World War II Database

1. nuno rodriguez says:
5 Feb 2010 06:36:09 PM

ola. how can i publishe my e-mails?
i think that the me-262 n the komet were the most advanced aircraft in ww2.if properly used,they´be formidable oponnents.
i´m portuguese,sorry the english.

2.  Bill says:
2 Aug 2011 02:13:09 PM

WHAT A RUSH:

The Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket engine burned
18 pounds of fuel per second. This gave the 163 about 100 seconds of power, before flame
out and the aircraft had to glide back to base.

3. Bill says:
21 Nov 2012 05:31:44 PM

Messerschmitt Me163 Komet "Yellow 15" was captured in May 1945. Aircraft was assigned to JG/400. a/c has not been fully restored, but staff at the museum have kept the Komet clean.
Museum staff, replaced parts and re-skinning
aileron fabric surfaces have been replaced
a/c doesn't have any armament 2x30mm cannons
or 2x20mm cannons. Yellow 15 was powered by a 1xWalther HWK 109-509 rocket engine.

RECORED HOLDER:

Did you know that the Messerschmett Me 163 Komet held a speed record of 1,004.5 Km/h or
624.5 mph until the post-war American research aircraft Douglas D-588-1 Skystreak achieved a speed of 1,050Km/h or 650mph, this aircraft wasn't rocket powered, the Skystreak was powered by an Allison J-35A-11 turbo-jet engine.

4.  Bill says:
11 Sep 2013 11:05:27 AM

THE ITALIANS ARE COMING:

At the end of WWII an interrogation report of
Oberst Nuemann of Jagdflierfuhrer in Central Italy
reported that the OKL contacted Maggiore(Major)Adriano Visconti of the Italian Regia Aeronautica
and proposed that a selected number of Italian pilots were to be all volunteers, and unmarried to train on the Me163 Komet.

FOG OF WAR:

Probably the report has to be considered true but cannot be considered as historical evidence, but this happened in 1944-1945 and could be covered under the fog of war...

ALL FOR ITALIA:

Seventeen Officers and NCOs along with Capitano (Captain) Giuseppe Robetto went to Germany to train on the Bf 109G single-seat propeller-driven fighter at first and were later told about the Me163.
The Italians were told about advanced fighters, and thought they would be trained on the Me262 jet fighter. Training started on single-seat gliders the Italians showed good skills in glider landing techniques and the ability to perform aerobatics with the gliders.
Early in 1945 the mystery was revealed to them the plane they would train on, would be the Me163 Komet! the planned flights would be without power (glider) and towed aloft, by a B f110 twin-engine fighter with water being used as ballast.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING,THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING:

Weather conditions were now bad with rain, fog and snow. The war situation was changing just as fast with Soviet troops just beyond the Vistula and German forces starting their retreats all training was stopped and the base abandoned.
The Italians never flew any Me 163s in training but before they left, they picked up the Bf 109Gs and flew them back to Italy.

ON THE WAY HOME:

The Italians kept the planned Me 163 flights a secret, I can imagine flying home in his Bf 109G Capitano Giuseppe Robetto thought about how it would have been to fly the Me 163 Komet, I think he would be singing Funiculi Funicula.

AXIS HISTORY:

Before WWII Italian pilots did train on gliders
Pre-Airman in the Mussolini Youth ages 14 to 18
during the 1930s and 40s, but it wasn't until 1942 that the military glider school was formed using loaned German DFS230 gliders.

After Italy surrendered in 1943, the Pro-German
(ANR)Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana created a new training center, in a last ditch attempt to train a new commando unit.
In the end the Italian glider pilots never saw action. This is all the information that I have.

Funiculi Funicula: 2 minutes and 37 seconds

Written by Peppino Turco 1846-1903, it was later put into music in 1880 by composer Luigi Denza 1846-1922
It is one of the most famous and popular Italian songs in the world. Known as a "Canzone" a kind of Italian music that has a wonderful melody and rhythm, which is sung by many Italian people.
This song has also been used in Plays, Hollywood movies and Commercials worldwide...

Arrivederci!

Once again I thank the editor/ww2db for allowing me to contribute to this site...






GO SEE THE KOMET:




Visconti

5.  Bill says:
19 Jan 2014 03:15:41 PM

MESSERSCHMITT ME-263: THE NEXT GENERATION

The Me-263 was a development of the Me-163 rocket fighter. Messerschmitt turned the Me-263 over to Junkers for further development. The aircraft was improved with a pressurized cockpit for the pilot,
an improved bubble canopy for better visibility,
more armor protection, tricycle landing gear, and a Walther HWK 109-509C-4 rocket motor with two combustion chambers.
Armament was t have been 2 x 30mm MK-108 cannons
with 75 rounds per gun, maximum speed 650mph and an endurance of nine minutes at sea-level and
fifteen minutes at 36,000 feet.

