May 8, 2008 11:46 AM by Frank de Leeuw van Weenen Filed Under: ClassicsOpel Page 1 / 2: Next Page
May 23 1928 was the day when Adam Opel's grandson, Fritz von Opel, set a speed record for rocket-propelled cars of approximately 238 km/h in his RAK 2. The RAK 2 went into the history books as a cigar shaped race car with a long plume of fire and smoke powered by 24 solid-fuel rockets packed with 120 kg of explosives.
The RAK 2 used Opel's 10/40 PS chassis and two enormous wings to keep the caar grounded during its record attempts. Power came from 24 rockets stuffed with 120 kg of explosives, enough to blow up an entire neighborhood and caused the 29 year old Fritz von Opel to have some “unsettling thoughts”.
“I stopped thinking. I was acting on instinct alone, with uncontrollable forces raging behind me,” von Opel gushed when he stepped from the car. Later that year he also attempted a speed record with the RAK 3, a rocket propelled car on rails but ended in a fire works display as the rockets exploded simultaneously.
In September 1929, 'Rocket' Fritz von Opel flies in the first rocket-propelled airplane, now known as jets. He flew at about 150 km/h some 25 meters above the ground for about 80 seconds. A video of the world's first jet can be viewed on page 2.
Rocket age began in May 1928 on Berlin’s AVUS racetrack
Von Opel successfully flies a rocket-propelled airplane a year later
Before the eyes of 3000 invited guests, the rocket age began May 23, 1928 at Berlin’s AVUS race track.
That was the day, with a long plume of fire and smoke burning behind his shiny black cigar-shaped race car outfitted with two massive wings to keep the machine grounded, Fritz von Opel set a speed record for rocket-propelled cars, hitting an estimated 238 km/h in his RAK 2.
Von Opel, grandson of Opel Motor Car Company founder Adam Opel, and his partners Friedrich Sander and Max Valier used 24 solid-fuel rockets packed with 120 kilograms of explosives to propel the RAK 2 forward. Each time von Opel pressed on the gas pedal he ignited two rockets increasing power until he reached full strength and his world record.
“I stopped thinking. I was acting on instinct alone, with uncontrollable forces raging behind me,” von Opel gushed when he stepped from the car.
The adrenalin still flowing, von Opel immediately announced his ultimate goal: He wanted to fly in a rocket-powered airplane. “Dream with us of the day in which the first space ship can fly around our earth faster than the sun,” von Opel urged the crowd.
A bit more than a year later, September 30, 1929, von Opel had a small taste of that dream when he became the first man to fly in a rocket-propelled plane.
