rotate freely as the saucer moved forward as in an autogyrocopter. In all probability, the wing-blades speed, and so
their lifting value, could also be increased by directing the
adjustable horizontal jets slightly upwards to engage the blades,
thus spinning them faster at the digression of the pilot.
Rapid horizontal flight was possible with these jet or rocket
engines. Probable candidates were the Junkers Jumo 004 jet
engines such as were used on the famous German jet fighter, the
Messerschmitt 262. A possible substitute would have been the
somewhat less powerful BMW 003 engines. The rocket engine would
have been the Walter HWK109 which powered the Messerschmitt 163
rocket interceptor (14). If all had been plentiful, the Junkers
Jumo 004 probably would have been the first choice. Epp reports
Jumo 211/b engines were used (15). Klaas reports the Argus pulse
jet (Schmidt-duct), used on the V-l, was also considered (16).
All of these types of engines were difficult to obtain at the
time because they were needed for high priority fighters and
bombers, the V-l and the rocket interceptor aircraft.
Joseph Andreas Epp reports in his book Die Realitaet der
Flugscheiben (The Reality of the Flying Discs) that an official
test flight occurred in February of 1945. Epp managed to take
two still pictures of the saucer in flight which appear in his
book and are reproduced here. There is some confusion about the
date of these pictures. In the video film "UFOs Secrets of the
3rd Reich", Epp states these pictures were taken in the Fall of
1944. In his book the date is given as the official date of
February 14, 1945. In personal correspondence to me of December,
30, 1991, he indicated the date of the pictures as August, 1944.
In that correspondence he further revealed that the official
flight had been February 14, 1945 but an earlier lift-off had
taken place in August of 1944. The pictures show a small disclike object in the distance at some altitude posed above a
landscape. The saucer is at too great a distance and altitude to
show any mechanical detail. As Klaus-Peter Rothkugel points out,
the foliage on the trees indicates the August date as being the
most accurate.
Very high performance flight characteristics are attributed to
this design. Georg Klein says it climbed to 12,400 meters (over
37,000 feet) in three minutes (17) and attaining a speed around
that of the sound barrier (18). Epp says that it achieved a
speed of Mach 1 (about 1200 kilometers per hour or about 750
miles per hour) (19). From his discussion, it appears that Epp
is describing the unofficial lift-off in August, 1944 at this
point. He goes on to say that on the next night, the sound
barrier was broken in manned flight but that the pilot was
frightened by the vibrations encountered at that time (20). On
the official test flight, Epp reports a top speed of 2200
kilometers per hour (21). Lusar reports a top speed of 2000
kilometers per hour (22). Many other writers cite the same or
similar top speed. There is no doubt of two facts. The first is
that these are supersonic speeds which are being discussed.
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