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The Me 163 was one of Nazi Germany’s series of technologically advanced but militarily insignificant weapons deployed in the last year of the Second World War, in this case a rocket powered interceptor with impressive speed, but terribly low range. This book follows the development of both the Me 163 and the later models of the B-17 that it fought, the training of their crews, and the tactics used by the Me 163s, before moving to look at most of the known clashes involving the type.
The Me 163 certainly emerges as a technologically difficult aircraft, with the fuel causing many of the problems. It used two main fuels, T-Stoff and C-Stoff, which combined to power the rocket. These were highly dangerous, corrosive materials which required all sorts of special equipment (including PVC parachutes, as the T-Stoff would set normal parachute on fire! It was also very quick, with an impressive rate of climb. However it also had very short range and was designed to land as a glider with no fuel left (even when there was still fuel the aim was to burn it all off to avoid the risk of landing with it still onboard). This made is something of a one shot weapon, capable of getting above a US bomber formation and then making one good attack before gliding back to base.
Although the focus is largely on the Me 163 and B-17s, the American escort fighters aren’t ignored – indeed they feature in the very first encounter between US forces and the Me 163, when the escort fighters were able to keep the rocket interceptors away from the bombers. Another early clash saw one Me 163 pilot killed and another wounded, and one B-17 shot down. This is somewhat typical of the Me 163’s combat record – although it was indeed very fast while using the rocket, it soon lost speed as a glider. Accidental losses were heavy, with landing appearing to be rather dangerous. The biggest problem was that the Me 163 was almost always badly outnumbered by Allied escorts. We also see how the aircraft’s speed could be a problem, making it quite easy to lose track of a target travelling considerably slower than it, a big issue when you only had enough fuel for one good attack.
This book demonstrates that advanced technology wasn’t always the answer to a military problem, showing that the vast amount of effort that went into the Me 163 was effectively wasted.
Chapters
Chronology
Design and Development
Technical Specifications
The Strategic Situation
The Combatants
Combat
Statistics and Analysis
Aftermath
Author: Robert Forsyth
Edition: Paperback
Pages:
Publisher: Osprey
Year: