This is the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. Its unusual compact design makes it look like a
child's plaything, but the Komet was the furthest thing from a toy - it was by far
the fastest aircraft of World War II, being the first and only rocket-powered fighter
plane ever to be used in combat. Being state-of-the-art also meant it had to be
handled with extreme caution however, and the Komet wound up proving just as dangerous to its
own pilots as the enemy. But you weren't just liable to simply crash or blow up,
no, you'll never guess what gruesome fate this little aircraft could subject you to.
During World War II, the Germans were investigating experimental designs for
unpowered aircraft, also known as gliders. At this time the Germans had already had
some experience testing rocket engines - the problem with those was they could only
sustain flight for short periods before they burned up all their fuel. So then,
why not put a rocket engine in a glider? The pilot will have rocket power at his disposal,
and when the fuel runs out he's piloting a craft that doesn't need power to fly.
After numerous prototypes, testing, alterations, varations and a handful of dead test pilots
and crew, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was first deployed in combat operations in 1944.
Let's take a look at some of the features that made the Komet so exceptional, and so deadly.
The tiny aircraft was less than 6 metres in length (18ft) and held a single seat.
Before takeoff it was fitted with a dolly consisting of two wheels. Once it was airborne,
the dolly was jettisoned off the craft, revealing a single skid as its permanent nose gear. As
the Komet would be an unpowered glider once its rocket fuel ran out, the skid was more suitable
for landing, but it wasn't without its problems. The skid was held in place by an oleo-pneumatic
strut, a very common mechanism in modern day aircraft that absorbs the shock when landing.
In such a compact aircraft it's very important that this works correctly - if it malfunctioned,
or if the pilot had mistakenly left it in the locked position while descending,
they were in for a very rough landing. During the Komet's development, three of its main test pilots
got to experience this and were hospitalised with serious spinal damage and skull fractures.
Another feature of the craft is the tiny blades on its nose, adding to its comical
appearance. But this wasn't a propellor, it was a wind turbine. As the craft flew,
the flowing air caused the turbine to spin, which generated power for the Komet's onboard equipment,
like the radio, direction finder, compass, and the firing circuits for its twin 30mm cannons.
Of course, the Komet's most spectacular feature, was its rocket engine. With this, the Komet became
the only rocket-powered fighter plane to see combat, it also made it the fastest aircraft
of the War. In fact, test pilot Heini Dittmar twice set unofficial speed records with the Komet,
reaching a speed of 1,130 km/h (702 mph). It is the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed
1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph) in level flight. Its speed record would not be broken
until after the war, when the Bell X-1 reached a speed of 1,434 km/h (891 mph) in late 1947.
The problem with the rocket, however - or rather, one of the many problems - was its fuel. The Komet
only held enough fuel for a maximum of seven and a half minutes of powered flight. In combat,
the Allies quickly noticed this, and would delay engaging the Komet until its fuel was
exhausted. The problem was, it was such a well-designed glider that it was still
incredibly fast even unpowered. Not just speedy, but agile too. Every pilot who flew the Komet was
incredibly impressed with its handling, it was virtually impossible to stall or spin,
and its chief test pilot commented that it could fly circles around any other fighter of its time.
The Komet was so good in this regard, that it was actually too good. The glider was so well
designed that even the slightest updraft could cause it to rise up into the air,
a big problem when coming into land. A small gust of wind could cause you to overshoot a runway,
and with the fuel gone, you weren't going to get the chance for a second landing pass.
Another problem lay in the Komet's immense speed, you would simply zip by a target in a
matter of seconds, meaning it required excellent marksmanship to actually hit anything. It's twin
cannons were only accurate to a short range as well, so it was basically impossible
for the Komet to hit a slow-moving bomber. This problem was addressed with a new weapon,
the Sondergerät 500 Jägerfaust. It consisted of 10 single-shot 50mm guns pointing upwards,
five guns mounted at each wing root. The guns were attached to a photocell on top of the Komet,
that detected the change in brightness when there was something above the craft. So, the
Komet would swoop underneath an enemy bomber, and the photocell would automatically fire the guns,
the barrels of which were ejected downwards as they fired, making the weapon recoilless.
It seems this weapon was only used once in combat, in 1945, taking down a Lancaster bomber.
The Komet could climb to an altitude of 32,000 ft (9.76 km) in less than 3 minutes - impressive,
but it could also present problems. Pilots had to have special low fiber diets as gas in the
gastrointestinal tract would expand rapidly during ascent, making for an uncomfortable,
and sometimes painful, climb. Because the Komet's cockpit was unpressurized,
they also had to undergo training in an altitutude chamber. Even still, the human
pilot limited what the Komet could do, as he operated in the stratosphere without a pressure
suit. A human can only endure these conditions for a few minutes before losing consciousness.
The Komet's biggest hazard though, was its fuel. It made use of C-Stoff, a mixture of hyrdazine
hydrate and methanol, and T-Stoff, concentrated hydrogen peroxide. They spontaneously ignite
when they make contact with eachother and had to be handled with extreme caution. The Komet had
separate fuelling ports for each, and two tankers were used to fuel it. The first would supply the
C-Stoff, and then leave the area before a second tanker would come in with the T-Stoff. The Komet's
engine and fuel storage were thoroughly hosed with water before and after flights.
The fuel's high volatility resulted in many fires and explosions, injuring and killing pilots and
ground crew alike. This often occurred when fuel lines were ruptured or leaking, and with
the frequency of rough landings, this made flying the Komet a particularly dangerous venture. Pilots
would usually try to make sure they'd used up all their fuel before coming in to land.
Over 1,000 litres of C-Stoff was stored right behind the cockpit's rear wall,
and 120 litres (31.7 US gal) of T-Stoff sat beside the pilot in tanks at both sides of the cockpit.
The fact that they were surrounded by this stuff probably caused pilots some trepidation,
but not just because they would ignite in contact with eachother, they were highly corrosive by
themselves. T-Stoff could only be stored in aliminium, C-Stoff in enamel or glass, as they'd
eat away at anything else. Pilots wore special rubberised asbestos suits to protect them from
the corrosive fuel, but it wasn't always enough. Josef Pöhs was a 31-year-old Luftwaffe ace and
recipient of the Knight's Cross, the highest award in the military forces of Nazi Germany,
when he was transferred to a test unit for the Messerschmitt Komet in 1943. During takeoff the
dolly was jettisonned much too early. Bouncing off the runway, it struck the aircraft and
ruptured a T-Stoff line. This caused the engine to shut down and Pöhs was forced to glide into
an emergency landing. Pilots at the airbase watched on as their friend crashed his Komet.
Rushing to his aid, they encountered a horrific site. In the cockpit, Josef Pöhs was drenched
in the corrosive T-Stoff. His right arm had been dissolved to nothing, the other arm, as well as
his head were little more than a mass of soft jelly. Pöhs' best friend, Major Wolfgang Späte
ordered everyone not directly involved with the recovery operation to leave the scene immediately,
as he silently hoped the crash had instantaneously killed Pöhs, or at least knocked him unconscious.
The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, despite its incredible capabilities,
proved to have disappointing performance in its combat deployments due to its myriad of issues.
In fact, it's believed Komet pilots shot down 9 to 18 Allied bombers, but lost 10 Komets in
return - in addition to the numerous pilots and ground crew killed during its development. It
never saw large-scale deployment, and due to its late arrival in the war,
was quickly rendered useless as Germany faced supply issues with its exotic fuel.
Only one Allied pilot has ever flown a Komet with its rocket engine engaged,
Scotsman Captain Eric Brown. Despite being aware of the danger, and describing the feeling
of flying the Komet as akin to sitting in a tin coffin, Brown made an unauthorised flight to try
out the rocket engine shortly after the war, while the Allies still occupied the German air base.
The German ground crew had protested this, trying to warn him of the risk - when he safely landed,
they shared a celebratory drink. In his log of the flight, Brown simply commented; "Fantastic!"
Other than this unauthorised flight, the Allies never tested the Komet under power,
concluding that it was too dangerous. Every pilot who survived flying one was thoroughly
impressed with its performance, and thoroughly terrified by its dangers. Daredevil pilots were
tantalised by the prospect of flying this nimble craft - an excitement perhaps only amplified by
the extreme risk. In that spirit the Komet could perhaps be regarded as the "forbidden
fruit" of aircraft for its time, and a single bite could prove not just deadly, but excruitiating.