Originally Posted by onehundred80
The first operational jet fighters in WW2 came from the UK, beating the Germans by a month.
A German guy I worked with in the 1960's was training as a pilot of rocket powered planes, he said he was relieved when the war ended, they took of at speed and glided back when the fuel was used up, with short wings they fell like bricks he said. You could not land with power as it was too fast, so you had to glide, as a glider pilot before the war the powers that be said he was what they wanted, he was about seventeen or eighteen at the time. With a lack of fuel he was lucky never to get in one. He past through the US lines coming west, a soldier saw him but told him to keep moving, he said he was grateful to that GI who could have shot him, he was still in uniform at the time.
Yes, those little rocket powered "fleas" were dangerous to fuel and to fly. Tank of deadly Carbon Tet was held between the pilots legs. Contact with even a small amount of the fuel was lethal.
I have some links somewhere about them on my dead computer at home. One of the pilots was a woman, can't recall her name.
roadster with a stick