Nazi Germany (1944)
Rocket Powered Fighter – Around 370 Built

History

Work on the second series of the Me 163, which would be built in greater numbers than the experimental A-series, began at the start of September 1941. In comparison to the predecessor, the B-version had a number of modifications. The most obvious change was the completely redesigned fuselage, which was larger and had an overall more aerodynamic shape. Its armament was installed in the wing roots, the engine was replaced with an improved version, and the pilot cockpit was enlarged.

Initial plans for this aircraft were quite ambitious, as Messerschmitt had predicted that the production of four operational prototype aircraft with additional airframes should commence in October 1941. Once the first few prototypes were completed, a small series of 66 aircraft were to follow. The actual responsibility of building these was given to Messerschmitt production plants at Regensburg with assembly at Obertraubling. It was estimated by RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium – Ministry of Aviation) officials that, after the first batch of 70 aircraft was built, it would take some 7 months to actually begin mass production of fully operational aircraft.

In May 1942, Me 163 B-0 V1 (KE+SX) was completed, minus the engine, and was tested as an unpowered glider. By 1943, it was obvious that Messerschmitt alone could not cope with the wartime demands, so RLM officials decided to bring aboard another aircraft manufacturer. They chose Klemm’s Stuttgart-Boeblingen factory, with a monthly goal of some 30 Me 163 aircraft. Klemm was also tasked with providing additional workers for Messerschmitt. Delays in delivering essential parts, such as weapons, caused setbacks in the Klemm Me 163 production.

Despite the problems with the Me 163 production, a small number of available aircraft were allocated to the Erprobungkommando (EKdo) 16 unit from April 1942 onward.

First Flights by EKdo 16

Once the first prototype was available, it was flight-tested as a glider by Heini Dittmar in late June, or May of 1942, depending on the source. Heini Dittmar had plenty of experience as a test pilot flying the Me 163A aircraft. The BV1 prototype would be, from this point on, mainly used as a training glider aircraft. From this point forward all aircraft built would be transported to Bad Zwischenahn near Oldenburg. Once there, they would be flight-tested by a number of pilots under the command of Karl Voy from EKdo16. This unit, which was formed in April of 1942, had the primary function of testing and evaluating the newly built Me 163 and helping in the development and improvement of its overall design. Another purpose that this unit had to fulfill was the training of new pilots for the Me 163.

An interesting episode in EKdo 16’s history is connected to the well-known German test pilot Hanna Reitsch. After a number of attempts to get permission to flight test the Me 163, she was finally allowed to do so at the end of 1942. Shortly after she took off, the jettisonable takeoff dolly refused to successfully detach from the aircraft, preventing it from using the landing skid. She managed to land the aircraft but was badly wounded and was placed in a hospital for some time. She later requested permission to fly the Me 163 again, but was explicitly rejected and was forbidden from flying it.

In early 1943, this unit was also tasked with testing jet-powered aircraft that were currently in development. These included the Me 262 and the He 280. EKdo 16 began receiving the first operational Me 163Bs only in July, or February of 1943. Due to extensive Allied Air Force activity near EKdo 16’s base of operation, the unit began the process of relocating its aircraft to Anklam. By this time, the unit had some 7 Me 163A and 1 of the B version. Due to poor ground conditions for Me 163 operations, the aircraft was relocated back to Bad Zwischenahn in late August. The delays with the construction of auxiliary support buildings on this airfield meant that crew training could not begin until October 1943. These initial training flights were carried out using two-seater gliders. Due to a lack of C-Stoff fuel, another series of delays impacted progress on training. In November, the Me 163As were used for crew training. In November and later in December, two aircraft were lost in accidents with the loss of life of both pilots.

In the following months, due to a number of factors like slow production, bad weather, and Allied activity, the Me 163 training program progressed at a slow pace. By May 1944, only a small group of fewer than 50 pilots had a chance to fly either the powered or towed versions of the Me 163. Once these were successfully tested, they would be then allocated to the 1./J.G. 400. unit.

The first combat action of the Me 163 was conducted on 14th May 1944, piloted by Major Spate. Amusingly, just prior to the first flight, his Me 163 BV 41 (PK-QL) aircraft was painted in red. This was done by the unit mechanics, who wanted with this small gesture to bring good luck to their pilots. Seeing no harm in it, Major Spate gave instruction that his aircraft be fully fueled and armed. During his flight, he attempted twice to attack Allied bombers but failed to properly engage them. It seems the red paint did not help with the luck.

During May, a number of unsuccessful combat flights with the Me 163 were undertaken. At the end of May, the airfield at Bad Zwischenahn was heavily bombed. During this attack, several Me 163s were damaged. This attack left the airfield at Bad Zwischenahn unusable for some time. To continue the training of pilots, the whole operation was temporarily moved to Brieg on the Oder. As this airfield lacked any proper workshops, the dismantled aircraft could not be assembled again and, for this reason, no test flights were ever carried out from Brieg.

Interestingly, on the 12th and 13th June 1944, three Me 163s from the EKdo 16 were demonstrated to the Japanese and Italian military delegations. As, at that time, EKdo 16 could not provide a fully operational Me 163, these were instead taken from 1./J.G. 400.

On 15th June 1944, the unit was once again back to Bad Zwischenahn. At their disposal, there were 2 prototypes, 7 gliders and 11 fully operational Me 163 aircraft. A few days later, another accident occurred when the towing aircraft lost power to one of its engines. The towed Me 163 was released at some 50 meters of altitude and the pilot was forced to land at a nearby lake. While the aircraft was heavily damaged, the pilot managed to survive.

In July 1944, a second auxiliary unit (Erganzumgsstaffel) was formed. It was also subordinated to the 1./J.G. 400. It had 6 Me 163s, of which only one was equipped with a rocket engine. It was intended to supplement the training of pilots for 1./J.G. 400.

In mid-August 1944, the airfield was once again attacked by Allied bombers. This caused further delays in training operations, until August 23rd. On that day, another accident led to the death of a pilot and the loss of yet another aircraft. Not wanting to waste the parts of the destroyed Me 163, these were collected and then sent to the training school at Fassberg.

At the start of September, Luftwaffe Generalmajor Adolf Galland told EKdo 16’s Commander Hauptmann Thaler, that the unit was to be disbanded and all personnel and equipment were to be relocated to Brandis. While the commanders of EKdo 16 were against such a decision, there was little they could do and, by the end of September, the unit was on its way to Brandis.

Technical Characteristics

The Me 163 was a high-speed, rocket-powered, swept-wing tailless aircraft. Its fuselage was constructed of metal, while the wings were wood. The fuselage could be divided into three sections, the cockpit, the central fuel tanks, and the rear engine compartment. In order to help the ground crew with repairs, the fuselage was specially designed to contain a large number of removable panels. Thanks to this, the replacement of damaged parts or even the whole engine could be done relatively quickly.

The wings were quite simple in design, consisting of two spars covered in 8 mm thick fabric. The Me 163 wings were swept to the rear at a 23.3° angle. At the wing’s trailing edges, ailerons were placed, which the pilot used for pitch and roll. For landings, large hydraulically operated flaps were added on the wings.

In order for the pilot to enter the cockpit, a ladder was placed on the left side of the aircraft. While the cockpit was not pressurized, it could be jettisoned to help the pilot escape the aircraft in case of emergency. Being unpressurized actually placed time limits for how long the pilot could endure without losing consciousness at altitude and during high-speed maneuvers. For this reason, the pilot had to endure altitude chamber training and had a specially designed diet. Despite attempts to improve visibility compared to the previous version, the Me 163B suffered from poor visibility, especially to the rear and in front of the aircraft’s nose.

During its development, the Me 163B was tested with a series of different rocket engines. Ultimately, for the main production version, the HWK (Helmuth Walter Kiel) 109-509A rocket engine was chosen. This had a thrust power ranging from 100 kg (220 lbs) to 1,500 kg (3,300 lbs) or 1,700 kg (3,750 lbs), depending on the source.

The Me 163 initially used a fuel mixture of the T and Z-Stoff. T-Stoff consisted of a mix of hydrogen peroxide with oxyquinoline or phosphate. Z-Stoff was an aqueous solution of calcium permanganate. Z-Stoff would later be replaced with C-Stoff, which was a mix of methyl alcohol, hydrazine hydrate, and water. T-Stoff was stored in one main and two smaller auxiliary tanks. The smaller tanks were placed on both sides of the cockpit. The C-Stoff fuel tanks were placed in the Me 163’s wings. In order to help circulate the fuel, two centrifugal pumps were placed inside the Me 163.

These chemicals were extremely flammable and dangerous to handle and thus required safety procedures to be used properly. Before each flight, the fuel tanks had to be thoroughly washed with water. During refueling, the ground and the aircraft had to be sprayed with large amounts of water. If the safety procedures were not followed, there was a great risk of explosion, which happened on occasion. Due to the volatile nature of the fuel, any harsh landing with fuel still onboard offered a great chance of explosion as well, which led to a number of pilots being lost. Being highly corrosive and deadly to the touch, the maintenance crews and pilots had to wear specially designed protective clothing and gloves. Preserved photographs seem to indicate that these precautions were not always strictly adhered to. Given that the Me 163 operated in late 1944 were shortages of all kinds of equipment and materials were common, this should not come as a surprise. Still, handling the Me 163 fuel without this kind of protection was highly dangerous for the ground maintenance crews.

