Me-163 Komet from Arkansas [by Klima at Apogee]

[Cape Byron]

I have had a few setbacks with weather and a foot injury. Hope to get the Me-163 in the air before September.

Get well soon. Cmon… hop to it!

Seriously, take care. We can all wait for a flight report.

 

[Crawf56]

Hang on to ya butts: I flew the Me-163.

And did not crash. But it was more luck than talent.

I was at the Kennett RC Club RC airfield in Kennett, MO. From the pic below, I brought the following:

Back Row (Rocket Gliders): Aurora Clipper; F-105; Klingon Battlecruiser; Me-163.

Front Row (Electric Ducted Fans [EDF's]): MiG-15; F-9F Panther.

 

[Crawf56]

To begin, I added an extension to my Launch Rack. This is how I launched the Me-163. Total length is about 10 feet. I did not use a launch rod.

 

[Crawf56]

I was using an Aerotech D24-10T motor, without the ejection charge. This is the same motor used on the Dynasoar Rocketry X-15.

LAUNCH
Had the Me-163 on the Launch Rack, with motor. And it took off like a bat out of hell.

BANG!
Motor sound like a canon going off. Instead of travelling down the Launch Rack, it went straight up.

WHERE?!?
I am not quite sure what happened next. When the Me-163 lept into the air, I think I instinctively gave it DOWN Elevator.

And the next time I saw it, it was a couple hundred feet up in the air.

THERE IT IS!
I don't really know how it got up there, but it did. Not a straight path, but high enough to glide back down.

I hit my radio switch, to raise both Ailerons slightly. This worked well, and I got a nice glide rate.

EASY DOES IT
Rather than try a banking turn to line up on the runway, I simply kept my glide path and landed at the edge of the RC runway.

Wow.

 

[Crawf56]

So now what?

1. USE A LAUNCH ROD. I am going to try and open the hole I made in the fuselage, to take a 3/16" launch rod. This will also mean launching more straight up (80 to 85 degrees).
2. ELEVATOR "DOWN" TRIM. Going to add a little Down at launch. Then I can flip a switch for "UP" for gliding.
3. WEAKER MOTOR? I may try a D2.3, which is weaker. It may not be much of a flight, but it will be more controllable.
4. PUT THE DECALS ON. Finishing painting, put the Luftwaffe markings on. Planes fly better with stickers.

I will also work on getting video of future flights.

 

[Crawf56]

End of the day, 8/13/22:

 

[Crawf56]

By the way, there is an EDF model of the Lippisch P.15:
https://www.motionrc.com/products/f...mm-edf-jet-pnp-fj11011p?variant=1511851851801

This is essentially a concept aircraft that combined the Me-163 with a jet engine. None were ever built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_P.15

 

[burkefj]

Uh Oh, what happened to the klingon?

 

[Cape Byron]

Uh Oh, what happened to the klingon?

Looks like it got wiped...

 

[Richard N]

Caught a photon torpedo!

 

[Crawf56]

Regarding the Klingon Battlecruiser "Vengeance": the ground snuck up on me.

Really. And it is quite embarrassing.

The model flew GREAT. I wanted to get some flight time on the "D7" because it is something of a flying wing, like the Me-163. When I was coming in to land, I waited too late to flare.
I literally flew into the ground.

NOTE: I thought I had some control problems, at one time, on this model. So, I added a rudder servo. But I discovered that I had the Elevons set at too high an angle in glide mode, which was screwing up control response. (As I recall, Frank kindly warned me about this.)

During the latest flight, I did not use the Rudder at all. The Klingon Battlecruiser has already been repaired, and the rudder servo removed.

 

[burkefj]

Regarding the Klingon Battlecruiser "Vengeance": the ground snuck up on me.

Really. And it is quite embarrassing.

The model flew GREAT. I wanted to get some flight time on the "D7" because it is something of a flying wing, like the Me-163. When I was coming in to land, I waited too late to flare.
I literally flew into the ground.

NOTE: I thought I had some control problems, at one time, on this model. So, I added a rudder servo. But I discovered that I had the Elevons set at too high an angle in glide mode, which was screwing up control response. (As I recall, Frank kindly warned me about this.)

During the latest flight, I did not use the Rudder at all. The Klingon Battlecruiser has already been repaired, and the rudder servo removed.

View attachment 532524

Stupid ground, I hate it when it does that.

 

[Crawf56]

Stupid ground, I hate it when it does that.

Yeah, good thing I am not a real Klingon helmsman; I fear I would have been "demoted".

 

[Crawf56]

Back to the Me-163.....

Frank, how do you think the D24 and D13 motors compare?

