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After a number of attempts to get permission to flight test the Me 163, she was finally allowed to do so at the end of 1942. These would be fully equipped with spare parts, ammunition, and fuel, and positioned close to each other. Aerial photograph of a Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg, Germany after an aerial bombing, August 17, 1943. The Me 163 wings were swept to the rear at a 23.3 angle. Messerschmitt relied heavily on slave labour to produce much of the parts needed for these aircraft during the second half of World War II; these parts were assembled in an enormous tunnel system in Sankt Georgen an der Gusen, Austria. Then, in May of the same year, when the Italian-born investor was able to acquire BMW's engine business from Knorr-Bremse AG, nothing more stood in the way of a merger between the aircraft company BFW and the engine builders BMW. Nach der Absage der Erweiterung des Messerschmitt-Stammwerks in Augsburg boten sich die im ueren Westen des Stadtgebiets von Regensburg vorhandenen Freiflchen zur Ansiedlung der erforderlichen Produktionsbetriebe an. An Me 163B is engaging Allied B-17 bombers. Factory, location Up to 1939 1939 1940 1941 . by dmeephd 30 Apr 2009, 17:39. Another purpose that this unit had to fulfill was the training of new pilots for the Me 163. Nach der Machtergreifung der NSDAP ergaben sich jedoch neue Mglichkeiten zur Ansiedlung von Industriebetrieben in Regensburg, denn in dem von der neuen Hitler-Regierung am 18. To resolve this issue the unit personnel began drilling wells to collect water. A quite interesting Me 163 air victory was achieved on the 10th April 1945 while piloted by Leutnant Fritz Kelb. Trotz der Einstufung als kriegswichtiger Betrieb waren die Messerschmitt-Werke mit gemeinsamer Konzernfhrung in privatem Besitz, was eine Ausnahme in der nationalsozialistischen Kriegswirtschaftspolitik darstellte. Im Februar 1944 wurde mit dem Bau des Flughafens begonnen, auf dem neu entwickelte Modelle von Heinkel und Messerschmitt zu Testflgen starten sollten. The 60 aircraft lost on a single mission more than doubled the highest previous loss at that time. They also produced the DFS-designed Me 163 Komet, the first rocket-powered design to enter service. [18], At 14:57 approximately 40 B-17s remained of the lead wing when it dropped its bombs on the target area containing five factories and 30,000 workers, followed over a 24-minute span by the remainder of the force. To split the German defense, these raids were supposed to occur simultaneously, with the Regensburg force landing at airfields in North Africa. The Me 163, despite its small number, proved to be a shock to the Allies pilots. I've googled, checked out Amazon.com and Amazon.de (Germany), and the Wikipedia. Nearly all of the buildings are affected to some degree. Of those damaged, many were stranded in North Africa and never repaired. Messerschmitt AG (German pronunciation: [msmt]) was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262. Losses among the 57 B-17s of the lead wing were so severe that many among its airmen considered the possibility that the wing might be annihilated before reaching the target. Thanks to this, the replacement of damaged parts or even the whole engine could be done relatively quickly. It was named Mitsubishi Ki-200, for the army, and J8M1 for the navy. At their disposal, there were 2 prototypes, 7 gliders and 11 fully operational Me 163 aircraft. When Schweinfurt was finally attacked again two months later, the lack of long-range fighter escort had still not been addressed and losses were even higher. When the second attack on Schweinfurt came on October 14, the loss of more than 20% of the attacking force (60 out of 291 B-17s) resulted in the suspension of deep raids for five months. This engine used a combination of T-Stoff and C-Stoff (a mixture of hydrazine hydrate, water, and methanol). To continue the training of pilots, the whole operation was temporarily moved to Brieg on the Oder. It is from there that the Me 163s attempted to intercept a huge Allied air formation of some 766 bombers, supported with over 14 groups of cover fighters. The two groups of P-47s (88 aircraft) arrived five and eight minutes late, and despite some individual combats, they too were forced to break off virtually as soon as they arrived. As you know, this was one of the targets of the Schweinfurt- Regensburg mission on the 17th of Aug 1943, and it was so because an important Messerschmitt factory that was established there. Mehr als 5000 KZ-Hftlinge des KZ Flossenbrg wurden fr die Produktion des Jagdflugzeugs Bf 109 eingesetzt. This was certainly a strength if we take into account the huge shortage of resources and materials that the Germans endured during the later stages of the war. A forum community dedicated to Model train and railway owners and enthusiasts. During refueling, the ground and the aircraft had to be sprayed with large amounts of water. Select from premium Nazi Messerschmitt of the highest quality. 100 ) bezogen, in dem heute die kaufmnnische Berufsschule untergebracht ist.[1]. Interestingly, on the 12th and 13th June 1944, three Me 163s from the EKdo 16 were demonstrated to the Japanese and Italian military delegations. This aircraft was equipped with the experimental SG 500 Jagdfaust and managed to shoot down a British Lancaster bomber. At the same time, 1./JG 400 and other available Me 163 were being relocated to new positions at Brandis. In late 1944 II./JG400 was repositioned at Stargard. The second was a series of attacks on Luftwaffe fighter fields at Poix, Lille-Vendeville, and Woensdrecht by Hawker Typhoons of the RAF simultaneous with the diversionary attack, and Poix by two groups of B-26s in the afternoon as the Schweinfurt force was returning. The two largest factories, Kugelfischer & Company and Vereinigte Kugellager Fabrik I, suffered 80 direct hits. Messerschmitt officials maintained barracks at the concentration camp to oversee the work being done by the inmates. On landing, the Me 163 were to use a simple retractable landing skid, placed beneath the fuselage. Five miles from Schweinfurt, German anti-aircraft guns began firing an effective flak barrage into the path of the bomber force. I model WWII Luftwaffe aircraft (1/72nd scale) and European Model Railways (HO scale). Gleichzeitig wurden auch die Produktionssttten in Obertraubling ausgeweitet, wo sich die Werksbauten 1942 ber den gesamten Fliegerhorst ausgedehnt hatten.