In the documentary Secrets of War, one of the talking heads claims the shape was based on the aerodynamic design of the german 7.92mm bullet with vanes added



On Wednesday, 14 May 1997 08:00:00 UTC+1, Mike Evert wrote:
I was wondering about the tapered cigar-like shape
of the V2 rocket. It seems also that such a shape
was prominent in 1950's or earlier illustrations of
rockets.

Was the V2 the only real rocket to be actually built
with such a shape? It seems that all rockets since
then are all straight cylinders (or combinations of
straight cylinders).

I bet the V2 shape is probably harder to manufacture
than the cylinder shape. But I'm sure the designers
of the V2 must have had reasons for such a shape.
What were they and why don't they apply today?

Thanks,

Mike
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