V- 1 Flying Bomb - Fieseler Fi 103 (Vergeltungswaffe)

The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as the V-1 and Buzz Bomb, (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1, ’retaliation weapon’), also colloquially known in Britain as the Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered example of what would later be called a cruise missile. In the autumn of 1936, while employed by the Argus Motoren company, Fritz Gosslau began work on the further development of remote controlled aircraft; Argus had already developed a remote-controlled surveillance aircraft, the AS 292 (military designation FZG 43). On 9 November 1939, a proposal for a remote controlled aircraft carrying a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) over a distance of 500 km (310 mi) was forwarded to the RLM (German Air Ministry). Argus joined together with Lorentz AG and Arado Flugzeugwerke to develop the project as a private venture, and in April 1940, Gosslau presented an improved study of Project “Fernfeuer“ to the RLM, as Project P 35 “Erfurt“. On 31 May, Rudolf Bree of the RLM commented that