Since the invention of rockets by the Chinese eight hundred years ago, military men the world over have been keen to acquire the destructive power of the black powder. But there is one big problem which mystify them for centuries. How on earth do you get them to fly straight ??
One early modification to improve accuracy was the addition of a long stick, and the length of the stick really does effect how straight our rocket flies.
To be honest, the real art of getting rocket to fly straight in true is making it spin. The gyroscopic effect makes the flight much more stable.
During the 20th century, the science of rocketry really take off, and military rockets stop being overgrowing fireworks and became rockets of mass destruction. The most famous of all is the V2, its guiding system wasn't perfect but the speed it traveled at was astonishing. At that time when a spitfire fighter plane flew at 600 km/h, the V-2 could do 6000 km/h carrying a ton of high explosives to target hundreds of kilometers away.
At the end of the second world war there was a race between Russian and Americans to capture the German scientists who built the V-2. These German scientists eventually made a variable contributions to the space programs of both nations, and helped to develop some of the most extraordinary rockets the world has ever seen.
On today's modern battle fields, rocket weaponry is comment place, but rockets can be used to save lives too !!
If your plane is going down and you need to get out fast, the best way to do that is with a rocket bounded ejector seat. The reason why ejected seat is needed is because of wind pressure, even at relatively slow speeds the wind pressure makes it very difficult to jump clear of the aircraft.
In an emergency when the plane is speeding toward the ground it will be even harder, and at super sonic speeds it will be impossible, which is why modern fighter pilots rely on rockets to make sharp exit. ;) ;)
