Chasing the Demon: A Secret History of the Quest for the Sound Barrier, and the Band of American Aces Who Conquered It

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It looked like a crucified man.

Stark and lonely, the little aircraft hung in the chill morning air of March 1, 1945, pointed skyward on a seventy-nine-foot latticed launcher. Its stubby wings, nearly twelve feet across, gave a peculiar, truncated appearance compared to the graceful lines of its propeller-driven cousins. Even here in the Heuberg Military Training Area, where strange sights were normal, it was an odd craft.

Called a Natter, it did, in fact, resemble the viper from which it took its name, down to the two dozen nose-mounted Hs-217 missiles that gave it a lethal bite. Arranged in a bienenwabe, or honeycomb, even one of the 73 mm projectiles could bring down an American heavy bomber, and this was the Natter’s sole purpose. By 1945 German air defense fighter units were losing almost as many aircraft per month as they were supplied and far, far too many pilots who could not be replaced. It was an unsustainable situation.

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