Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

The Messerschmitt Me 163 'Komet' was a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft used by Germany at the end of World War II. It was a small monoplane but twice as fast as the piston-engine aircraft as it was also very agile. It entered service with the Luftwaffe in February 1944 and it first saw combat action in July 1944. Its main mission was to intercept and attack the Allied bombers heading for major cities.

The Messerschmitt Me 163 project began in 1937, when Dr. Alexander Lippisch began to work on a design for a glider with rocket propulsion. A first all-wood prototype glider, the DSF 194, was finished in May 1940; although it did not have the engine yet, the following month, it performed its maiden flight on June 3, as a glider. Piloted by Heini Dittmar, it was towed off into the air by a Messerschmitt Bf 110. The all-metal prototype, the Me 163 V1 that had the factory letters KE+SW, performed its first flight, also as a glider, in March, 1941. On August 13, 1941, it made its first test flight with an engine as it was powered by a Walter Werke R-II-203b, which would soon be replaced by a R-II-211. It reached speeds of up to 885 km/h.

The first production version of this jet aircraft was the Messerschmitt Me 163B, which was fitted with a Walter Werke 109-509A rocket motor that burned T-Stoff (hydrogen peroxide) and C-Stoff (hydrazine hydrate, methyl alcohol and water). This early version was armed with a pair of 20mm guns. About 300 aircraft would be produced in the Me 163B, 163C, 163S, and 163D variants. The 163S was a trainer, while the others had improved engines. However, this rocket aircraft would not be as successful as other similar German combat plane of WW2, obtaining only nine victories, shooting down eight Allied bombers and one fighter.

Technical Characteristics

The Messerschmitt Me 163 was a single-seat, rocket-propelled monoplane. It had an all-metal fuselage and mid-mounted, cropped swept wing. It did not have landing gear but a disposable take-off pair of wheels that were jettisoned as soon the plane took off, which was relatively easy; landing was dangerous, because of the highly flammable fuel that powered its jet engine.

Specifications (Me 163B-1a)

Type: high-speed, rocket-powered interceptor

Length: 5.69 m (18 ft, 8 in)

Wingspan: 9.33 m (30 ft, 4 in)

Wing Area: 19.62 sq. m (211.2 sq. ft)

height: 2.76 m (9 ft)

Power Plant: one Walter 109-509A-2 rocket motor

Maximum Speed: 960 km/h (596 mph)

Range: 80 km

Below, the Messerschmitt Me 163A and 163B, pre-production and early production version respectively, parked in a military base in northern Germany in 1943.

An Allied-captured Me 163B-1a Komet at a RAF airbase in late 1945.