The Me163 Komet - Rockets Are Dangerous

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A huge thank you to my Patreons who made this video possible- if you want to join them please go to / lordhardthrasher and in exchange you’ll get early video previews and my whitty bants on Discord
You can find me on Twitter - x.com/LordHard... if you want to shout at me there
Please keep comments fairly respectful and be mindful that text conveys no tone.
The story of the Me163 is a complex and multifaceted one, and I have attempted here to draw together a number of different sources into a narrative covering the political, structural, scientific and operational history. Necessarily I will have missed things and probably got things wrong. Where I know a mistake has been made, you’ll find it in the pinned comment marked “snagging” - one obvious example is Winkle Brown flew a "sharp" start after the war ended on an Me163 in Germany, and a towed flight in the UK, which I missed.
The below then is an extremely limited subset of the resources I’ve pulled on
Me163 Rocket Interceptor - Stephen Ransom and Hans-Herman Cammann - not for the feint of heart, a book with brilliant nuggets, a drunken editor and a lot of very pretty pictures. This was my primary source
Rocket Fighter - Marno Ziggler - Now out of print, this is a Hitler Jugen Own Adventure story most of which has some truth in it but a lot of which is Marno wishing to be in his early 20s and flying for the Fuhrer again. You can find it online fairly easily
The kids probably haven’t got a clue what a video tape is, never mind Betamax legacybox.com/... - Betamax vs VHS
Baxter, AD: Walter Rocket Motors for Aircraft, RAE Technote Aero 1668, September 1945 - a Technical note that’s incredibly hard to get hold of, but which I managed to find, quite by chance, in some papers I got years ago. Probably available from the UK National Archives still
www.walterwerke... - a fantastic archive of all things Walter but it isn’t an https site as a warning
hushkit.net/20... - The coal powered bomber rammer P.13
donhollway.com... - Bat out of Hell - great website for images of the Me163 as imagined in the Artists’ fever dreams
• WW2 Gun Camera: 8th Ai... - Gun Cam Footage of the Me163 and Me262s being shot at and down by various USAAF pilots.
airandspace.si... - Air and Space Museum have their usual, brilliant photos and terrible descriptions.

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21 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 1,1 тыс.

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

The music is what it is - if you really can't stand it the Patreon's Very Draft Draft is here but deeply unfinished - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UDMcZzr5-tU.html

@GorFrag 4 месяца назад

Me, I can stand it, and will, as im sure ill watch this many times in the background. i like this sort of vid. I apologize if my comment came off as a complaint, it was meant as constructive criticism, nothing more.

@warhearts92 4 месяца назад

No need for an apology, the music is nice

@Skythedragon 4 месяца назад

Why the music specifically? it wasn't in previous videos.

@deaks25 4 месяца назад

Music was fine, it was low enough volume that it didn't distract, but gave some background. Pretty well judged in my opinion 👌

@runlarryrun77 4 месяца назад

I actually enjoyed that aspect. Best vid yet technically speaking & I thought the music added something.

@PaulMcElligott 4 месяца назад

The Me163 was the perfect plane for pilots who were nostalgic for the life expectancy of their WWI brethren.

@bificommander7472 4 месяца назад

"I think we'd all like to know why they are called the Twenty Minuters."

@jeffharper9703 4 месяца назад

Gloider ☝

@IANF126 4 месяца назад

what are you talking about, the komet had tons of kills before before august 1944, did you not read the list of test pilots?

@johnwh1039 4 месяца назад

Right. 29 minutes left. Laptop charged. Check. Single malt with the correct glass. Check. Haggis in the oven. Check. Poppadums' and mushy peas (that maybe only me). Labrador at my feet borrowed from the neighbour (the Labrador not the feet). Ready.

@johnvanzoest4532 4 месяца назад

Cigar ??

@martijnvangelder1902 4 месяца назад

@@johnvanzoest4532Optional, but a very good choice, if I may say so.

@katarjin 4 месяца назад

Correct glass?

@The-yp7lr 4 месяца назад

@@katarjin The correct glass has been determined by generations of research at great expense considering the cost of test-grade whisky. It must have a heavy bottom so that it is not easily knocked over by a sweep of the hand dismissing another fellows pointless point. It must not be too heavy or it will be as deceptive as a beautiful woman in seeming to offer than is really on offer. It must be of pure crystal without flaw (unlike that eye-batting teaser whom I suspect is neither without flaw nor pure) so that the whisky is fully visible and any assault on the whisky by ice will set off a clear-toned alarm. The crystal must be strong enough to survive a toast to her Majesty (no one toasts the new bugger) without shattering. It must also not chip when smacked against one's teeth - not that such has ever happened to me personally. Finally it must be round enough to roll off a card table upon command (while surviving a fall to a carpeted floor) should one need retrieve an Ace accidentally dropped into a sock.

@GordonHouston-Smith 4 месяца назад

@@The-yp7lr Words of wisdom, well said. Now if sir would like to explain how there are 5 aces on the table...😁

@leighbellouny3904 4 месяца назад

39:19 “…developed flights mid leak…” I don’t care if it’s a mis-speak, or if it was written purposefully that way, that is ingenious

@ebnertra0004 4 месяца назад

Yeah, intentional or no, it's perfect

@harlequintheserpent7016 4 месяца назад

It's quite ironic how americans managed to pull something useful from exactly that with Blackbird

@Moonhermit- 4 месяца назад

@@harlequintheserpent7016 Well, it helps when your fuel leak means "dirty runway and wasted fuel" and not "the pilot is now the consistency of chocolate pudding".

@Oxide_does_his_best 4 месяца назад

I will continue to defy science and the Lord in my AH-64E Guardian attack helicopter, you will never take the sky from me.

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

I see. If you wouldn't mind just popping your home address here....

@RoamingAdhocrat 4 месяца назад

aren't those technically Boeing aircraft now 😬

@katarjin 4 месяца назад

I do wish I could go up in one once, got to sit in the front seat once, so many buttons and knobs...and that was 15 years ago.

@Nate0101 4 месяца назад

@@katarjinI'm surprised Lord HT hasn't already commented on the presence of knobs in helicopters... 😂😂😂😂

@imperialinquisition6006 4 месяца назад

@@RoamingAdhocrat I thought they always were? Pretty sure the issue isn't so much with their military aircraft as quality control with their newer commercial airliners.

@markdavis2475 4 месяца назад

Always found it surprising that Eric "Winkle" Brown actually did a powered flight in a 163... and lived to tell the tale 🙂

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

Same here - I actually didn't know until after this video was done, hence not talking about it, but I'm really surprised as basically all the fuel was contaminated and most of the ground crews were dead

@johnwh1039 4 месяца назад

You never read Viz when you were younger? Mr Brown had something in common with Buster Gonad. Well, 2 actually.

@markdavis2475 4 месяца назад

@@johnwh1039 LOL yep I read it😃 Well, more looked at the pictures 😃 I think I remember that "Big Vern" was my favourite 😃

@johnwh1039 4 месяца назад

@@markdavis2475 Particular favourite was Postman Plod. Sweet little old lady 'I say postie, any letters for me today?'. Postman Plan 'Nah, fuck off!'. Soon be 20.00 on 3rd June if we keep this up!

@GordonHouston-Smith 4 месяца назад

"Winkle" could make a brick fly.

@hansgruber3064 4 месяца назад

The Luftwaffe “wonder weapons” making late war German tank design look sensible.

@kenon6968 4 месяца назад

What were the even working on in 45? The super heavies had been canceled, so what did they have left, a "universal* light tank chassis? War-winning stuff.

@chrisgibson5267 4 месяца назад

@@kenon6968I'll have that. Whatever they were working on would have been completely outmatched by the humble Centurion and the Pershing. If we're looking at examples, then we might consider the Jagdpanzer 38 (d) Starr Even if they'd ever managed to squeeze the L70 cannon and ammunition into the already cramped and non-ergonomic fighting compartment by removing the recoil mechanism ( stil no cupola on it for the commander), it would have remained a little better to operate than a traditional anti-tank gun, and would have had to rely on prepared ambush positions to be in any way effective.

@GorFrag 4 месяца назад

allied wonder weapons, shitty things like radar and atomic bombs.

@hansgruber3064 4 месяца назад

@@GorFrag or even boring old trucks

@leighneil 4 месяца назад

@GorFrag @@hansgruber3064and boring Landing Craft and C-47s...

