Eric “Winkle” Brown ME163 Komet & Oxford Diecast Latest Model Announcements

The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, was designed by Alexander Lippisch. This was a German rocket-powered fighter aircraft. It is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational. Its design was revolutionary, and the Me 163 was capable of performance which was unsurpassed at the time.

German test pilot Heini Dittmar in early July 1944 reached a staggering 700 mph, which was a flight airspeed record. Over 300 aircraft were built, but the Me163 Komet proved ineffective as a fighter and was responsible for the destruction of only about nine Allied aircraft.

Once on the ground, the aircraft had to be retrieved by a Scheuch-Schlepper, a converted small agricultural vehicle towing a special retrieval trailer that rolled on a pair of short, triple-wheeled continuous track setups (one per side), with twin trailing lifting arms, that lifted the stationary aircraft off the ground from under each wing. Another form of trailer, known also to have been trialled with the later B-series examples, was tried during the Komet‍ ’​s test phase, which used a pair of sausage-shaped air bags in place of the lifting arms and could also be towed by the Scheuch-Schlepper  tractor, inflating the air bags to lift the aircraft. The three-wheeled Scheuch-Schlepper  tractor used for the task was originally meant for farm use, but such a vehicle with a specialized trailer was required as the Komet was unpowered after exhausting its rocket propellants, and lacked main wheels after landing, from the jettisoning of its “dolly” main gear at take- off.

Captain Eric “Winkle”Brown RN, Chief Naval Test Pilot and commanding officer of the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight, and who tested the Me 163 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, said, “The Me 163 was an aeroplane that you could not afford to just step into the aircraft and say ‘You know, I’m going to fly it to the limit.’ You had very much to familiarise yourself with it because it was state-of-the-art and the technology used.” Acting unofficially, after a spate of accidents involving Allied personnel flying captured German aircraft resulted in official disapproval of such test flights. However Eric Brown was determined to fly a powered Komet. On around 17 May 1945, he flew an Me 163B at Husum with the help of a co-operative German ground crew, after initial towed flights in an Me 163A to familiarise himself with the handling. The day before the flight, Eric Brown and his ground crew had performed an engine run on the chosen Me 163B to ensure that everything was running correctly, the German crew being apprehensive should there be an accident. Eric Brown gave them a disclaimer signed by him to the effect that they were acting under his orders. On the rocket-powered “scharfen-start” take-off the next day, after dropping the take-off dolly and retracting the skid, Brown later described the resultant climb as “like being in charge of a runaway train”. The aircraft reached 32,000 ft. in 2 minutes, 45 seconds. During the flight, while practicing attacking passes at an imaginary bomber, he was surprised at how well the Komet accelerated in the dive with the engine shut down. When the flight was over Eric Brown had no problems on the approach to the airfield, apart from the rather restricted view from the cockpit due to the flat angle of glide, the aircraft touching down at 125 mph. Once down safely, Eric Brown and his much-relieved ground crew celebrated with a drink. Apart from Eric Brown’s unauthorised flight, the British never tested the Me 163 under power themselves and due to the danger of its hypergolic propellants it was only flown unpowered.Eric Brown himself piloted RAE’s Komet VF241 on a number of occasions, the rocket motor being replaced with test instrumentation. When interviewed for a 1990s television programme, Eric Brown said he had flown five tailless aircraft in his career (including the British de Havilland DH 108). Referring to the Komet, he said “this is the only one that had good flight characteristics”; he called the other four “killers”.

Oxford Diecast announced this week a Brand New Tooling and also a number of Brand New Releases to Pre-Order. Among these are two versions of the ME163 Komet as flown by Eric “Winkle” Brown”. The first of these is an unsigned version of the model above and is available at Flying Tigers at £12.99 plus postage. The other is a signed version available at Flying Tigers for only £19.99 . This is personally signed by Eric “Winkle” Brown on an individual plaque supplied with each model. I sent a note out earlier in the week on this and the interest has been staggering! I have already doubled my order with Oxford on the signed version and if you would like to order one of these I would not delay. Please click on the model image above to go straight to the model on the website.If you prefer to order by phone rather than use the website please call 01604 499034 during normal business hours Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. or email me at [email protected]

Oxford Diecast New Announcements this week.

I have included in this week’s Newsletter just some of the latest model announcements. The first of these is a BRAND NEW TOOLING , the Airspeed Oxford.  At last an Oxford by Oxford ! If you are interested in taking a closer look , please click on any of the images below or alternatively click on the link HERE, or visit the Future Releases Section.

72DV002 De Havilland Sea Devon 781 Sqn. RNAS Admirals Barge  Flying Tigers only £28.99

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HOBBYMASTER 1/72nd SCALE NEW TOOLING F-14A TOMCAT 

Just a quick update on HA5201 F-14A Tomcat U.S. Navy USS Enterprise (CVN-65) VF-211 “Fighting Checkmates” 2004  Flying Tigers Only  £89.50. We have received the first picture of this new tooling for Hobbymaster and it looks like it is going to be a beauty ! Take a sneak preview below. Click on the image below to hve a closer look at this model.

OFFERS OF THE WEEK & FLYING TIGERS SPECIAL OFFERS !

Please take a look at this week’s Offer of the Week Section and see if there is anything you need for your collection.I have added  a 1/32nd scale Hobbymaster Premium Range Hellcat which looks at absolutely fantastic ! I have only re-stocked with a few that are available from Hobbymaster but I have reduced this from the normal price of £169.99 to only £89.99 while stocks last. I have included some images below so you can get a good idea of the detail on this model. Full specifications are on the website which you can read by clicking on any of the images below which will take you straight to the model on Sale. 

Flying Tigers Website

Just a quick thank you to those customers who called me to say they were having difficulty recently finding their Shopping Cart after they had made their purchases. We have checked this out and on some browsers this was not being shown as clearly as it could have been. This has now been fixed and the “View Cart ” box is now shown more clearly. If any of you experience difficulty again, please call me as I value your Feedback so that I can fix the problems. Don’t forget that you can always give me a call if you prefer to order over the phone…01604 499034 (9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Monday to Friday or leave a message on the answer phone and I will get back to you.

Thank you for taking time to read this week’s Flying Tigers Newsletter.

Richard.

Flying Tigers.