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German Jets Are Too Late

Herman's Comet Although the Me-163, the breakthrough rocket-powered fighter, lacked the duration to make it very effective, it is nonetheless one of the more important aircraft developments of the century. Print depicts a 163 with Chief Test Pilot Rudy Opitz at the controls briefing Herman Goering about the flight characteristics of the aircraft. An Arado Ar 234, the jet bomber, stands in the background.

Deadly "Powered Egg"

Nicknamed the "Powered Egg" by Luftwaffe test pilots, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket interceptor was beautiful to fly and unbelievably fast, but it could explode any minute and often did. This egg-shaped fighter with wooden wings - terrorizing Allied bomber formations - was one of Germany's socalled "Wonder Weapons" of the Second World War.

Intensive research on rocket propulsion by Germany began in 1935 and 1936. Scientist Helmut Walter designed the Komet's rocket engine which worked on the principle of continuously burning a combination of fuels with oxygen carried in with those fuels. Dr. Alex Lippisch finished designing the Komet just after the Second World War started. A series of tests proved his design to be successful. As part of the Komet project, unpowered Komet glider prototypes were first flown by such German glider notables as Hannah Reitsch and Wolfgang Spate. The Walter HWK 590 rocket engine was then installed, and Heini Dittmar flew a prototype to a world's speed record of 623.85 mph on October 2, 1941.

The world's fastest aircraft was unspinnable and handled beautifully, but it was also extremely dangerous. Many pilots and ground crewmen were killed and injured when the Komet's fuel (a mixture of hydrozine, methyl alcohol, water, and concentrated hydrogen peroxide) frequently exploded. In fact, several Komets just blew up on the runway.

In desperation, the Luftwaffe Pushed the Me 163, while still in the experimental stage, into combat against the Allied bomber offensive. Luftwaffe test pilot Mano Zeigler remembered that the Komet "...was ten years ahead of its time, but the stress of war accelerated its development, and because of that, it was probably the most dangerous aircraft ever built."

Often pilots were killed and injured during landings when the fuselage skid hit rough stretches of runway, causing their aircraft to cartwheel or nose over. If fuel lines were broken, the highlycorrosive fuels literally dissolved the pilot in the cockpit. An engine failure could fill the cockpit with acrid fumes which blinded pilots. Furthermore, the aircraft lacked cockpit heat and pressurization and an ejection seat.

The Me 163 could be unforgiving to even the most experienced test pilot. During a test flight, Hannah Reitsch suffered a crash landing when the wheels failed to drop off on takeoff and stuck to her aircraft. The extra weight caused her to lose control and drop too fast during her landing approach. Historian Judy homax described what happened next: "The Me 163 hit a ploughed field just short of the runway at 150 mph, bounced violently twice, lost a wheel, and came to a standstill after a 180-degree turn. Hannah's first thought was that she was still alive. Luckily there was none of the lethal rocket fuel mixture on board; had there been, she would have been killed instantly." Another danger inherent in flying the Komet was that pilots had to take off exactly into the wind. If the stubby little aircraft yawed during a high-speed takeoff, it had a tendency to turn over and explode.

Two 30-mm cannon (each with 60 rounds) and a speed of almost 600 mph (the rocket motor had 3,750 pounds thrust) made the Komet a deadly aerial adversary. Its small size (wingspan of 30 feet, 7 inches and length of 18 feet, 8 inches) made it a tough target for fighters and bomber gunners.

In May 1944 the Me 163 was introduced into combat. Guided by radar-equipped ground control stations, Komets climbed from their bases at a speed of 11,810 feet per second above Allied bomber formations, then dove down through them, raking the bombers with their cannon. With a combat endurance of only four minutes (exhausting its 437 gallons of fuel in that time), the pilot had a scant four seconds to aim and fire his cannon. The cannon often jammed after 100 rounds. Despite these shortcomings, Komet pilot Feldwebel Schubert downed two American B-17 Flying Fortresses in seconds on August 26, 1944.

Hitler's interference of reallocating Komet fuel for V-1 and V-2 missiles, as well as a marked lack of decision-making on production and deployment of jet aircraft, caused the Me 163 program to lag. Doubtless the air war would have been different had the Germans developed this weapon (and for that matter, others) earlier. Of the estimated 370 Komets built, only a handful ever saw combat, and the type was credited with only nine Allied bombers.

Legendary Luftwaffe ace and Commander-in-Chief of Fighters, General Adolf Galland, best summarized the Komet's importance in aviation history: "Thus one of the epoch-making, revolutionary technical developments of Germany during the last war was passed without having any practical effect. It would have been ideal to prove the correctness of my contention that superior achievements - correctly used strategically and tactically- can beat quantity many times stronger numerically but inferior technically."