@kentlindal5422 4 месяца назад

"Rocket powered u boats"... that's a mental image, which will stick with me for the rest of the day. Congratulations HT. Also, nobody tell WG.

@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey 4 месяца назад

They did make a peroxide powered sub. The subs engines were able to run underwater. What could possibly go wrong? Naturally the peroxide powered U boats were called blondes.

@PobortzaPl 4 месяца назад

@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey wasn't it Brits who did that and hadn't they stop doing it after one disaster? Also, allegedly, thexreason of Kursk sinking was a torpedo powered that way...

@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey 4 месяца назад

The Type LXVII was a small coastal boat they built 3 of them. I think the British had their own blonde subs post war.

@richardvernon317 4 месяца назад

@@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey HMS Explorer S30 and HMS Excalibur S40. Known in service as HMS Exploder and HMS Excruciator due to the problems with HTP oxidiser systems!!!

@richardvernon317 4 месяца назад

@@PobortzaPl The British did lose a Sub to a HTP fuelled Torpedo explosion in a torpedo tube. HMS Sidon P259 in June 1955. The blast killed 12 men forward and a rescue party that went abord the sub before it sank lost a medical officer as he didn't use Breathing Apparatus. The Sub was savaged and later sunk as a ASW exercise target.

@ptonpc 4 месяца назад

Kudos to the shout out for Sir Terry. On the bright side, the Komet used up valuable resources and improved a lot of N*zis. So that's good.

@seevernet1 4 месяца назад

But I have to disagree with Lord HT, (Spoilers) 1) But the dragon he showed didn't blow up, and 2) Dragons were successfully used as a safe rocket/helicopter fuel

@MyMongo100 4 месяца назад

* improved= by distributing over a wide area or dissolving. Spat my beer out at that. well done!

@c4sualcycl0ps48 2 месяца назад

“This machine eats facists”

@irgendwieanders2121 4 месяца назад

There is a most wonderful little pamphlet called "Ignition! (An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John D. Clark)" to be found on the internet, which describes a little bit of the fun that can be had with ClF3 (and more!): "It happened at their Shreveport, Louisiana, installation, while they were preparing to ship out, for the first time, a one-ton steel cylinder of CTF. The cylinder had been cooled with dry ice to make it easier to load the material into it, and the cold had apparently embrittled the steel. For as they were maneuvering the cylinder onto a dolly, it split and dumped one ton of chlorine trifluoride onto the floor. It chewed its way through twelve inches of concrete and dug a threefoot hole in the gravel underneath, filled the place with fumes which corroded everything in sight, and, in general, made one hell of a mess." As it also has a foreword by a guy called I. Asimov, maybe get Jenkins to download it?

@Cordman1221 4 месяца назад

It also recommends that the best way to deal with a CIF fire is a good pair of running shoes. It has some good anecdotes (like burning various combinations of fuels made from the same things that make rot smell like, well, rot) but it's kind of a dense and tedious book altogether.

@Fordmister 4 месяца назад

"Father I am hungry, Feed me pilots!"

@timstradling7764 4 месяца назад

What a beastly machine. Glad it was on our side😊

@tonilogar5822 4 месяца назад

I have a friend who used to make explosives from hydrogen peroxide at home in his back yard as a teenager. You know .. for kicks. Sometimes I wonder, how we managed to survive our childhood.

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

I've often said that if the same Anti-Terrorism Laws and Shock Troop Local Cops had been around in the 1950s as there are now, there wouldn't have been many chemical engineers or chemists graduated in the US since then ..., at least, not many without a criminal record ... My chemistry teacher actually had a stoppered galss bottle, as above, of picric acid one the shelves, with the nice yellow crystals growing inside.

@dragonace119 4 месяца назад

@@rbaxter286 Oh god crystalized? Thats horrifying.

@paulelephant9521 4 месяца назад

@@rbaxter286 That's actually pretty bonkers imo, there's 'quirky teachers' and then there are lunatics who endanger their whole class! Maybe I'm overeacting, but picric acid, as far as I know, is more powerful than TNT but less stable, so having a crystalized bottle of the stuff in a classroom would seem ill advised!?!?

