[Smaragdadler]

Very first vertical launch of a human being in a rocket

...on 01 May 1945, Lothar Sieber got ready for the first
manned rocket flight in history.
Airman Sieber, he had been degraded from first lieutenant
to first airman because of an offense, lost his life during this
test flight. In an altitude of 1,5 kilometers the canopy opened
and the rocket plane crashed. After the accident, Lothar Sie-
bert posthumously regained the rank of a first lieutenant.


http://www.luftwaffe.de/portal/PA_1_...itory=youatweb

... A normal flight should have been like this:

Vertical launch, powered with a HWK 109-509 liquid fuel rocked engine, and 4 solid fuel booster rockets. The boosters would quit after about 10 seconds, at an altitude of 3500 Ft. During launch the controls would be fixed, shortly after launch the plane radio control from a ground base would take over(!). With only the HWK rocked engine left running the aircraft would climb to an altitude of about 30.000-40,000 Ft in less then a minute. Still by radio control, the plane would be directed to the enemy bomber stream. Only then the pilot would take over control, aim the entire aircraft at a bomber, and launch one salvo of 24 or 32 small rockets from the nose of the aircraft. After this one shot, he was to unfasten his seatbelt, disconnect the stick and unlock the front section. Next, a parachute at the back of the plane was deployed. This would slow down the tail of the plane, thus casting off the entire front; nose, windows, instrument panel rudder controls, all gone. The pilot would naturally fall out of his chair as well, after which he was free to use a parachute for a safe landing. The tail of the plane, with the rocked engine, would land by the first parachute, to be used again. Somewhere on the web I found the instruction: aim, shoot, unlock front, pull lever, fill pants, use parachute. Sounds about right to me.

In a way, the Natter can be looked upon as the first manned rocket. The combination of liquid and solid fuel rocket engines is seen in the space shuttle today. As for the ‘mad scientist’, after the war and some denazification, he made a name as designer of tiny caravans made from plywood. To boldly go where…

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/a...kusters349.htm

http://www.librarything.com/work/1009994