Doug Connell Doug Connell

Gyro parts from Nordhausen

Well things have been pretty slow with the relic collection game for the last year but I am excited to say that these items are the newest addition to the collection. I try to make my best guess when I first see V1 parts and then love digging in and trying to find out where they actually belong on the flying bomb. Originally I though these were a part of the fuzing system but after some research I found that they are part of the main gyro and go along quite nice with other elements I already have in the collection. My plan is to group these compass pieces together for a nice family photo. In addition I am still in the process of photographing each of the individual items in my collection along with my trench art and books. If you have any questions or want to share any insight feel free. Thanks for checking things out.

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Doug Connell Doug Connell

IWM V1

I just found about these guys on the IWM website tonight. Checked out their video - lo and behold they begin with the most famous V1   https://youtu.be/nXq__jhgXw8

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Doug Connell Doug Connell

New flown part arrived safe and sound

Altitude adjustment knob

Well it's finally arrived, a V1 part from England. According to the man that I bought it from, the part was found by a young boy during the war who was scavenging for war trophies. That was a pretty common thing during the war and it must've been very exciting for young children to see these things fall from the sky and then go investigate. This particular relic is part of the hand dial adjustment for setting the altitude of the V1. I'd like to think that it might've been one of the last things that was adjusted on the robot bomb before it was launched. From what I understand the V1 was constructed to operate at an altitude of 5,000 to 10,000 feet but would often fly at under 2500 feet. Most of the parts that I have collected are from storage facilities or the underground workshop, Nordhausen. I have very few items that were actually flown over the channel that were recovered after a crash. It's great to have a provenience with this particular piece and know that it flew across the channel. 

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Doug Connell Doug Connell

New addition - V1 Rudder

Recently I was able to add a V1 rudder to relic collection. Still doing a little research on this particular piece and the cool thing is that it came from just across the Wisconsin border. There is a bit of the original paint and even a stencil which says "do not touch". One side of the rudder looks like it might have been laying on that side for some time as the paint has been eaten away. I also noticed that there is a weird crumpling of the thin skin around the spars and I hoping that is an indication that it might have flown to its destination and the damage was created by its actual flight. I hope to learn more about its possible origin when I identify the original owner. This will provide for a nice update to this post if he can be identified.

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Doug Connell Doug Connell

V1 cake

I did in fact actually receive a cake with a picture of a V1 and it tasted pretty good.

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