Inside Germany's Captured V-1 Launch Site | September 1944

The V-1 flying bomb, Germany's first operational cruise missile, used a piston launch system where a 400-pound piston was forced down a tube by compressed air to provide initial thrust, then self-jettisoned 400 yards from the ramp; the bomb was powered by a pulsejet engine burning synthetic gasoline and compressed oxygen, achieving speeds up to 400 mph with a 300-mile range, and was controlled by a gyro pilot system that maintained flight direction, altitude, and distance.