The performance and track record of these engines is even more impressive when you realize that all of the design and modeling work was largely done by hand! T

The performance and track record of these engines is even more impressive when you realize that all of the design and modeling work was largely done by hand! This is perhaps apocryphal, but I briefly worked with a guy who’d worked on the F-1 engine, and he said they’d use surplus WW2 grenades to simulate distortions/aberrations in the combustion chamber.