The initial armament consisted of two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, which were positioned in the wing roots. To increase the firepower these would be replaced with the stronger 30 mm MK 108 cannons. The Me 163B-0 series was armed with the weaker 20mm cannon while the Me 163 B-1 with the stronger 30mm cannon. While the Mk 108 had sufficient firepower to outright destroy or heavily damage enemy aircraft, it was plagued with low velocity. This combined with the extraordinary speed of the Me 163 made engaging targets difficult. For this reason, the Me 163 was tested with some experimental weapon systems. These include the 5.5 cm R4M air-to-air rocket, and the more revolutionary SG 500 Jagdfaust. This weapon consisted of five rockets usually placed under each wing, but on the Me 163 it was actually mounted vertically in the wings. It was provided with an optical sensor that activated its weapon load once it detected shadow, in theory, a shadow of an enemy plane. This was an automated weapon firing mechanism capable of friendly fire if not managed properly. But this situation would be rare given the fact that Me 163 was a short-range and unique interceptor that operated on its own without support from other aircraft.

Operational Combat Use

The first operational unit that was to be equipped with the Me 163 was the Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 20./JG 1 located at Bad Zwischenahn. According to initial plans, this unit was to be formed at least by the end of 1943 or in early 1944 depending on the sources. In its inventory, there were some 12 fully operational Me 163 available. In addition, the Germans planned for the Me 163 to be positioned at a series of auxiliary airfields along Allied bomber routes. These would be fully equipped with spare parts, ammunition, and fuel, and positioned close to each other. This way, after an attack run, the Me 163 pilots could simply choose on which airfield to land, knowing that they could resupply without any problems.

But in reality, it took a few more months before the unit was actually officially formed at the start of March 1944. The development of a network of supporting airfields for the Me 163 was also never completed. The unit was by that time being renamed to Jagdgeschwader 1./JG 400 and stationed at Deelen. The commander of the unit was Oberleunant Rober Olejnik. They were relocated to Wittmundhafen as the airfield at Deelen proved unfit for the Me 163 aircraft’s operation.

The unit received its first operational Me 163 on the 10th of March, and seven more were to arrive by late April 1944. Concurrently, pilots were beginning to arrive from the EKdo 16 training unit. More test flights were carried out until mid-March 1944 when they had to be temporarily stopped. The reason for this was the lack of sufficient water supply which was essential for flushing the Me 163 fuel tanks in order to avoid any accidental explosion. To resolve this issue the unit personnel began drilling wells to collect water.

1./JG 400 was at this stage prohibited from making combat flights in order to avoid the attention of the Allies. However, the unit was permitted to conduct live firing trials during flights in order to test the Me 163 weapons systems. While generally successful, during sharp maneuvers at a speed of some 800 km/h, the ammunition belts proved prone to malfunction. While Olejnik suggested using a drum magazine, which was even tested successfully, his idea would not be adopted. On the 21st of April Olejnik had an accident during a forced landing where he spent some time in hospital thereafter.

In April and May, 1./JG 400 took delivery of a group of 10 aircraft, but one had to be returned to Klemm for modifications. That particular aircraft would be destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on Klemm. These were still prototype aircraft of the B pre-production version. The first Me 163B-0 series aircraft began to arrive from May 1944. At this time the Luftwaffe officials were determined to introduce the Me 163 to service. For this reason, the work on testing and experimenting with the Me 163 was stopped in favor of increasing the overall production of the Me 163 B-1.

With the expected increase in production, another unit, 2./J.G.400, was to be formed in May 1944. It was initially to be involved with crucial crew training. At that time, the size of both units was to be increased to 14 instead of 12 operational aircraft.

In July 1944, 1./JG 400 received permission to make combat flights. The Me 163 were then used in several failed attempts to intercept the Allied reconnaissance aircraft that made frequent flights over the base. At the same time, 1./JG 400 and other available Me 163 were being relocated to new positions at Brandis. The original plans to build numerous connected airfields were abandoned in favor of concentrating all available Me 163 in a few selected airfields. For this reason, Brandis would become the main key point for the Me 163 combat operations. It is from there that the Me 163s attempted to intercept a huge Allied air formation of some 766 bombers, supported with over 14 groups of cover fighters. The Me 163 did not engage the Allies probably due to the small number of available aircraft and the heavy fighter cover. By the end of July, the 1./JG 400 had only four operational aircraft out of 16 available.

