Me-163 landing...

[M.P.]

Made a small clip out of my footage I have shot last year during an air show at the former Darmstadt-Griesheim Army Airfield, Germany:
http://www.clipwings.com/index.php?comm ... deo_id=830

The pictures below are taken out of the video.

[DaveG]

very cool video; thanks for posting!

[warbird1]

That was cool! Now all we need is for somebody to put a rocket engine in that thing! It's too bad that XCOR scrapped their plans for a real, rocket powered, flying Me-163.

[262crew]

I've been told by a very reliable source there are completed plans for a GE J-85 powered ME 163. Complete with retracts! The 163 is quite large for a small airplane, I'm 6'4" and the cockpit is very roomy. I would love to see someone finance such a project!

[tom d. friedman]

i'm certainly not knocking the demo, but i have a few questions. 1st, was the komet really that manueverable?? the repro is obviously made of composite material, no rocket engine, & no landing skid, cannons, etc, hence very little weight. i'm just wondering if in it's complete form with all the hardware that it was as agile as portrayed in the terrific video!!

[JägerMarty]

Great pics and video, agree with Tom's points on weight issues.
Still great to see one flying

[M.P.]

The main structure of the replica is build only of wood, no composites used.

Maximum weight of the original wartime Me 163 was around 4.100 kg with more than the half of that being fuel. Landing weight was around 2.000 kg after the fuel was burned. As far as I know, the glider replica has a take off weight of around 400 kg. With only a fifth of the original landing weight or a tenth of the original take off weight, be sure the Replica must have different flying characteristics as well as a better gliding performance.

[Michel Lemieux]

It was extremely agile.

The definitive on the subject was written by Wolfgang Spate: Top Secret Bird

A most reccomended read if the subject is of any interest.

http://www.amazon.com/Top-Secret-Bird-Luftwaffes-Me-163/dp/0929521080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260273623&sr=1-1