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

@@dragonace119 Well before anyone knew anything about it. The chemistry teacher was also the physics teacher, for the most part, too. I have become a BIG believer in Hazardous Material regulations in the US, especially the DOT regs that try to keep things safe on the roads. Used to carry a copy of 49CFR so I could look up interesting placard numbers, especially the ones with a hand melting from liquid dripping on it.

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

@@paulelephant9521 I don't think he knew it was there because this was an early 1900s high school with large storage areas with strange stuff in it. Went to university where there were these mannequin heads stored atop the chem lab cabinets, and it turned out they were for testing gas masks against mustard gas. Rumours said there were some 'interesting' drum buried on campus in areas that were The Deep Woods back in the Early 1900s ..., in D.C. ...

@ironwolf2173 4 месяца назад

Honestly early rocket experiments were a total roulette wheel of either success or hospital visits

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

You mean like SpaceX and that HUUUGE Roman Candle they're going to keep on duct taping until it finally makes it into orbit? The one that can't make reliable engines, so make a LOT of them!

@joshstanton267 4 месяца назад

And even more black sacks to the morgue 😬

@Mamorufumio 4 месяца назад

That’s if you weren’t in like 15 different places at once

@Charon-5582 4 месяца назад

Or the morgue in a soup tin...

@irgendwieanders2121 4 месяца назад

Or you just vanished into thick air...

@Starwar111ITA 4 месяца назад

Btw, reminder that, just like the 262, the only reason this aircraft's got swept wings is because they had CoG and CoL problems, the aircraft's already unstable as is, and since there were no FbW systems back in the day nor canards, the only way they had to stabilize the thing somewhat was to pull the wings back.

@jmirsp4z 4 месяца назад

no that was the 262. i very much doubt Lippisch designed all his flying wings to initially have poor CoG...

@Starwar111ITA 4 месяца назад

@@jmirsp4z Yeah sorry, made a typo yesterday evening. What I meant to say was that just like the 262, this one also had weight distribution problems, for the simple reason that the airframe was very short and stubby and the rocket engine was very heavy (due to the propellant), therefore the wings had to be pulled back to align CoG and CoP. I never claimed the man had designed all his flying wings to have poor CoG initially, but the Komet has objectively shitty CoG from the offset.

@nerd1000ify 4 месяца назад

Flying wings and tailless aircraft can work without sweep, but it is often beneficial. It puts the elevons (traditionally located on the outer 1/3 of the wings) further from the centre of mass, which improves their pitch authority. This is particularly helpful because to be stable a tailless aircraft has to be designed so the rear part of the wing acts as a tail. Usually thus is achieved by some combination of wing sweep, twist, airfoil selection (airfoils with reflexed trailing edges) and angling the elevons up a bit in level flight (which is really the same as reflecting the airfoil, if you think about it).

@flashgordon6670 4 месяца назад

The Nazis were a bunch of mad scientists. They could’ve easily won the war by building more panther 3 tanks instead of Tigers, more U boats and more 109s and Stukers, instead of wonder weapons. Once Britain was forced to surrender, utilise the Royal Navy and Britain’s resources, in return for leniency. All they needed was to amass more oil reserves, before attacking the USSR and not kill their own workforce and recruitment pool. They could’ve beaten all the Allies and afterwards, waged their ideological genocidal war. They were their own worst enemies. Silly buggers.

@flashgordon6670 4 месяца назад

Foo Fighters by ACME.

@chroniton571 4 месяца назад

“Red Fuming Nitric Acid, whatever the hell that is, it sounds absolutely bloody awful to me” You already know more than anyone should ever have to know regarding the hellspawn that is RFNA.

@ClayinSWVA 4 месяца назад

It's great stuff in railcar quantities, the chemical plant I used to work it had it shipped in weekly. One day at the transfer station, a valve broke and one tankcar emptied, it killed every tree for a 100 feet or more.

@irgendwieanders2121 4 месяца назад

Always add a bit of metallic copper to your RFNA before consumption, makes for a nice effect...

@petersmythe6462 4 месяца назад

Where do you work, the DPR of Korea missile/launch vehicle program?

@chroniton571 4 месяца назад

@@petersmythe6462 I decided it would be a GREAT idea to make some. I don’t know how I had the lack of knowledge to not realize that was a terrible fucking idea, yet had the knowledge to do it anyways. The dead spot in the lawn held for a long time, similar to what the first commenter mentions in his story.

@ClayinSWVA 4 месяца назад

@@petersmythe6462 Chemical Plant on the East Coast. This happened around 2003-2004 in City Point, Virginia near the Hopewell Chemical Plant. Explosives, fertilizer, and rocket fuel are close cousins.

@sovietcanuckistanian 4 месяца назад

The Komet lives in the rarified category, along side the Confederate Hunley submarine, of weapons that killed significantly more people on their own side than the enemy.

@Cordman1221 4 месяца назад

I think they exist in their own category of 'insane ideas that eventually find a place'. Submarines, obviously, about 50 years after the Hunley sinks, and Rocket fighters...uh...eventually? Maybe never actually, it turns out rockets don't really need the whole 'human strapped to them' part to do just fine.

@Mr-Trox 2 месяца назад

@@Cordman1221 Rocket fighters never really had a place, not outside what the ME-163 tried so hard to melt for itself. The jet engine was the far superior option for any actual sustained combat, and the rocket was better used for munitions, or spacecraft. H.L Hunley at least has the honor of being the mother of the modern submarine.

@bthsr7113 2 месяца назад

@@Mr-Trox The heavily intoxicated mother whose legacy somehow survived her.

@Mr-Trox 2 месяца назад

@@bthsr7113 To be fair to HL Hunley, she was literally the first submarine built specifically for fighting. She was significantly ahead of her time in that respect. If she'd not killed her namesake, perhaps that issue would have been solved before she sunk alongside Housatanic. Though apparently, while her spar torpedo is certainly part of the reason she sunk that third and final time, Housatanic *did* actually put a shot through her conning tower, which definitely contributed to her sinking.

@NickJohnCoop 4 месяца назад

I will always be amazed at the way Nazis kept trying to get this thing to work despite the fact it killed more Luftwaffe pilots than Allied Bombers.

@thomaskositzki9424 4 месяца назад

Because Nazis. They have no business in realisticly analysing situations. Never have, never will. All they got is distorted psychies and perverse faiths.

@RoamingAdhocrat 4 месяца назад

Building conventional piston-powered aeroplanes was broadly predictable by the 1940s. You could look at the numbers of Allied bombers turning up, how many bombers a Bf 109 or Fw 190 can typically shoot down before it's lost, how many of those you can produce, what prospects they have for upgrades... and realise you're losing. from there your only hope is a hail-mary. The Allies had the resources and capacity to win the war with continuous improvement of conventional tech, and indeed defeated Italy and Germany that way. The jet and nuclear programmes were in addition to that.

@francesconicoletti2547 4 месяца назад

What amazes me is that they keep mass producing prototypes. Just from the video it’s clear that the airframe needs to be larger, their needs to be better control surfaces, the rocket needs to be rethought. Given the delays in the program anyway having a good design team work on it for six months to work out the bugs doesn’t seem unreasonable.

@franciscoduarteauthor 4 месяца назад

@@francesconicoletti2547 but would Messerschmitt tolerate a good, potentially better than him, team of engineers under his roof?

@duncanluciak5516 4 месяца назад

See the V-2, but oh, Nazis didn't consider the workers "human".

@shaunbrierley5864 4 месяца назад

I work on a chemical plant that handles concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Your description of the hazards of contamination and runaway peroxide decomposition is spot-on.

@20chocsaday 4 месяца назад

If it is listed as "130vol" what concentration does that mean? I used to see workers kicking open a tap to draw off 3/4 of a bucket. It looked slightly more vicious than water. The minimum order was 5 tons, pumped into a SS tank outside the wall.

@shaunbrierley5864 4 месяца назад

@@20chocsaday 130vol means that 1 litre of hydrogen peroxide solution will generate 130 litres of oxygen at atmospheric pressure when fully decomposed. This is roughly equivalent to 35% hydrogen peroxide by mass, which is a standard commercial grade. 'High Test' hydrogen peroxide used for rocket fuel is typically around 86% by mass with a specific gravity of 1.36, which I calculate to be '407vol'. Any more concentrated than this and hydrogen peroxide becomes increasingly unstable and dangerous to handle.

