Originally posted by Benny Moore
"Perfectly safe" is so wrong it's almost a lie. The fuel was caustic (like strong acid or base); a fuel leak which in most ships would result in the pilot being covered in gasoline - dangerous and unpleasant enough in its own right - resulted in the Komet's pilot decomposing alive. And you can't say that no production Me-163 never exploded. You simply have no record of such.
There were so few Komets made that an almost complete record for all Werk Nr. exists, and I have one in my possession. The fuel was not that corrosive, but the hydrogen peroxide would ignite if it came in contact with organic materials and although not foolproof, the pilots wore protective suits. But if you don’t take my word for it how about Rudy Opitz’?
“Popular Wisdom vs. a Test Pilot’s Experiences” Chief test pilot Rudy Opitz tells it like it was:
1. Rocket engines would explode without warning.
RO: engines were reliable and relatively safe and were adjusted so as to shut down in the event of an imbalance in fuel flow. If there was a problem in engine performance, it related to shutdowns, not explosions. The only instances of engines blowing were in early testing of prototypes or when they had been damaged in battle or by accident.
2. Leaking fuel could turn pilots to jelly, particularly if the plane flipped over.
RO: pilots, me included, survived overturned Komets, and an overturned ship would not necessarily leak fuel into the cockpit. When fuel contacted organic material, including skin, it ignited after only a few seconds. Our protective nylon suits would not ignite but were porous, and fuel could sop through to the skin.
3. Forward-mounted flaps were necessary to counter a negative pitching moment from the trailing-edge flaps.
RO: the TE flaps were trim flaps only, and the deployment of the forward-mounted underwing flaps did not cause a pitch change.
4. The Komet’s dive to speeds resulting in compressibility were often fatal.
RO: no fatalities resulted from this, to my knowledge. The Komets in such dives recovered after reaching a lower altitude that neutralized the compressibility problems.
5. As many as 15 percent of Komets broke up while pulling out of high-speed dives where compressibility had became a factor.
RO: no such fatalities to my knowledge.
6. Stall characteristics were abrupt and severe and taxed the skills of even experienced fighter pilots.
RO: the plane was equipped with leading-edge slots that eliminated stalls and caused it to mush forward in a mode that was immediately recoverable. The plane would not spin and was intentionally designed to be docile for low-time pilots.
7. Only experienced pilots could adequately handle the airplane at slow speeds.
RO: the plane was docile and friendly at slow speeds, and it had to be for low-time pilots to successfully land it dead-stick.
8. The Komet was not a successful fighter but future development would have made it a formidable interceptor.
RO: The 263—the next incarnation—had retractable landing gear, a pressurized cabin and considerably more fuel, but it never got beyond the early prototype stage.
I agree the 163B was not a successful fighter. Several hundred 163Bs were built,
but only 91 were operational as of December 31, 1944, and only 16 kills were attributed to 163s during the War. Note, however, that while under power or in a fast glide, the 163 could fly circles around any other fighter of its time.
In fact, the true contribution of the Komet was to high-speed flight as evidenced by the success of the delta-wing Concorde and delta-wing space shuttle. These Lippisch planform concepts live on today.
Originally posted by Benny Moore
It's funny; I saw your name on the last post before opening this thread, and I knew that I would find you gallantly defending Nazi equipment, heedless of facts. I cannot comment on the original issue, but nearly everyone knows about the corrosive fuel. I have a hard time believing that you don't; perhaps you just hoped that no one else did?
It’s funny; I saw your name on the last post before opening this thread, and I knew that I would find you attacking me and spouting nothing but ox-manure. I was right.