 

[Crawf56]

Introducing "Yellow 5" of JG400, on the runway at Brandis, protecting the oil refinery at Leuna-Merseburg.. (This scheme is not based on an actual pic.}

Decals from Callie Graphics: https://callie-graphics.com/

 

[Crawf56]

More views. The brown seemed darker indoors. Oh, well.

 

[Crawf56]

Showing the launch rod hole under the nose.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Has a nice Panzer Army Africa look to it, reminding the late war viewers of happier times.

 

[Cape Byron]

The good thing about an ME 163 model is you aren't obliged to give it a weathered finish. The didn't last that long.

 

[cbwho]

He is special in that he shot down enemy aircraft in both the Me-163 rocket fighter and the Me-262 jet fighter. He was killed in combat in April, 1945.

Did he really shoot down "enemy" aircraft? Definitely not from my perspective.
Perhaps best to delete the word "enemy"?

 

[burkefj]

Back to the Me-163.....

Frank, how do you think the D24 and D13 motors compare?

The D24 lights immediately and has a hard fast burn, trim should be close or you will have problems. The nozzle is large and it's easy to install the igniter after assembly. The D13 can take a second to light, and has a small nozzle like the D2.3 so is finicky. Much more fire and noise, slightly more NS so on my x-15 it goes maybe 50' higher and the burn is slightly more gentle.

 

[TheAviator]

The D24 lights immediately and has a hard fast burn, trim should be close or you will have problems. The nozzle is large and it's easy to install the igniter after assembly. The D13 can take a second to light, and has a small nozzle like the D2.3 so is finicky. Much more fire and noise, slightly more NS so on my x-15 it goes maybe 50' higher and the burn is slightly more gentle.

I find the D13 is very easy to light. The trick is to take an emery board and scuff all of the oxide off the slot, front face, and rear face. There is quite a visible difference between the oxidized surface and virgin propellant. Do that with the delay grain, too. I install the igniter before assembly and also take a small ball of wadding and stuff it into the slot to hold the igniter firmly against the grain. Never had a problem getting one to come up to pressure quickly after doing this.

 

[burkefj]

I find the D13 is very easy to light. The trick is to take an emery board and scuff all of the oxide off the slot, front face, and rear face. There is quite a visible difference between the oxidized surface and virgin propellant. Do that with the delay grain, too. I install the igniter before assembly and also take a small ball of wadding and stuff it into the slot to hold the igniter firmly against the grain. Never had a problem getting one to come up to pressure quickly after doing this.

yes, you can do that, and I have done that, never needed the wadding, I tape the igniter in place externally, but for me the D-24 requires no such machinations and almost never need any scraping and you can just stuff the igniter in after assembly. I do like the white lighting burn though.

 

[TheAviator]

yes, you can do that, and I have done that, never needed the wadding, I tape the igniter in place externally, but for me the D-24 requires no such machinations and almost never need any scraping and you can just stuff the igniter in after assembly. I do like the white lighting burn though.

That's fair. I've had enough chuffs and other shenaniganry from Aerotech motors over the years that this is my standard procedure for all of them no matter the propellant formulation.

 

[Crawf56]

The D24 lights immediately and has a hard fast burn, trim should be close or you will have problems. The nozzle is large and it's easy to install the igniter after assembly. The D13 can take a second to light, and has a small nozzle like the D2.3 so is finicky. Much more fire and noise, slightly more NS so on my x-15 it goes maybe 50' higher and the burn is slightly more gentle.

Yes, that is what I experienced.

 

[Crawf56]

The D24 lights immediately and has a hard fast burn, trim should be close or you will have problems. The nozzle is large and it's easy to install the igniter after assembly. The D13 can take a second to light, and has a small nozzle like the D2.3 so is finicky. Much more fire and noise, slightly more NS so on my x-15 it goes maybe 50' higher and the burn is slightly more gentle.

I am a little confused. Is the last sentence about the D13 or the D24?

 

[burkefj]

I am a little confused. Is the last sentence about the D13 or the D24?

D13

 

[Crawf56]

Conducted another flight of the Me-163. It did not go well, but it did not go horrible. Here is the video. Discussion to follow.

I used an Aerotech D2.3 motor, which is too small for this model. But I learned.

 

[Crawf56]

Flight Review from 8/25/2022 launch:

LAUNCH
I am using a 1/4" launch road. This gave a much better flight "off the pad".

CONTROLS
I added a slight amount of Down trim for this flight. But I am wondering if this is unnecessary, and possibly caused problems.

Aileron Controls: too much. When the model arced over, I gave Right Aileron to get it back over the runway. But I over-corrected, and the model immediately rolled over on its back.

And smacked into the ground.

 

[aerostadt]

That was an interesting attempt. Looked like a vertical launch. Is that right on such a small motor? Was there any damage?