A Photographic Examination of the Me 163Bs sent to the USA

[edwest2]

I don't think so. A report like this should have a key that identifies what entries mean. For example, what is Class?

[richdlc]

[richdlc]

Originally Posted by edwest2

I don't think so. A report like this should have a key that identifies what entries mean. For example, what is Class?

I uploaded the full Richard J. Gatling manifest

Ed, see the category one list of enemy aircraft required by Freeman Field here...

[edwest2]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[edwest2]

I hope the following is helpful.


https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/me163/freeman.htm


https://www.indianamilitary.org/Free...20Classics.htm

[Karoband]

Thank you, Ed, for the links. At the bottom of the page of your first link is a link to pictures of the other Me 163s taken to the USA.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1918

12. Both Joe Baugher and Richard A. Franks in their description of FE-500 claim it as " W.Nr. 191301 'White 54'". Photos #5 and #7 show two different aircraft. This is the only photo I have found of the starboard side of "W.Nr. 191301" in its original colours at Wright Field in October 1945. It shows a later Me 163B with MK 108 cannon ports centred in the wing roots. The camouflage pattern of 191301 is unique.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1919

13. This is the only photo I have found of the starboard side of "White 54" in the hangar at Freeman Field. It also shows a later Me 163B with MK 108 cannon ports in the wing root ... and the camouflage pattern is unique.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1920

14. This is a comparison of "White 54" with the Me 163 in picture #10. In my view the pattern is identical.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1921

15. This is a comparison of "191301" with the other Me 163 in picture #10. In my view the pattern is identical.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1922

16. It is my contention that the two Me 163Bs in this picture are, left "White 54" and right "191301", and that they are two different aircraft.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1923

17. This is a poor photo of the fuselage of the Me 163B that was unloaded from its truck at Merseburg to be flown to the United states. This first attempt to load "White 54" was a disaster. The transport aircraft was a Curtiss C-46 Seriial 44-77588 "R" and the building to the right is the same as in #11.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1924

18. This photo shows it being shoehorned into the C-46. "White 54" can be easily recognized by the inverted "V" dark camo pattern on the lower part if its port nose.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1925

19. When it was reassembled at Freeman Field at Seymour, Indiana, in the United Stated, parts were missing. Along its back spine, the Morane aerial, the access hatch to the MK 108 cannon as well as that to the C-Stoff tank are missing. Below, the fairings over the wing root and base of tail are gone. But more significant is the brace under the port wing. The starboard wing is missing in every picture of "White 54" in the USA. There is also damage to the tip of the tail module.


forum.12oclockhigh.net/album.php?albumid=73&pictureid=1926

20. In this photo even more parts have been stripped from "White 53" Note the "X"s in the windows of this hangar at Freeman Field.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1927

21. Finally, the entire rear of "White 54" is missing, including the tail module.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1928

22. In this photo, the damaged tail of "White 54" has been attached to the fuselage of "White 42" that will become "FE495". Note the "X"s in the windows.
"White 54"'s fuselage and wing were most likely used as spares to make "FE500" flight worthy between November 1945 and March 1946. However, the damage to the tail precluded it from being used. The designation "FE501" appears never to have been painted on. The remains of "White 54" were undoubtedly scrapped at Freeman Field.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1929

23. The most visible of the Me 163B's on the trucks at Merseburg was the port side view of "White 42"'s fuselage and tail.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1930

24. This is a poor view of the starboard side of "White 42" while still on the truck that took it to Kassel.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1931

25. It is likely that, on arrival at Kassel, with their tails still attached, the six remaining Me 163Bs were unloaded and lined up along a taxiway. Because of the angle of the rudder, the white "2" cannot be made out in this picture. Note the application of white tape in the form of a square immediately beneath the canopy that was not present at Merseburg.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1932

26. A comparison of the tails confirms it is the same Komet.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1933

27. However, "White 42" has a hidden identity. The protruding barrel of the MG 151/20 cannon, and its gunport lower in the wing root than that of a MK 108/30 cannon, indicate that it is one of the first Me 163 B-0s built, each with a versach number.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1934

27. In the line-up on the taxiway at Kassel, there are two similar photos of individual Me 163Bs like that of "White 42". This photo shows what I will call "White 5x" as its rudder, too, hides the second numeral. The gunport, with a recessed barrel and centred in the wing root, indicates a MK 108/30 cannon and therefore a Komet of one of the later production series. It also lacks the wappen and nose rings of the 14. Staffel just like "191301". It also has a similar camouflage pattern but the tails do not match.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1935

29. In this photo, the "White 51" can be made out. It has the protruding gun barrel of a MG 151/20 cannon. On p. 389, Ransom & Cammann report that the flugbuch of Ltn. Werner Jung of 14./EJG 2 shows that he flew "W51" on 14 and 15 January 1945 at Sprottau. They mistakenly connect W.Nr. 191301 with "White 51" Note the good view of the tip of the tail of "White 5x" above the canopy of "White 51".


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1936

30. In this comparison, the tip of the tail of "White 5x" matches that of the Me 163B fifth from the right at Merseburg.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1937

31. In this comparison, the tail of "White 51" matches that of the Me 163B seventh from the right at Merseburg.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1938

32. This is a poor photo of the three of them on the taxiway at Kassel. Now their tail modules have been removed and protective covering of the periplex has been taped on, in preparation for crating. At some point "White 51"'s nose propeller has been removed and has obvious dents in the nose... or it may be a glider. Note the protruding cannons of "White 41" and "White 42".

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1939

33. This is a poor enlargement of a cropping of picture #8. There are two tailless fuselages of Me 163Bs sitting in front of a hangar at Kassel, Germany. The far one is tipped on its nose.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1940

34. In this photograph, the "KE" of the stammkennzeichen "KE+SX" can be made out on the rear fuselage of the tipped up Me 163B.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1941

35. This photo was taken before "KE+SX" was tipped up. The unique camouflage of this aircraft can still be made out despite the extensive taping in preparation for crating. The dark wellen [meanders] over the entire fuselage are most apparent here on the undersides. The wappen [crest] of 14./EJG 2 is prominent on the side of the nose.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1942

36. This is a still from a film that shows the very first Me 163B-0 produced, the unpainted "KE+SX", W.Nr. 16310010, being flown as a glider by Heini Dittmar on 9 September 1943. On p. 373 of Ransom & Cammann, Me 163 ..., (2021), all the flights made in "KE+SX" are listed as "TG" or Towed Glider [schleppfluge in German]. This suggests that "KE+SX" had no rocket engine but rather ballast in fuel tanks used to practice the operational "dead stick" landings of the Komet". In this photo it has neither gunports nor a spinner on its pointed nose. Note the rounded tail tip.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1943

37. Seen beside a crated Me 163B, there is a rounded fairing inside the "tailpipe" of "KE+SX". No air vents are visible.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1944

38. Stripped of most of its taping and missing its tail wheel, "KE+SX" is seen in a dilapidated condition behind one of the hangars at Kassel with their distinctive lightning rods(?). It undoubtedly was scrapped there instead of being sent to the USA. A second Me 163B-0 glider, BV-4 "VD+EN" was also used for training by Erg.St./JG 400 before it became 14./EJG 2, see Ransom & Cammann, p. 374.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1945

39. I have yet to see a picture of "KE+SX" with its camouflaged tail . However, the wellen on its fuselage are so distinct that the probability is high that the tail of the third Me 163 B from the right at Merseburg is that of "KE+SX". Note the rounded tail tip.