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Like the
Vortex Gun, the Wind Cannon was also developed by a factory in
Stuttgart during the war. It was a type of gun that would eject a jet
of compressed air against enemy aircraft. It was a strange device
consisted of a large angled barrel like a bent arm resting in an
immense cradle like some enormous broken pea-shooter lying askew. The
cannon worked by the ignition of critical mixtures of hydrogen and
oxygen in molecular proportions as near as possible. The powerful
explosion triggered off a rapidly-ejected projectile of compressed air
and water vapor, which, like a solid "shot" of air, was as effective
as a small shell. Experimental trials of the cannon at Hillersleben
demonstrated that a 25mm-thick wooden board could be broken at a
distance of 200m. Nitrogen peroxide was deployed in some of the
experiments so that the brown color would allow the path and
destination of the otherwise transparent projectile to be observed and
photographed. The tests proved that a powerful region of compressed
and high-velocity air could be deployed with sufficient force to
inflict some damage. However, the aerodynamics of a flying aircraft
would almost surely neutralized the effectiveness of this cannon. In
addition the effects of the cannon on a fast-flying aircraft was quite
different from that on a fixed ground target. Still, the cannon was
installed on a bridge over the Elbe, but with no significant results
-- either because there were no aircrafft or simply no successes (as
one might suspect). The wind cannon was an interesting experiment but
a practical failure. |
