Randy L Harvey reviews the book, First Manned Rocket Launch, Natter, The Luftwaffe’s Vertical Take-off Interceptor, from Pen & Sword Books by author Jean Paul Pallud.
It’s called the “Natter”.
“Grass Snake”, should have been “Nutter”, as one had to be certifiable to try to fly it. The Bachem Ba 349 was not a rocket, it was a rocket-launched glider like the Me 163 (and used the same rocket motor); the main difference being that it was vertically launched with a quartet of solid-fuel rocket boosters and rather than landing the pilot and motor were to be recovered by parachute. The system worked well with dummy pilots (all of whom survived) but when these were replaced with Lothar Sieber things went to hell. The launch cannot be regarded in any way as a success and failed in several ways including some boosters not detaching: bits of the pilot were laid to rest with full military honours.
Cheers,
M
must have been quite a fireworks display …