Test Stand VII

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Test Stand VII (German: Prfstand VII, P-7) was the principal V-2 rocket testing facility at the Peenemnde Army Research Center and was capable of static firing of rocket motors up to 200 tons thrust. Notable events at the site include the first successful V-2 launch on October 3, 1942, visits by German military leaders, and Allied reconnaissance overflights and bombing. Two distinguishing features of P-7 were the 670-yard-long elliptical high-sloped sand wall and the wide concrete-lined trench (flame pit) with a large symmetrical water-cooled flame deflector of molybdenum-steel pipes. The concrete trench, nearly 25 feet (7.6 m) wide with 3 feet (0.91 m) concrete walls, sloped gradually away from each side of the flame deflector to a depth of 20 feet (6.1 m), rising again symmetrically toward the side of the arena.