Jack B. Stankrauff. Yankee Wings. The Luftwaffe's Deadly "Powered Egg". The Journal 2nd Air Division. Volume 43 Number 1, Spring 2004.

R-Bar Over Bielefeld On November 2, 1944, B-24s of the 489th BG were sent to destroy the railroad marshalling yards at Bielefeld, Germany. The bomber formation was surprised to encounter the new German jet fighters, the Messerschmitt Me-262, in one of the earliest jet attacks against U.S. heavy bombers. The jets were chased off by P-47s that were escorting the bombers and there were no losses. Messerschmitt Me 262 In January 1945, an elite fighter unit was formed using the Me 262 and many of Germany's remaining veteran pilots. Designated JV 44, it was led by General Adolf Galland, the famous ace who had led Germany's fighter arm. One of the more active days for JV 44 was April 7, 1945, in which 15 American heavy bombers were lost, most of them to the German jets. This scene shows a pass by Me 262s of JV 44 against American B-24s, which resulted in the loss of two bombers, though an Me 262 was heavily hit.

Jet Propulsion

The Heinkel He-178 was the first jet-propelled airplane to fly. The Messerschmitt Me-262 was one of the few jets to be used in combat during World War II. A fighter, it could travel at 527 miles per hour and posed a real threat to Allied bomber operations.

The only Allied jet that saw combat in World War II was the British Meteor. Seven of them were used to destroy flying bombs; they got thirteen before being transferred to the Continent in the last days of the war.

Japan's first jet, the Nakajima Kikka, a naval attack fighter, flew for the first time on July 7, 1945. It was damaged on a second trial flight a few days later. In general appearance the Kikka strongly resembled the German Me-262.

The Bell XP-59B Airacomet, the first United States jet, flew on October 1, 1942. Fifty P-59A's and B's were built and used for pilot training. The United States Navy's jet- and piston-engined Ryan FR-1 Fireball fighter, which was developed just too late for combat in World War II.

The first of the German jets to be used, the Messerschmitt Me-262. Under development since 1938, the first models of the Me-262 were delivered to the Luftwaffe in April, 1944, for testing and evaluation. The Luftwaffe began to use it as a fighter, but at Hitler's insistence it was sent to bomber units and used as a bomber during the Allied invasion. By the winter of 1944/45 the Me-262 had reverted to its role as a fighter.

The 163B Komet. An advanced German fighter that appeared at about the same time as the Me-262, the 163B Komet was powered by a rocket motor whose highly explosive liquid fuel made it a dangerous airplane to fly. Many Komets were destroyed by fuel explosions during landing.

The Arado 234. The last German plane over Britain during World War 11 was an Arado 234 above Scotland on April 10, 1945. A twin-jet reconnaissance-bomber, the Arado 234 was introduced on a limited scale in the autumn of 1944. Because Allied air attacks severely hampered production of the Arado 234, only a small number ever reached operational units of the Luftwaffe.

The Arado 234C, designated as an experimental fighter, had four jet engines, a pressurized cabin, and skids instead of conventional landing gear. During test flights it is said to have done 670 mph at altitudes up to 26,000 feet. A 4,400-1b. bomb was fitted into the concave underside.

The Horten V tailless experimental "flying wing" was similar to the AAF's Northrop wing but more developed. One version, equipped with two Jumo 004 jets, could do 550 mph at 25,000 feet. The Volksjager, or Heinkel 162, was first encountered in combat on April 4, 1945. Powered by a single jet engine, its speed was 490 mph at sea level and its rate of climb 4,230 feet per minute.

The Junkers Ju-287. This plane, the first jet of the Junkers company, was also the first aircraft to utilize the swept-forward wing, which had the same purpose as the swept-back wing: to delay the creation of shock waves. The wing was original with the Ju-287, but much of the rest of it was borrowed. It had the fuselage of an He-177, the tail rudder of a Ju-88, and the landing gear of a shot-down United States B-24 Liberator. An experimental model of the four-engine jet made a successful test flight on August 13, 1943. Several Ju-287's were in production at the time of the German collapse.

Major Gene Gurney, (USAF). : Pictorial History of World War II Air Forces in Combat. Bonanza Books, NY. 1962.

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Top Secret Bird The Luftwaffe’s Me 163 Comet Spate. A great first-person account of testing and combat flying the rocket powered Me-163 Comet. Spell-binding tales of mission after mission, some highly successful in shooting down American bombers and fighters, others dismal failures. Hard to put this book down.

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