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Me 163 Rocket Fighter

The German Me 163, a rocket-powered defensive fighter, was one of the most unusual aircraft of World War II. Fortunately, its potential impact was minimized by technical problems and the small number produced.

The second and older type of jet engine developed at Messerschmittwas the rocket engine. The liquid rocket engine of Walter in the Me 163 led to the decisive breakthrough in high velocity flight. The aircraft was a creation of Dr. Alexander Lippisch, who had started at the Firm Messerschmitt AG on January 2, 1939, with a team of twenty workers. Out of his Nurflugel aircraft DFS 194, he was to develop a rocket propelled interception fighter using the experience of Messerschmitt in the construction of fast aircraft.

The Me 163 was the end result of a long line of tailless research aircraft designed by Dr. Alexander Lippisch. On February 13 1941, the first (of ten) Me 163 A gliders flew under Heini Dittmar. Very soon thereafter, with the support of Udet, mass production started with a version having an engine and weaponry. The planned rocket engines of BMW and H. Walter, Kiel, were still in development, therefore, an experimental engine of Walter, the HWK R II203 with a thrust of 750 kp was installed in the first 163-A air-frame (V4) and was tested in Peenemunde. Heini Dittmar exceeded the one thousand kilometer per hour limit with this aircraft for the first time on October 2, 1941, with a speed of 1,003 km/h.

The first Me 163A prototypes were tested in 1941, but powered flight testing of the more advanced Me 163B was delayed until August 1943 due to engine and fuel problems. Although the Komet's rocket engine gave it a exceptional climb rate, range was severely limited by its high fuel consumption. Furthermore, the fuels used were extremely hazardous and sometimes exploded without warning, killing a number of pilots.

Starting in September 1941, preparations were made for the mass produced craft Me 163B, an interception fighter aircraft. Seventy aircraft of the B series were built at Messerschmitt in Regensburg. The additional mass production was assigned to the Firm Klemm inBoblingen and starting on September 1, 1944, the entire program was given to the Firm Junkers. At the time of the termination request at the end of 1944, about 370 Me 163 had been produced and most of these had been equipped with the engine HWK 1091509 (1,700 kp thrust).

Now Junkers developed the enlarged version Ju 248 and Me 263, respectively. However, only one prototype was tested up to the end of the war.

The military testing of Me 163 took place under the testing command since 1944, and a few Luftwaffe units came out of it. They also flew this rocket aircraft, the only time this has occurred in the history of aviation.

Production Me 163Bs were not ready for operational use until July 1944. The Luftwaffe planned to have small units of Komets dispersed to intercept Allied bomber formations, but only 279 Me 163Bs were delivered by the end of the war. The sole operational Komet group, JG 400, scored nine kills while losing 14 of its own aircraft.