Tilt the airframe
The Mischgerät adds the tilt and how fast it changes, then steers the vanes the other way. The rate part stops the rocket swinging past straight.
How the analog computer steers
Drag to turn the test table. While the table holds the airframe the loop can't turn it back, so the vanes stay deflected. Press Let go and the vanes steer it straight. The sliders under "Attitude & control" and the pitch program move the same table.
Measuring speed with a gyro
- A gyro spins on a turntable. A small mass makes one end of it heavy (it is "pendulous").
- When the rocket accelerates, the mass lags behind and tries to tip the gyro: a torque of m·ℓ·a.
- A gyro does not tip. It turns sideways instead (precession), and a motor keeps the table turning with it at Ω = m·ℓ·a / H.
- So the turning speed follows the acceleration, and the number of turns follows the speed. A counter closes the cutoff contact at the set number of turns.
The gyro feels thrust and drag but not gravity, so the cutoff count was taken from firing tables. Model scale: 1 turn = 10 m/s.
When to shut the engine off
The rocket rises straight up for 4 s, then the pitch program tilts it toward the target. The gyros hold the angle; the I-Gerät adds up the acceleration and cuts the engine at the set speed. After that the warhead simply falls along a ballistic arc.
Simplified model: flat ground, simple air drag, standard V-2 mass and engine.
V-2 Engineering Lab · simplified teaching models, figures rounded