@20chocsaday 4 месяца назад

@@shaunbrierley5864 Thanks. It was a lot better than PerBorate for bleaching.

@shaunbrierley5864 4 месяца назад

@@20chocsaday I once saw a demonstration in which some high test peroxide was squirted onto a dirty cotton glove from a pipette: the glove spontaneously caught fire and burned like a firework. Scary stuff!

@KPW2137 4 месяца назад

Fun fact I never tire to mention: yeah, Wunderwaffen. I totally get why people like to hear about them so much, it fuels countless WHAT IF scenarios, among other things. However, when you take a more somber look you might notice that there were quite a few successful wonder weapons developed and deployed during WWII... ... only they were Allied ones.

@kenon6968 4 месяца назад

if I remember correctly there is something like six or seven different submachine guns that got into various stages of production for the Volkssturm, so essentially to be dropped at this first sign of combat.

@josephhelgersonjoseph6115 4 месяца назад

Flashbacks to the Spike TV Alternate History pilot where the Nazis win WW2 by having the Me262 enter service earlier and thus leads to D-Day failing.

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

The Germans developed, tested, and deployed their's about 5 years too early, which actually was too early by Adolph's quasi-timetable. Combined with their ferocious, Frederick the Great "In Your FACE!" offensive spirit, it was enough to cow most in Europe. But then, Barbarossa and their abysmal intelligence and logistics were overwhelmed by the Allies 'secret weapon' of agile production, strategic logistics, and good-enough engineering which supported the war of attrition that Short, Sharp Shock German operational doctrine was unable to deal with (and, was designed to avoid). Japanese also fielded their aviation tech as standard just too soon, like engines just before the 2000 hp engines became a reality and 100 octane gas before they could mobilize the conquered oil fields ..., AFTER getting the US involved by attacking ...

@cromwellington441 4 месяца назад

Nazi wonder weapons: A tank that couldn't cross bridges A jet so advanced the brits put one in service 2 months earlier A ballistic missile that was defeated using the power of lying about where it was hitting Allied wonder weapons: A portable star

@nerd1000ify 4 месяца назад

Other allied wonder weapons: Shells with a tiny radar inside that makes them explode if they get close enough to the target Actually good sonar Sonar bouys Homing anti-submarine torpedoes Magnetic anomaly detectors Turbochargers that actually worked. Literal mass produced aircraft carriers...

@georgew.9663 4 месяца назад

39:21 I’m sure you meant develop leaks mid flight, but I like develop flights mid leak a lot more. We all expected it to leak, it’s a real miracle when it manages to develop a flight out of it

@waltermodel9730 4 месяца назад

Isn't the plane with exploding fuel that if leaked to the pilot literally cause his flesh to melt ? Yeah the mighty komet

@falloutghoul1 4 месяца назад

Yeah, there was even one instance where a Komet crash landed upside down with fuel leaking into the cockpit. The ground crews opened the cockpit only to find the pilot reduced to a soup-like consistency.

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

@@falloutghoul1 It took about 9 minutes to die....most unpleseant.

@rafale1981 4 месяца назад

@@falloutghoul1username checks out

@CutenCudlyToo 4 месяца назад

Only the Comet reduces an entire pilot to a soup-like homogenate

@idontknowhowtonamemychannel 4 месяца назад

@@CutenCudlyToo it is futuristic self cleaning feature akin to self cleaning ovens.

@__G__. 4 месяца назад

Love your videos, watched them all multiple times and enjoyed them everytimebut the background music you've chosen this time is really intrusive, might just be too loud but its just too insistant for its repetitiveness to be ignored. Love everything else though, the visuals and the voiceover are top notch as always

@jamiekagemori1299 4 месяца назад

I love your channel despite only discovering it recently. It’s wonderful to see the Nazis get clowned on almost universally in military history these days, as someone who grew up in the 2000’s-2010’s era of the “history” channel. Plus, I LOVE learning the background details about WHY things turned out the way they did. Your comedy is superb as well! Greetings from good old knee slappin’ USA.