[1][4]. In der Ende 1940 errichteten Produktionssttte Obertraubling wurden zwei sogenannte Russenlager fr rund 2750 Ostarbeiter aufgebaut. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In the early stages, BMW AG held a stake in this company and was represented by Josef Popp, who held a place on the Supervisory Board.[2]. In 1944, on Adolf Hitlers instructions, a number of previously secret projects were to be shared with the Japanese. This Me 163 is in the process of being refueled. Caption: "Results of B-17 attack on Messerschmidt [Messerschmitt] factory at Regensburg - 17 August 1943. The Me 163 was notorious for having only a limited powered flight endurance of 7 minutes and 30 seconds before its fuel reserve was spent. The Soviets were not idle either as they also managed to acquire unknown numbers of the Me 163 including the rare two-seater trainer version Me 163S. However anti-aircraft fire ("flak") was light over Regensburg and visibility clear, and of the remaining 131 bombers, 126 dropped 298.75 tons of bombs on the fighter aircraft factories with a high degree of accuracy at 11:43 British time. It was to be powered by HWK 109-509A-2 and HWK 509C engines. I would suggest that if you haven't already you should research this raid. The title Kabinenroller means "scooter with cabin". Unfortunately, fog delayed the Schweinfurt forces takeoff, but the Regensburg force left on time. To achieve a "maximum effort" against Schweinfurt, the 1st Bomb Wing, with sufficient aircraft and crews to employ four wing-sized boxes, formed provisional groups as well as wings, accomplished by eight groups providing a squadron or spare aircraft to form the "composite groups" needed to form a fourth combat wing. Angesichts ihrer hohen Verluste entsprach dieser Erfolg aber nicht den amerikanischen Erwartungen, zumal das Werk nach kurzer Zeit den Teilbetrieb wieder aufnahm. 84 was a strike by 376 bombers of 16 bomb groups against German heavy industry well beyond the range of escorting fighters. I'd even settle for a history book of Messerschmitt that had some illustrations. This was done by the unit mechanics, who wanted with this small gesture to bring good luck to their pilots. At that time, and in conjunction with the Pointblank Directive to destroy the Luftwaffe in preparation for Operation Overlord, the B-17 force had expanded fourfold and was organized into the 1st and 4th Bombardment Wings (which due to their large size would soon be re-designated Bomb Divisions). On the 16th of August, five Me 163 attacked a group of B-17s, and even managed to shoot down two of the bombers. Schweinfurt was close to the city of Regensburg, where there was a Messerschmitt fighter plane . In the early 1990s, the raid was depicted for the first time in a video game, as a playable mission in Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. The C-Stoff fuel tanks were placed in the Me 163s wings. Da absehbar war, dass fr die Beschftigten des neuen Werkes auch neue Siedlungsgebiete erforderlich waren, wurden die drei Regensburg sdlich und westlich unmittelbar benachbarten Drfer Ziegetsdorf, Dechbetten und Groprfening eingemeindet. The SchweinfurtRegensburg mission was a strategic bombing mission during World War II carried out by Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 17, 1943. In Regensburg, all six main workshops of the Messerschmitt factory were destroyed or severely damaged, as were many supporting structures including the final assembly shop. 1943 waren diese Werke die zweitgrte Produktionssttte fr einmotorige Jagdflugzeuge in Europa. Since World War I aircraft were largely built from wood to keep their weight down, BFW was equipped with the very latest joinery plant. I have all of these wagon sets - from Liliput, Marklin, and Trix - of transported and disassembled Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters (plus the new 2009 Marklin releases on order) and have nowhere for these train consists to originate. Nearly all of the buildings are affected to some degree. Its achilles heel was its dangerous and volatile fuel from which a number of planes and pilot lives were lost. After being postponed several times by unfavorable weather, the operation, known within the Eighth Air Force as "Mission No. Concurrently, pilots were beginning to arrive from the EKdo 16 training unit. In early 1943, this unit was also tasked with testing jet-powered aircraft that were currently in development. While the cockpit was not pressurized, it could be jettisoned to help the pilot escape the aircraft in case of emergency. Although the raid caused heavy damage at both factories, 60 of the 376 bombersabout 1 in 6 of those dispatchedwere shot down and more than 600 Airmen were killed, missing, or captured. At this time the Luftwaffe officials were determined to introduce the Me 163 to service. P.R.U. Facebook: @planeencyclopedia Once at a sufficient height, the two-wheel dolly would jettison from the aircraft (in the left corner). The company's management were forced to look for new products with which to maintain their position in the market. In the following months, due to a number of factors like slow production, bad weather, and Allied activity, the Me 163 training program progressed at a slow pace. This, in theory, would increase the overall production and avoid potentially being targeted by Allied bombers. At that time, the size of both units was to be increased to 14 instead of 12 operational aircraft. - Knives by dmeephd 30 Apr 2009, 17:39, Post Juli 1936 gegrndet als Zweigwerk des damals noch Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) genannten Augsburger Unternehmens, das 1938 umbenannt wurde in Messerschmitt AG. The crews of the Me 163 were often instructed to destroy their own aircraft to prevent them from falling into the enemys hands, but despite this, the Allies managed to capture a number of intact Me 163. For example, while the Me 163 was cheap, due to many reasons it was never produced in any sufficient numbers to cause any serious threat to the Allies. 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