Re Fiesler Fi 103:
Sorry! Remembered a couple of things wrong !(posts edited accordingly to avoid confusion)
Photocopied from a book on aircraft of the Luftwaffe (didn't record title):
Known alternatively as the FZG 76 (Flakzielgeraet: anti-aircraft aiming device 76) or Vergeltungswaffe Eins (Reprisal weapon I ), or more simply as the V 1 , the Fi 103 flying bomb was designed by Dipl–Ing Robert Lüsser of Fieseler, and had a Siemens guidance system.
It could be launched from a 50 m (152 ft ) inclined ramp by a Walter steam-driven catapult, or air-dropped from a carrier aircraft (usually an He 111). The weapons were launched against Britain (from 13 June 1944) and targets in Continental Europe, and more than 30,000 were manufactured by Henschel, Mittelwerke and Volkswagen factiories.
An Askanian gyroscope fed signals to the elevators and rudder to control attitude and direction, and the terminal dive was initiated when a pre-set distance had been flown.
Operational air launches were mostly made from He 111Hs of KG 3 (later KG 53); but whatever the launch method, about a quarter of the weapons failed in use and only about a quarter of the remainder got through Allied defences.
Even more of a desperation weapon was the 'Reichenberg' piloted series, of which there were four versions: the single-seat and two-seat unpowered Fi 103R-I and R-II, the single-seat powered R-III trainer and the proposed operational R-IV. About 175 were so converted, but none were used in combat.
The following info came from various sources, but mostly from 'Flugzeug Typen der Welt':
-The Fi 103R-I was used for ground testing;
-The Fi 103R-II was a two seat glider trainer (with extended wingspan and two seperate cockpits – one before, and one aft of the mainplanes) for novice pilots;
-The FI 103R-III was a two-seat powered trainer for more experienced pilots (note the clash with the above info, but seems more logical it should be a two seater);
-The R-IV was the operational version, which was a standard V 1 with single cockpit and canopy fitted, and improved flying controls.
-The 'R' designation came from the project name 'Reichenberg'
-The Fi 103R was not a 'suicide plane' - it was intended the pilot should line the aircraft up with the target, then bale-out and land by parachute.