Messerschmitt Me 163B

Messerschmitt Me 163B
Pays	Germany
Rôle	Avion de chasse propulsé par fusée
Premier vol	Le 1er septembre 1941
Construit	370

Lla Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet était un avion de chasse allemand propulsé par fusée. Conçu par Alexander Lippisch, il est le seul avion de chasse propulsé par fusée jamais opérationnel et le premier avion piloté de tout type à dépasser 1000 km/h (621 mph) en vol en vol en niveau. Son design était révolutionnaire et sa performance sans précédent. Au début de juillet 1944, le pilote d’essai allemand Heini Dittmar atteint 1 130 km/h, un record officieux de vitesse en vol inégalé par les turboréacteurs depuis près d’une décennie. Plus de 300 avions ont été construits, mais le Komet s’est avéré inefficace dans son rôle dédié en tant qu’avion intercepteur et a été responsable de la destruction d’environ neuf à dix-huit avions alliés contre dix pertes. Outre les pertes au combat, de nombreux pilotes ont été tués lors d’essais et d’entraînement

Source: Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet sur Wikipedia

Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet Walk Around
Photographe	John Heck
Localisation	Musée national de l’USAF
Photos	23

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A Flying Bomb in the Service of the Reich

Lla Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet was arguably the most radical combat aircraft of World War II. Designed by Alexander Lippisch as a tailless, swept-wing interceptor, it utilized a liquid-fuel rocket motor to reach speeds and climb rates that were decades ahead of its time. However, this performance came at a terrifying cost. The Komet was as dangerous to its pilots and ground crews as it was to the Allied bombers it hunted, earning a reputation as a « suicide machine » due to its highly volatile fuels and treacherous landing characteristics.

Attribute	Technical Specification (Me 163B-1)
Rôle	Point-Defense Rocket Interceptor
Crew	1 (Pilot)
moteur	1 × Walter HWK 109-509A-2 liquid-fuel rocket
Vitesse maximale	960 km/h (596 mph) — Mach 0.83
Climb Rate	Initial: 81 m/s (16,000 ft/min)
Endurance	7.5 to 8 minutes of powered flight
Armement	2 × 30mm MK 108 cannons (60 rounds per gun)
Landing Gear	Jettisonable takeoff dolly / Retractable landing skid

Design Engineering: Chemistry vs. Aerodynamics

The Hypergolic Nightmare: The Komet was powered by T-Stoff (hydrogen peroxide) and C-Stoff (hydrazine hydrate and methanol). These two chemicals were hypergolic, meaning they exploded instantly upon contact. A single drop of one in the other’s tank would destroy the aircraft. They were so corrosive that pilots had to wear special non-organic protective suits to prevent being dissolved alive in the event of a leak.
Tailless Swept Wings: To minimize drag at high subsonic speeds, the Komet lacked a horizontal stabilizer (tail). Its swept wings provided both lift and control, making it exceptionally stable in high-speed dives but notoriously difficult to land because it simply « wanted to keep flying. »
The Two-Part Landing: To save weight, the Komet took off on a two-wheeled « dolly » that was jettisoned once airborne. After exhausting its fuel, the pilot had to glide back and land on a retractable belly skid. If the skid failed to deploy or the landing was too hard, the impact could slosh remaining fuel together, resulting in a fatal explosion.
Nose-Cone Generator: Since the rocket engine produced no electrical power, the Komet featured a tiny wooden propeller on its nose. This « rat » (Ram Air Turbine) spun in the slipstream to power the aircraft’s radio and flight instruments.

Combat History: Seven Minutes of Terror

The Vertical Intercept: A typical Komet mission lasted less than ten minutes. The pilot would blast off the runway at a 70-degree angle, reaching 30,000 feet in under four minutes. They would then dive through the bomber formation at nearly 600 mph, giving them only a fraction of a second to aim and fire the slow-velocity 30mm cannons.
Lla « Gliding Target »: Once the fuel ran out, the Komet became a heavy, unpowered glider. Allied fighter pilots quickly learned to wait for the rocket flame to go out; once the Komet was « silent, » it was a sitting duck as it struggled to reach its home airfield.
Limited Impact: Despite its psychological terror, the Me 163 was a failure as a weapon system. Fewer than 20 Allied bombers were officially credited to the Komet, while more Komets were lost to landing accidents and engine explosions than to enemy fire.
Sabotage: Many surviving Komets show evidence of sabotage by the forced laborers who built them, including contaminated glue in the wooden wings and rocks placed between fuel tanks and support straps to cause punctures.