Br-Stoff — ligroin extracted from crude gasoline
C-Stoff — 57 % methanol / 30 % hydrazine / 13 % water
E-Stoff — ethanol
K-Stoff — methyl chloroformate
M-Stoff — hydrazine or methanol and water
N-Stoff — chlorine trifluoride
R-Stoff or Tonka — 57 % monoxylidene oxide / 43 % triethylamine
S-Stoff — 90 % nitric acid / 10 % sulfuric acid or nitric acid / ferric chloride
SV-Stoff or Salbei (sage) — 85 % nitric acid / 15 % sulfuric acid [or] 94 % fuming nitric acid / 6 % dinitrogen tetroxide
T-Stoff (World War I) — xylyl bromide tear gas
T-Stoff (World War II) — 80 % concentrated hydrogen peroxide
SV-Stoff /Z-Stoff — sodium or potassium permanganate
For the pilot, the launch must have been an interesting experience. Films of a take-off show the aircraft racing along the runway at an alarming rate, oscillating and bumping along the grass, until it climbs from the ground and sheds its wheels, leaving them bumping erratically high into the air. The plane then turns towards the skies and — as if the mechanism has developed a fault — roars upwards at a seemingly impossible speed, climbing at more than 10,000ft (3,000m) per minute. The aircraft itself is not pleasing to the eye, being short and stubby, with projecting rivets and exposed screws. Indeed, the first time I saw one I wondered how it could fly at all; the wing area seemed surprisingly small.
But fly it did. Once aloft, the Me-163B Komet had excellent flying qualities. Lippsich designed the delta wings with leading edge slots which gave it great stability: it was resistant to stalling or spinning. The glider design did pose problems, however, since slight winds could cause the plane to lift into the air unexpectedly when landing and it could fly along in ‘ground effect’ with the pilot finding it difficult to set the plane down where he wished. That apart, the delta design was supremely successful.
At launch, the plane would take off at 200mph (320km/h) and climb gently to an operating speed of 420mph (670km/h) at which point it could climb at some 70 degrees to an altitude of 39,000ft (12,000m) in just 3 minutes. The Komet could then accelerate to a final operating velocity of 596mph (959km/h) or even faster, so that it was higher, faster and more manoeuvrable than any conventional aircraft. Nothing could touch it.
In practice, the speed and agility made the Komet into a difficult machine of war. Its velocity and rate of climb meant that it reached — and passed — its would-be target in a matter of seconds. The rapid flight of the Komet meant that the pilot could hardly ever hit a slow-moving bomber. One highly ingenious answer to this was developed, the Sondergerät 500 Jägerfaust. This secret weapon was a group of five upward-pointing guns firing 2in (50mm) ammunition that was installed in each wing. They were triggered automatically — the firing mechanism was in fact actuated by a photo-electric cell. All the pilot had to do was fly beneath the intended target, and the shadow cast by the plane on the Komet would cause the guns to fire automatically, with guns pointing upwards into the belly of the target plane. It was an ingenious idea. Even so, only one aircraft was shot down by this system. But most standard Me- 163s were instead fitted with two 30mm (1.18in) MARK-108 cannon, a design which was subsequently manufactured widely in Germany and beyond.
The greatest problem with the Komet was the short flight time. The maximum burn of the rocket motor was only 7½ minutes which meant that the plane might seem to be a highly intimidating interceptor fighter — but could, in reality, do little damage to the enemy. Modifications were made to the engines, to give the pilot two separate rocket motors — a high-powered rocket to blast him up to operating altitude, and a smaller, less powerful rocket motor to maintain his cruising speed. These later models were to have a pressurized cockpit to protect the pilot and the maximum altitude was to be increased to 52,000ft (15,800m) which would give a powered flight time of up to 12 minutes. However, these improved models remained untested by the end of the war.
On 16 August 1944 several Me-163s attacked US Air Force B-17s. Donald Waltz, the pilot of B-17 Towering Titan, recalled the briefing for this mission, in which particular attention was paid to the Me-163 threat.
Our bomb group had been briefed for the previous ten days on the possibility of attack by a new German ‘jet’ fighter aeroplane — the Me-163. At our early morning briefing on 16 August, out Group Intelligence Officer again described the Me-163. He said the aeroplane was in early production — not too many in operation so we were ‘unlikely to see the Me-163 on this Leipzig mission’.
He further indicated that if we did encounter the Me-163, we would have no problem with aircraft recognition, ‘it will be the fastest aircraft any of us have ever seen’. I recall that mission being long and rough.
Donald Waltz, quoted in Ransom, S. and Cammann, H. H.
Jagdgeschwader 400, Osprey Publishing (2010)
The Komet did not enter active service until 1944, and its psychological impact on the Allies was considerable. Its effect in terms of attack success was much more limited. The usual attack pattern was for the pilot to fly through the Allied bombers at high speed, reach an altitude of 35,000–39,000ft (10,000–12,000m) and then dive down to the bomber formation once more. The Komet pilot thus had just two brief opportunities to shoot at the enemy. Since he was usually in an unpressurized cockpit the pilot was fitted with a restrictive oxygen mask and, with the protective clothing, was unable to respond rapidly. In spite of all the development and the meticulous design, this aircraft was a tactical failure and many of the Komets were grounded owing to a shortage of fuel. There were 16 confirmed examples of bombers shot down by a Komet. The most successful pilot, Feldwebel Siegfried Schubert, had just three successes to his credit.
Nonetheless, the Komet rocket plane was a truly innovative design and it pointed to what lay ahead. The production version was 18ft 8in (5.7m) long, had a wingspan of 30ft 7in (9.33m) and was 9ft (2.75m) tall. Its weight was 4,200lb (1,905kg) when empty and 8,710lb (3,950kg) when fully loaded, and it had an operating range of about 25 miles (40km). Even now, designs derived from these tiny aircraft still operate. Planes like the Skybaby are popular with hobbyists — it is 5ft (1.52m) tall with a wingspan of just 7ft 2in (2.18m) and a top speed of 185mph (298km/h). The Bumble Bee II designed by Robert Starr is 8ft 10in (2.7m) long, has a wingspan of 5ft 6in (1.67m), weighs 396lb (180kg) and has a top speed of 190mph (306km/h). It seems that the little plane projects of World War II have inspired many imitators since.
A version of the Komet was also produced in Japan. Two German submarines were sent to Japan with parts and designs; one did not arrive, so the Japanese had to improvise some of the components. The Japanese version of the Me-163B Komet was the Ki-200 Shusui produced for the Imperial Japanese Army by Mitshubishi. It was equipped with two 30mm (1.18in) Ho 155-II guns. A version known as the J8M was built for the Navy which had its first flight on 7 July 1945 with Lieutenant-Commander Toyohiko Inuzuka as pilot. On returning to base, the plane clipped a building and crashed in flames, killing the pilot. On 15 August 1945 the Japanese war ended and so did the Japanese Komet.
The Komet needed an airfield from which to fly, and during the later stages of the war Allied warplanes were sent to bomb the runways so that Komets could be prevented from operating. The answer was to use a compact launch pad, like a rocket; this would be far harder to detect than a conventional launch pad, and even more difficult to destroy with bombs. As design work proceeded, the idea of a vertical take-off rocket fighter began to emerge. By the end of the war, this revolutionary idea had been realized and prototypes were already in production, nicknamed the Natter (Viper).