Orac
Re "When the guidance system determined that the missile was over its target, it locked the control surfaces, and popped out spoilers under the horizontal tailplane to put the bomb into a steep dive. Usually, though not always, this stalled the engine."
Why then did my mother (as a child) watch V1's when they heard them and
if the V1 engine coughed and spluttered when heading towards them,
they then ran like hell for the shelter ? But if it didn't cough and splutter,
then they didn't need to run as it still had fuel and would keep going.