Editing Test Stand VII (section)

===Test tower===
The prominent tower within the arena was a mobile test frame/crane (''Fahrbare Kranbühne'')<ref name=Klee/> which could be moved over the flame pit to position the rocket nozzle 25 feet above the deflector, and which allowed an entire missile to be gimbaled in two directions up to five degrees from vertical. The tower included an elevator and a German-made [[Mettler Toledo|Toledo scale]] for thrust measurements. Actual launches were from a steel table-like structure (firing stand, ''Brennstand'') across the railway from the flame pit on the test stand's large concrete foundation. Under the concrete foundation were the recorder room, a small shop, an office, compressed nitrogen storage cylinders, and catch tanks. The arena also included an engine cold-calibration pad for conducting flow test measurements by pumping water (instead of [[Liquid oxygen]]) and [[List of Stoffs|alcohol]] (which was recovered afterward) via the turbopump through the combustion chamber. Since the V-2 motor had no controller for the turbopump, cold-calibration allowed the determination of "freak cases" of equipment.<ref name=Dornberger/><ref name=Huzel/>
{{Quote box |width=25em |align=left |bgcolor=#B0C4DE
|title=Launch Failure Description
|quote=The heavy missile ... rose only 15 feet above the firing table. Then it stood still! It stood upright in the air, showing no desire to turn over or to revolve about its longitudinal axis. It was an unbelievable sight. At any moment the rocket would topple or fall back, crash and explode. ... But I still kept my binoculars on the rocket. ... There must have been an interruption in the output of the steam generator for the propellant-pump turbine. ... The film operator, Kühn, had taken up position facing me on the [elliptical] wall of the test stand. He must have had good nerves. The rocket hung in the air just 100 yards away.[from Kühn] Nothing daunted, ... He certainly knew from experience that the moment the projectile fell back he would be in mortal danger. He just went on cranking. ... Our exhaust vanes were doing a wonderful job. The rocket stood unsupported in the air, as straight as a ramrod. Only 4 seconds had passed, ... The rocket was bound to topple now. The tilt [for trajectory control] would now begin automatically. ... The rocket grew lighter owing to the steady fuel consumption. Almost imperceptibly, yard by yard, it began to climb. Its nose turned very gradually eastward. ... At a height of 30 to 40 feet it moved slowly, still practically upright, toward the cameraman. He went on cranking. I caught my breath. Just a little more tilt and the rocket would certainly capsize and explode ... Now it was over the wall. Kühn knelt down and pointed his camera almost straight upward. It was going to be some film! ... I knew what was bound to come. ... I saw him get up slowly, still cranking. His camera was now practically horizontal. Then he pointed it diagonally down from the high wall. Boom! ... Smoke, flames, fragments of sheet-metal, branches, and sand whirled through the air. The rocket had crashed ... 40 yards beyond the wall ... The cameraman was still cranking. ... I was filled with an immense pride. ... only with men like this, could we finish the job that lay before us.
|salign=left
|source=[[Walter Dornberger]], {{circa|1943}}
}}