In mid-August, Me 163s from this unit attacked an Allied B-17 bomber formation. While evading the fighter cover, they managed to heavily damage at least one bomber, killing two crew members. On the 16th of August, five Me 163 attacked a group of B-17s, and even managed to shoot down two of the bombers. The Germans lost one Me 163 during this engagement being hit by an Allied P-51. On the 24th of August, eight Me 163 managed to shoot down three more bombers while successfully evading enemy fighter cover.

During these initial combat engagements with the Allied bombers, German pilots noticed that the Me 163s armament had a huge flaw. The weapons were difficult to use with the standard attack tactics of the aircraft. This involved getting the Me 163 high above the Allied bombers and then plunging down at them with a dive speed of 885-930 km/h (550-580 mph). Due to its main cannon’s low velocity, and in order to avoid collision with the target, the pilot had only a few seconds available to engage the enemy. This meant that only the highly experienced Me 163 pilot had a chance of hitting the enemy aircraft. The Me 163 also had another flaw, as it could be only used when the weather was clear.

At the end of September 1944, II./JG400 was formed, under the command of Lieutenant Peter Gerth (3/JG 400) and Oberleutnant Franz Woidich (4/JG 400). These units were renamed in November or December 1944 to 5. and 6./JG 400. During this time the 7/JG 400 was also formed, which was stationed at Stettin-Altdamm. In late 1944 II./JG400 was repositioned at Stargard. Few sorties were carried out mostly due to lack of fuel. In November 1944 a Me 163 engaged a British Mosquito, damaging it and forcing its crew to abandon the aircraft.

In late April I/.J.G.400 would be disbanded and its remaining few operational Me 163 were allocated to the J.G 7. The former I/.J.G.400 commander Wolfgang Spate, flying one of the remaining operational Me 163, managed to destroy 5 additional Allied bombers by the end of the war. The remaining ground personnel from the I/.J.G.400 were dispatched to the East to fight as infantry in Bavaria. There, they allegedly managed to destroy a Soviet tank using a MK 108 cannon removed from an Me 163, which was placed on makeshift undercarriage wheels, also taken from a Me 163. Given the chaotic state of Germany in 1945, it’s conceivable that the crew operating this gun may have found a way to make it work.

After the War

In May 1945 the Allied forces were rapidly advancing into Germany, capturing many airfields in the process. The crews of the Me 163 were often instructed to destroy their own aircraft to prevent them from falling into the enemy’s hands, but despite this, the Allies managed to capture a number of intact Me 163. This was the case of the II./J.G.400, which surrendered its 48 aircraft to the Allies on the 8th of MAy 1945. Of these, some 25 were transported back to the UK to be properly examined. The Americans also managed to capture a number of Me 163 in various working conditions across occupied Germany. The French Air Force received at least 4 Me 163 from the British after the war. The Soviets were not idle either as they also managed to acquire unknown numbers of the Me 163 including the rare two-seater trainer version Me 163S.

Me-163C

In an attempt to increase the Me 163’s performance, Junkers cooperated with Dr. Lippisch. This resulted in the development of a modified Me 163 (based on the BV6 prototype) which was slightly larger, had greater fuel capacity and had two engines. In theory, during take-off, both engines would be activated until a certain altitude was reached. This project would eventually evolve into Me 163C. This aircraft was to have a redesigned fuselage and cockpit. It was to be powered by HWK 109-509A-2 and HWK 509C engines. By the end of the war, only a few incomplete airframes were built.

Japanese Me-163B

In 1944, on Adolf Hitler’s instructions, a number of previously secret projects were to be shared with the Japanese. For this reason, several submarines were to transport parts of a disassembled Me 163B to Japan. While the one carrying the aircraft parts was sunk, the others that were carrying technical manuals managed to reach the German ally. Based on these, the Japanese managed to build a slightly modified copy of the Me 163. It was known in Japan as J8M1 Shuri (Rigorous Sword). During the first test flight, there was an accident in which the prototype was lost.

During negotiations between Japanese and German military officials, it was agreed to hand over to Japan a production license for many weapons including the Me 163 and Me 262. It was named Mitsubishi Ki-200, for the army, and J8M1 for the navy. The first Me 163B flew in July 1945 but was lost in an accident. Several more were built but the end of the war led to the end of the project.

Production

The production of Me 163 was initially allocated to the Messerschmitt Regensburg factory. As it was overburdened with other projects, it would then be allocated to a much smaller Klemm factory where less than 60 aircraft were built in total. Some sources also mentioned that the production was carried out at the Dornier factory in Oberpfaffenhofen and the Bachmann von Blumenthal factory in Fürth. On the 1st of September 1944, the production of the Me 163 was officially handed over to Junkers. To avoid concentrating the production in one location, given the Allied bombing campaign, Junkers dispersed it across numerous smaller companies. Each of these was tasked with the delivery and production of parts before being finally assembled at Brandenburg-Briest. This, in theory, would increase the overall production and avoid potentially being targeted by Allied bombers. In reality, this backfired, as it caused huge confusion and chaos with the delivery of parts, and poor quality in production. Junkers managed to produce around 299 aircraft of this type by the end of the war.

The question of how many Me 163B were produced during the war is difficult to pinpoint precisely. The sources give different numbers, for example, most state around 400 of all models, of which some 370 were estimated to be of B-version, were built by the war’s end.

• Me 163B-0 – Pre-production aircraft
• Me 163B-1 – Main production aircraft
• Me 163C – Experimental twin-engine modifications of the Me 163B aircraft but only few incomplete airframes were ever built

Operators

• Germany – Built less than 400 aircraft of which only a smaller number were ever used in combat
• Japan – Built a small number of slightly modified Me 163B by the end of the war.
• Soviet Union – Several Me 163B and one Me 163S, captured, were used for many different tests after the war. The results of these tests will lead to the development and creation of several different projects (The Lavochkin I-162 and Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270).
• UK – Managed to capture some 48 or so Me 163 aircraft of which 25 were sent to the UK for testing and evaluation.
• France – Received four aircraft from the British after the war.
• USA – Acquired an unknown number of Me 163 at the war’s end.
• Australia and Canada – Both received one aircraft from the British after the war.

Surviving Aircraft

Today at least several Me 163 are known to still exist. One could be found in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, and one in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Two are located in German museums: Luftwaffenmuseum at Berlin-Gatow and Deutsches Museum in Munich. Few more are in the USA Flying Heritage Collection, National Museum of the USAF, and Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums. And in the UK, RAF, Science and National Museum of Flight. The one captured by the Soviets existence is currently unclear.

Conclusion

The Me 163 was designed to be light and relatively cheap to build. This was certainly a strength if we take into account the huge shortage of resources and materials that the Germans endured during the later stages of the war. It also used special fuel that was specially designed for it, and thus there was no need for allocating the vital German fuel reserves to it.

With the two MK 108 cannons, the Me 163 was formidably armed given its small size. Just a few rounds of this cannon was enough to destroy or heavily damage an enemy target. Given its phenomenal speed during dive attack at the enemy formation, the Me 163 was essentially immune to enemy fighter cover and was unable to do much against it. That is until it ran out of fuel, at that point it was completely helpless and could only glide back to base.

On the other hand, it was overshadowed by a number of critical faults that were never corrected. For example, while the Me 163 was cheap, due to many reasons it was never produced in any sufficient numbers to cause any serious threat to the Allies. While the number of some 400 aircraft built seems significant, in reality only a dozen or so aircraft were ever used at any given time in combat. Most were used for training, either as gliders, or with an operational engine. Not all built aircraft would be delivered to the operational units, given the great confusion and chaos that the Germans were surrounded with from 1944 on. The fuel could never be produced in sufficient quantities. The problem with fuel was even complicated by the increase in production of the Me 163. Because of this the Germans simply had to reduce the number of aircraft that they used for combat, as there wasn’t enough fuel for all of them. The volatile nature of its fuel, occasionally lead to accidents and explosions, losing aircraft in the process, but more importantly the vital pilots. While its speed was great, its maximum burn time for the engine was only slightly longer than 7 minutes, however this capability could be stretched by the pilot’s ability to switch the engine on and off throughout the flight. Once the engine consumed all the fuel reserves, the aircraft essentially became a simple glider that was vulnerable to enemy fighter cover.

In the final analysis, the Me 163 theoretically possessed great potential for a rocket-powered aircraft. In reality, due to many delays, lack of unity in German aviation circles, and problems with its design and production, the Me 163 never managed to fulfill the role that its designer had intended for it. Its achilles heel was its dangerous and volatile fuel from which a number of planes and pilot lives were lost. Probably its greatest contribution was that it provided a good experimental platform for flight tests at transonic speeds. But due to its unusual design the Me 163 certainly deserves a great place in the history of the development of aviation.

Gallery

Credits

• Written by Marko P.
• Edited by Henry H. & Ed Jackson
• Illustrated by Carpaticus

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