Fabric, Bomb, Glide, Wing, BV 246 Hagelkorn

Doped fabric covering

The Bv 246 Hagelkorn (Hailstone) was a German air-to-surface unpowered missile

of World War II. It was an experimental guided glide bomb released by a carrier aircraft, usually Heinkel He 111 or Junkers Ju 88, at a distant range. Stability was attained by a gyroscope, while guidance was to be by a radio beam transmitted from the parent aircraft. The high aspect ratio of the wings provided a very large 1:25 gliding angle which permitted a missile release as far as 210 km (130 miles) from the target, with a release altitude of 35,000 ft. The missile was never deployed.

This wing fabric was removed from the metal core, cement-covered wings of the Smithsonian's Hagelkorn during restoration. The missile and its wings was a gift of the U.S. Naval Supply Center, Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, Virginia.