T I M E T R AV E L Rockets for travelling around the globe were not a common premonition. I mean, who wants to fly between continents when you can head between planets? Someone who thought it would be a good idea was Max Valier. An aeronautical engineer, he looked at simply adding rockets under the wings of conventional aeroplanes, such as the Junkers G-23 transport. He eventually designed a transatlantic rocket ship called the Opel RAK 1 with team mates Sander (a pyrotechnical engineer) and von Opel (known for his race cars). The design was based on the Dornier X and he estimated it could achieve Berlin to New York in less than an hour. The rocket would use less than 80 tonnes of starting force (to avoid a passenger-crushing level of acceleration). The rocket would climb on a flight path of 1:4 and, only once the fuel was consumed and weight decreased, would the rocket start to speed up to more than gravity. Valier calculated that it would only take about five minutes to acquire the maximum horizontal speed and altitude, covering around 400km in the process. Then there could be 4,900km of horizontal travel, followed by a 1,900km glide back down. Flown at a speed of 2,000m/ sec, this is about one hour six minutes, and would require 80 tonnes of fuel 34 tonnes would be used in the initial phase, 24 during the horizontal bit, and 22 for the glide. Why he needed to glide while it still had fuel onboard isnt clear. The rocket also had hammocks for Air Wonder Stories, Frank R Paul cover Wikipedia Commons Public Domain seats to account for the violent velocity changes. I am not sure whether to compare this with Virgin Galactic or Concorde, to be honest, but I can say it sounds horrible to fly on. Von Opel likened the Opel RAK 1 to a rearing race horse. It had varying flight success, but eventually crashed. Distance check? Stanley G Weinbaum also pictured transatlantic crossings in less than five hours. Concorde could, of course, do this, but Weinbaum did not predict a Concorde-esque aeroplane. Instead, he also favoured the rocketship in his 1935 book of short stories, The worlds of if. This rocket a glittering, silver-winged projectile had a friendly atmosphere, and a glassed-in observation room. Weinbaum was not correct. Passengers forced into a crowded intimacy from seven to 12 hours do not make friends with whoever is stuffed in close next to them. Looking forward We might have an idea of what the near future of aircraft design will look like, but who knows how that will progress over the coming centuries. Certainly faster, more efficient, and far more complex creatures will be filling the skies of the future, and each of us is part of that journey already. Everyday science and mechanics Berlin to New York in One Hour cover Wikimedia Commons Public Domain 38 THE LOG Sum 24 pp34-39 Time Travel.indd 38 13/06/2024 12:41