Image: Bird-shaped rocket bomb of China 2

Description: Model of the complete winged rocket-bomb (photo. Nat. Historical Military Museum, Peking). A winged rocket-bomb, the "flying crow with magic fire" (shen huo fei ya) from Huolongjing, from at least as early as 1350 AD, probably a century earlier. The idea was doubtless derived from the use of expendable birds carrying glowing tinder wherewith to set on fire the roofs of the enemy city. But the provision of wings or fins for increasing aerodynamic stability long preceded anything of the same kind elsewhere in the world. And the provision of an explosive payload was also a new development. For another image showing structure see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bird-shaped_rocket_bomb_of_China_1.jpg
Title: Bird-shaped rocket bomb of China 2
Credit: https://archive.org/details/science-and-civilisation-in-china-volume-5-chemistry-and-chemical-technology-par/page/n269/mode/2up
Author: Joseph Needham
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes