Me-163
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vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Rocket powered Army trucks????
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
ahh cool, they're getting ready to ship my order! 
Seriously, great find Paul, thanks for posting!
Seriously, great find Paul, thanks for posting!
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GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
By the way, I'm seeing JG2 insignias on the noses of those Komets...
I thought JG2 was operating Doras from late '44 onward and JG400 operated the Me163
I thought JG2 was operating Doras from late '44 onward and JG400 operated the Me163
fubar57
General
Nice Paul, how many of those six still exist?
Geo
Geo
Great responses guys!
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Those are still JG 400 badges. Usually depicted a colonial or bug riding a bomb set on a shield.
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GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
JG400 also had Baron Munchausen riding a cannon ball.
Until I was able to copy an image and blow it up, the sheild looked like JG2's icon, which is a white "tilting" (jousting) sheild with a red cursive "R", for Richtofen
Until I was able to copy an image and blow it up, the sheild looked like JG2's icon, which is a white "tilting" (jousting) sheild with a red cursive "R", for Richtofen
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That's a great shot Paul...
It's hard to be certain of the identity of those aircraft but five Me 163s were shipped to the US. They were numbered (by the Americans) FE-495 and FE-500 to 503. It is not an unreasonable supposition that those five came from this bunch. I believe that two still survive, but I haven't checked.
Cheers
Steve
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There's only ten surviving WW2 vintage Me 163s world wide, of which there are three in the USA, one of which went there from the UK a few years back, three in the UK, two in Germany and one each in Canada and Australia.
I found the exact same image in my trusty copy of Me 163 Rocket Interceptor Vol 2 by Stephen Ranson and Hans Herman Cammann with the following caption;
"The Me 163 on the far right in photograph below bears the number 42. All undercarriage dollies are painted with red and white quadrants [there are a series of images of the same aircraft off the trucks and sitting on their dollies]. These aircraft served with 14./EJG 2 whose Staffelkapitan was Lt Hermann 'Mano' Ziegler [author of the book Rocket Fighter, a fascinating insight into Komet operations]. Some of them were recovered from Linz in Austria, indicating that not all of this Staffel's aircraft were transferred from Sprottau to Esperstedt."
The badge on their noses is a stylised crucifix shape trainling yellow and red stripes from its base and climbing away from billowing clouds; the badge of 14./EJG 2.
I found the exact same image in my trusty copy of Me 163 Rocket Interceptor Vol 2 by Stephen Ranson and Hans Herman Cammann with the following caption;
"The Me 163 on the far right in photograph below bears the number 42. All undercarriage dollies are painted with red and white quadrants [there are a series of images of the same aircraft off the trucks and sitting on their dollies]. These aircraft served with 14./EJG 2 whose Staffelkapitan was Lt Hermann 'Mano' Ziegler [author of the book Rocket Fighter, a fascinating insight into Komet operations]. Some of them were recovered from Linz in Austria, indicating that not all of this Staffel's aircraft were transferred from Sprottau to Esperstedt."
The badge on their noses is a stylised crucifix shape trainling yellow and red stripes from its base and climbing away from billowing clouds; the badge of 14./EJG 2.
YakFlyer
Airman 1st Class
Apart from Eric Brown, did any other Allied test pilots fly the 163 at the end of the war? Just interested. Brown was very complimentary of the design, in terms of it's flying chracteristics but many historians criticized it for the powerplant issues. Desperation, is the word that comes to mind.
yakflyer
yakflyer
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Gus Lundquist flew one unpowered that was towed by a B-29 (1946)
The number 42 on the fin/rudder may be a temporary number. This sort of marking came into use after the practice of applying the aircraft's stammkenzeichen in temporary distemper for delivery was discontinued late in the war. Although an Me 163 would not make a delivery flight as such it still had to be delivered to its unit.
Brown wasn't very complimentary about the Me 163 following powered flight. He was the only non-German pilot to do this.
"In cruise flight the aircraft had a light rudder, sensitive elevons and sloppy ailerons, marginally acceptable stability characteristics and a tendency to Dutch roll in turbulent air. In the transonic region I found, after subsequent computation of my knee pad figures, that the Komet had a tactical (combat) Mach number limit of 0.82, but beyond that a heavy buffet commenced and a strong nose down change of trim became apparent."
Later, after making a simulated attack on an imaginary bomber he wrote.
"It would require considerable skill to down a bomber, and I did not see combat with a fighter as an option, but the Komet should certainly be able to escape enemy fighters."
Unlike some Luftwaffe pilots he was unfazed by the landing.
"I had no trouble with the landing drill, although the inadequate view because of the very flat glide angle necessitated a rather wide circuit. I made the final approach at 215 kph (135 mph)before pumping down the flaps to reduce speed to 200 kph (125 mph for landing......The final approach with full flaps down gave a smooth touch down and short run out."
Later when commenting on unpowered flights having been towed aloft he was more complimentary about the general flying characteristics.
"Once in free flight the Komet handled beautifully, with delightful harmony of control and thoroughly satisfactory stability characteristics."
It would seem that the handling only became less satisfactory when the Me 163 was flown fast, which of course was precisely what the Luftwaffe pilots were expected to do, given the tactics that they had developed to fight the aircraft. In powered flight and subsequent glide the Komet operated at speeds in excess of 450 mph, towed aloft by a Spitfire it was flown at less than half that speed.
Cheers
Steve
Brown wasn't very complimentary about the Me 163 following powered flight. He was the only non-German pilot to do this.
"In cruise flight the aircraft had a light rudder, sensitive elevons and sloppy ailerons, marginally acceptable stability characteristics and a tendency to Dutch roll in turbulent air. In the transonic region I found, after subsequent computation of my knee pad figures, that the Komet had a tactical (combat) Mach number limit of 0.82, but beyond that a heavy buffet commenced and a strong nose down change of trim became apparent."
Later, after making a simulated attack on an imaginary bomber he wrote.
"It would require considerable skill to down a bomber, and I did not see combat with a fighter as an option, but the Komet should certainly be able to escape enemy fighters."
Unlike some Luftwaffe pilots he was unfazed by the landing.
"I had no trouble with the landing drill, although the inadequate view because of the very flat glide angle necessitated a rather wide circuit. I made the final approach at 215 kph (135 mph)before pumping down the flaps to reduce speed to 200 kph (125 mph for landing......The final approach with full flaps down gave a smooth touch down and short run out."
Later when commenting on unpowered flights having been towed aloft he was more complimentary about the general flying characteristics.
"Once in free flight the Komet handled beautifully, with delightful harmony of control and thoroughly satisfactory stability characteristics."
It would seem that the handling only became less satisfactory when the Me 163 was flown fast, which of course was precisely what the Luftwaffe pilots were expected to do, given the tactics that they had developed to fight the aircraft. In powered flight and subsequent glide the Komet operated at speeds in excess of 450 mph, towed aloft by a Spitfire it was flown at less than half that speed.
Cheers
Steve
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Lovely shot Paul!
Great pic, have not seen that one before.
I've seen the two in Germany, and one of the ones in England and the USA.
I've seen the two in Germany, and one of the ones in England and the USA.
johnbr
2nd Lieutenant
A little fun art.
Nice!
