A large, near-intact graphite steering vane from a German V-2 (A4) rocket, circa 1942-1945, measuring 16.5″ x 11.5″x 3.75″, with twelve mounting holes on the bottom. Famously developed by Wernher von Braun and his team, the V-2 was the world's first functional large-scale liquid-propellant rocket. As rocket engines were not yet able to gimbal, these vanes were mounted in the combustion chamber of the V-2 to deflect the plume and control the flight path. Although V-2 rocket vane fragments recovered from the Peenemünde testing site are not uncommon, it is unusual to find such a complete example.
