German Airpower Me 163 Komet [Computer File]

MESSERSCHMITT ME-163 KOMET HISTORY The history of the Me 163 begun in 1926 when Dr. Alexander Lippisch built his first tailless glider. Over the next decade Lippisch constructed many more of the tailless aircrafts and he also became involved with rocket propulsion. It was no great surprise when, in 1937, he was asked by the research section of the RLM (Ministry of Aviation) to design an aircraft to test a new rocket motor, the Walther I-203, intended to power future aircrafts. In 1939 Lippisch decided that his preliminary research aircraft, the all-wood DFS-194, could in fact be powered by the new rocket-engine and not by the intended small piston engine. In early 1940 the machine was transported to Karlshagen, the Air Force test center at Peenemünde. Here the Walther I-230 engine was installed in the aircraft. On June 3, 1940, the famous glider pilot Heini Dittmar piloted the aircraft to its first successful flight. He reported superb handling capabilities. Later this small aircraft reached a speed of 547 km/h in level flight. It also demon-strated fantastic climb capabilities. On 2 October 1941 Dittmar was towed to over 4000 m by a Bf-110; he then cast off and started the motor. He accelerated but suddenly lost control as the nose dropped violently. It was possibly the first occasion on which a human had approached the speed of sound. In test flights the aircraft reached speeds of up to 1000.4 km/h. The production model, the Me-163B made its first flight at Lechfeld on June, 26, 1942. This was an un-powered flight. The aircraft was towed by a Bf-110 and then released. A year later, powered flights were undertaken. In early 1943 a special ME-163B test squadron under Hauptmann Wolfgang Späte was formed at Kartshagen. The unit was called Flight Test Command 16 (Erprobungskommando 16). Later the unit was moved to Bad Zwischenahn. This is a short pictorial history of the first operational rocket powered fighter in the world.