De Havilland Rocket Engines: Part 1 - The Special Projects Group and the Origins of the Sprite Rocket Engine

摘要

During the Second World War none of the allies made any serious effort to investigate advanced rocket technology. Although a reaction engine, in the form of the jet engine, was developed in the UK, this could not compare to the rocket engine's ability to fly at very high speeds well above the atmosphere. Generally speaking the UK's large aircraft industry felt no need to divert resources to such a revolutionary type of propulsion. They relied instead on those engineering improvements which had obvious and achievable advantages. This approach, coupled with massive production, was seen as the best way forward. Another obstacle to rocket research in Britain was the 'scientific establishment' perhaps best personified by Lord Cherwell, Churchill's scientific adviser. Cherwell refused to accept, in spite of irrefutable evidence that a large rocket did exist. He held tenaciously to the view that the large amount of fuel necessary to propel a rocket-powered missile from the Continent to south eastern England would make the whole scheme unfeasible.