after doing some research I learned that the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum archives department has a large collection of captured German technical documents related to the Wasserfall. Photocopies of the microfilms can be purchased for a reasonable price.
I thoroughly reviewed the abstracts for the 65 or so Wasserfall-related documents they offer and decided to begin with one entitled ""Die Aerodrynamische Entwicklung der Flakrakete 'Wasserfall'" (The Aerodynamic Development of the Anti-Aircraft Missile "Waterfall").
From the title I expect to be able to get some answers to topic 1 above, but for topics 2 and 3 I'll probably need to order some more documents. But one step at a time.
Tonight I translated the cover page and table of contents. It took me about an hour and a half. I started out using the dictionary frequently, but after awhile I started using the online "Google Translate" program because it is very easy to use and my eyes get tired quickly trying to read the dictionary's fine print.
I will say this: My training in German years ago gave me a great advantage over someone just translating words from the dictionary. All of the complex German sentence structures, the changed meanings of verbs whose helping hand prefixes appear at the END of the sentence (too late!), the crazy compound nouns, the dative and genitive case confusion, etc. - I'm not saying I'm GOOD at these after 30 some odd years, but let's just say I didn't have to start from scratch.
I don't intend to translate everything in this blog, just some of the more important and interesting parts. The table of contents meets this criteria and so I will reproduce it below:
Contents:
1) The nature of the task
2) The arrangement of the body and the tail unit
3) The development of the structure
4) The mutual location of wing and tail fins
5) Development of the air rudders
6) Measuring method and test results:
---> a) 3-component measurements
---> b) vibration measurements
---> c) zero torque measurements
---> d) pressure distribution measurements
---> e) spin and hinge moment measurements
7) The influence of the exhaust jet on the aerodynamic properties
8) The temperature of the [missile] surface in flight at supersonic speed
9) Bibliography, definitions, and terms
Juicy stuff, huh? I'll be diving into this in the weeks and perhaps months to come. Not sure how much I'll be able to accomplish during the Christmas holidays. On one hand, this might be the perfect time to settle in and get a lot of it done. On the other hand, with family get-togethers and basic revelry in progress - coupled with an out of town holiday trip - this might be the very worst time to do this. We'll see. No hurry.
