First manned missile

In 1944, during World War II when the German V1 missiles were found to be lacking accuracy, the German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight at Ainring designed and built a manned missile, the Fieseler Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg, which was based on the V1 rocket. The 8.5-m-long (28-ft) craft had a small cockpit so that it could be guided by a pilot to its target, and the idea was that the pilot would then bail out. Around 150 manned missiles were produced, but getting out of a missile at a speed of around 650 km/h (400 mph) would have been impossible without death or serious injury and the plan was abandoned. Recently one has been restored in Germany for display at the Lashenden Museum, Maidstone, Kent, UK.