The main chamber produced 3,750lbs the second produced 660lbs of thrust. The Me-263 was longer than the smaller Me-163, the 263 had about the same fuselage and wing span as a Bf-109 single-engine propeller-driven fighter.

ODD MAN OUT:

With all the development and research work into the 263, it wasn't part of the Fuhrer's Emergency
Program crazy isn't it such an advanced combat aircraft rocket fighter that's not in the program.
The fighter was flown as a glider only, and no powered flights were ever carried out.
Further flights were cancelled due to the lack of fuel for the Bf-110 tow aircraft, but development was still carried out.

FINDERS KEEPERS:

April 1945 U.S. Troops captured the Junkers plant
along w/a few Me-263s and a mock-up, the Russians
got their hands on the Me-263 prototypes as well
and others in various stages of construction.
After WWII the Russians built their own version
under Mikoyan-Gurevich of Mig Jet Fighters Fame
as the I-270 rocket intercepter

6.  Bill says:
20 Jan 2014 03:48:45 PM

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT:

Besides the Messerschmitt Me163B, that entered production and saw service with the Luftwaffe,
Messerschmitt improved the basic design, the
Me-163C had a lengthened fuselage, used the wings and tail of the Me163B, had a pressurized cockpit for the pilot and a bubble canopy for better all around vision.
Armament was to have been 2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannon w/100 rpg or 2 x 30mm MK 108 cannon w/60rpg
powered by 1 x Walther HWK 109 509C Rocket Motor
w/4,410lb thrust from the main chamber, and 660lb from the second chamber. Production was to start in late 1944 However, three were completed and one was flown, before all the aircraft were destroyed to prevent capture by the Russians.

7.  Bill says:
21 Apr 2014 03:43:43 PM

WILD RIDE: BY THE NUMBERS

Me-163 Komet pilots were trained on the two-seat Me-163S Trainer training flights were unpowered and towed aloft by Messerschmitt Bf-110.

GOING SOLO:

During powered take-off if the pilot wasn't airborne at the first marker on the field, he could shut down the engine and come to a stop if
not airborne by the second marker the pilot was forced to abandoned the aircraft, he could open the canopy climb on the wing, pull the ripcord on his chute to escape, the Komet didn't have an ejection seat. If he stayed with the aircraft and crashed at the end of the field an explosion was inevitable.

More Komets were lost in take off and landing accidents. Pilots wore special flight suits to protect them against the deadly rocket fuel.

DEADLY COCKTAIL:

The Komet was powered by T-Stoff (80% Hydrogen
Peroxide) & C-Stoff (Solution of Sodium Permanganate) these chemicals were dangerous with each other, a very small amount mixed together, could cause an explosion. To refuel the Komet the aircraft was serviced by two different ground crews that took turns refueling the Me-163.

BEFORE CHUCK YEAGER: RAN INTO THE SOUND BARRIER

During an operational mission, Hauptmann (Captain)
Wolfgang Spate ran into the sound barrier on May 13, 1944 after attacking two USAAF Republic P-47 Thunderbolts his closing speed was 550mph the Komet snapped to the left and started to vibrate due to compressibility, Spate experienced the sound barrier! exceeding the Komets Mach number he was able to bring the aircraft under control and land...

8.  Bill says:
1 Mar 2015 02:34:22 PM

THE LITTLE AIRPLANE THAT COULDN'T: ME 328

This aircraft was designed as a small "parasite fighter" carried aloft by a twin-engine bomber
powered by 2 x pulse jet engines under the wings.
another scheme was having the aircraft powered by 2 x turbojet engines. Tests continued and were carried out as a unpowered glider, another idea, was to use rockets for ground-based takeoff under its own power.

PARASITE FIGHTER:

Proposed armament was 2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannons
however armament was never fitted to the aircraft.
Another idea was to use the Me 328 as a navalised
version launched from U-Boats! it was smaller than the Heinkel He 162 Volksjader, but nothing came from the idea.

SELF-SACRIFICE MEN:

Like the idea of the Fi 103R manned version of the V-1 cruise missile, the Me328 would have been
used carrying a 2,000lb warhead the idea was for the pilot to dive into the target, or if possible to bail out.
A total of seven (7) prototypes were built and saw no active service with the Luftwaffe the
Me 328 became another footnote in World War II
wonder weapons..

