20 Feb 1942

Russia
  • The experimental rocket engine for the BI-1 prototype aircraft exploded during a test in Bilimbay, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, spraying nitric acid fuel all over aircraft engineer Arvid Pallo; mechanics saved him from severe burns by quickly dumping him in a tank full of a sodium carbonate solution kept nearby for the very purpose of neutralizing the acid. Test pilot Grigory Bakhchivandzhi was slightly injured as the head of the rocket engine punched into the cockpit. ww2dbase [BI | Bilimbay, Sverdlovsk | CPC]

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Mousetrap Anti-Submarine rocket system being installed on United States Navy sub chaser SC-274 for testing, Key West, Florida, United States, 26 Sep 1942. Photo 2 of 7.

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