9.  Bill says:
26 May 2015 06:16:14 PM

LUFTWAFFE TOP GUN: THE FIRST AND THE LAST ROCKET FIGHTER

Messerschmitt ME 163B-O V-41 flown by Major Wolfgang Spate of Erpobskommando Ekdo 16
code PK+QL was painted over all Red by his ground crew in honor of the World War I fighter ace Baron Von Richtofen.
Spate flew one sortie upon landing, had his crew repaint the aircraft back to its camouflage colors

TOO FEW TOO LATE:

For all the resources invested and lives lost, the ME163 Komet claimed 19 kills with 10 Komet's lost in action sources list 364 Komet's were built. Most of the Komet's lost were due to landing accidents or destroyed on the ground by strafing allied fighters.

SECONDS COUNT:

With its closing speed the Komet had little time to shoot down allied bombers, at best, the pilot had about 2.5 seconds to aim and fire his two 30mm cannons and hope to have enough time to make another pass before fuel ran out, and he had to glide back to base.

10.  Bill says:
27 May 2015 06:45:28 PM

MAJOR WOLFGANG SPATE: LUFTWAFFE TOP GUN

Spate was a veteran fighter pilot served in the Balkans, Greece, Russian and the West, he later
transferred to the Me163 rocket program and took command of Erprobungskommando 16 EKdo16.
Given command of JG400 and later JG7, Spate
flew both the Me262 jet fighter and the Me163 rocket fighter. During WWII Spate claimed 99 victories and flew 350 combat missions. After the war he rejoined the new Bundeswehr Luftwaffe he died in 1997 age 85.

SUGGESTED READING:

TOP SECRET BIRD
Major Wolfgang Spate
Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. 1989
ISBN-10: 1568655888

11.  Bill says:
3 Jun 2015 08:45:01 PM

TOP GUNS:

Did you know the pilots trained to fly the Me163 Komet were experienced fighter pilots many of them in spite of their combat experienced were killed or injured flying the rocket fighter.

BUILDING THE KOMET: HIGH TECH, LOW TECH

The fuselage of the Komet was built from sheet
aluminum and metal the wings were built from wood and skinned with plywood due to scarce wartime resources.
The pilot was protected by a 13mm armor plate behind his head and shoulders and 8mm behind his back. Front protection was armored glass 90mm thick and could stop a .50 caliber round and a 15mm nose cone.

PLAYING WITH FIRE:

The fuel used to power the Messerschmitt Me163 were dangerous chemicals, pilots wore helmets, boots, gloves, special flight suits that were a gray/green or gray in color and made from PVC-Fibers the suits didn't offer complete protection from the highly concentrated fuel.
Sitting in the Komet's small cockpit, the pilot was surrounded by fuel tanks, holding the T-Stoff and C-Stoff that were unprotected in the fuselage and in the wings.

FREND OR FOE:

Pilots wore distinctive insignia armband with the Luftwaffe Eagle and Swastika and marked that said Deutsche Luftwaffe. If he had to bailed out over Germany he wasn't taken for an allied pilot
by the civilian population.

SPECIAL CARE:

Two different crews were used to refuel the Komet the crews wore special suits to protect them from the chemicals. Each crew worked with one chemical T-Stoff cleaned the area and when finished the second crew refueled the Komet with the other chemical C-Stoff It was important never to let both chemicals come in contact with each other this would cause spontaneous combustion...

12.  Bill says:
21 May 2016 07:19:32 PM

SCRAMBLE!

The Me163 was a point-defense fighter with short endurance for intercept missions.
Operational sorties carried out were at times handled at one Luftwaffe base. When Allied bomber formations were sighted, the fighters took off in two and three at 20 second intervals this also created a problem with returning 163's
in landing and traffic control.
As soon as the fighter landed, it was picked up by the ground crew using a Scheuschlepper (tug)
as the 163 had no wheel landing gear only a skid
and rushed off the field as soon as possible, against any Allied fighter attack.

SHOOTING GALLERY:

Due to the high speed of the Komet, the pilot had only a few seconds to aim and fire the two slow firing 30mm cannons. Some pilots were able to make as many as four passes against the bombers, and at the same time hoping not to take any hits from the hundreds of .50 caliber machine guns aimed at him during his passes.
It was a wonder that any bomber was shot down. The 163 was also armed with upward firing rockets that were triggered by the shadow of the overhead bomber.

OUT OF FUEL & OUT OF OPTIONS:

The Me163 approached speeds near Mach 1 with the limited fuel onboard after a few passes the pilot broke off attacks and returned to base. The fuel tanks on empty, the Komet became a high-speed glider and was a target for Allied fighters.
Komets were lost due to enemy action and take off and landing accidents.

NUMBERS GAME:

Did you know about 365 Komets were built this included two-trainers. At any one time, the Luftwaffe had over 100 Komets available however, due to lack of special fuel T-Stoff and C-Stoff, shortage of parts, ground crews, trained pilots kept many grounded less than 25% of Komets saw any action before wars end.