@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey 4 месяца назад

I read a story about a 163 pilot who got the high test peroxide spilled on him while flying the Komet. He had to land the plane while his arms were on fire. He made it back but lost all the skin and some of his flesh from his arms and torso. Yikes.

@20chocsaday 4 месяца назад

But he dodged a 50cal.

@Chauzuvoy Месяц назад

I've watched this a couple times now and only just checked Willy's Wikipedia page and found to my surprise that you werent punking us with a picture of Kelsey Grammer.

@cyberfutur5000 4 месяца назад

Quick book recommendation for people who are interested in all that rocket fuel malaky , especially the hypergolic (or kust if you study chemistry) it's called "Ignition! (an informal history of liquid rocket propellants)" by a chap called John D. Clark, who worked on devoloping those propellants. It's not just interesting, but also pretty fun to read, those rocket fuel people where (and probably still are) mad lads and did shady stuff.^^ Well worth a read or listen.

@dongiovanni4331 4 месяца назад

Every time I read his section on chlorine triflouride I at least chuckle

@pops9049 4 месяца назад

I got the book when it was reprinted a couple of years back. Some sections are hysterical.

@unistrut 4 месяца назад

A relevant quote for this episode: "it would be faster to list the things that *don't* react explosively with high-test peroxide."

@ClayinSWVA 4 месяца назад

I like to think of that as 1001 things that we should never try again as it is just not worth it.

@fistsofham8474 4 месяца назад

Here to add my +1 but also to point out that a) the book is very accessible, and can be readily understood by anyone with an A-level in Chemistry (even one from more than a decade ago!), and that b) One of the snippets of detail does go in to what became of that supply of peroxide the Americans found: At this time, only the Germans had found how to make it in such high concentrations, so their process was instructive, and it found further use and development as a monopropellant, very convenient for manoeuvring in a cold vacuum like space.

@BalshazzarWastebasket 4 месяца назад

genius cut. "they were just about ready to start production except for ENTER THE ALLIED AIR FORCE"

@billymcmedic4221 4 месяца назад

The best thing the 163 komet did was give paradox a convenient place to put its obligatory “Comet sighted” event into HOI4, whereupon researching level 1 rocket tech as any flavour of Germany you decide to play as (Nazi, monarchist or democratic), a newspaper article titled “komet sighted” pops up, it’s effect gives a simultaneous +1% and -1% impact on stability (cancelling each other out) and is in reference to the “comet sighted” event of EU4, which causes stability to decrease by 1 (within a -3 to +3 scale).

@hedgehog3180 4 месяца назад

Victoria 2 also has the same event and it can give you prestiege, science or a third thing I forgot. The science option has the text “I'm glad we live in such enlightened times” which EU4 references with the option “I wish we lived in more enlightened times”.

@kosmokat111 4 месяца назад

@@hedgehog3180 sick pfp lol

@Jfk2Mr 3 месяца назад

"Comet sighted" event also exists in Stellaris, but there it's just an early game boost to unity

@Pablo668 4 месяца назад

This is brilliant work as always. These things were just nuts and I like to think can only happen in a dictatorship. What you were touching on here in the story about the development of the Komet is common throughout the history of the Third Reich. No matter what it was the Germans/Nazi's were constantly fighting and backbiting at each other for the entirety of this time period. In some ways it's amazing they ever got anything done. It was well satirized in one of my favourite documentaries, Allo Allo. Loved the Terry Pratchett reference btw.

@PaulManson-y5b 4 месяца назад

With a currency falling faster than a vegan in abbatoir - One of the best analogies I have heard in a long time. Sir another great video much enjoyed from my hot desesrt hideout. I trust the roof will soon be repaired and your unque intellect returned to providing us with your next wonderful nugget of historical realiism.

@andybricky1927 Месяц назад

Briliant video, multi purpose as well, after a hard day I fell asleep in the middle and by going through it again I was able to tell how long my nap was! Seriously it was so good I considered liking it twice. Keep going these are very entertaining.

@HardThrasher Месяц назад

Big up the sleeping crew - helps the viewing figures no end

@davethompson3326 4 месяца назад

Watching this at 2am, having given up on sleep tonight. The amount of wincing I am continuingly doing at all the potentials for disaster is distracting me from my leg pain remarkably well.😸 I am now well-informed, but reacting a little like a wet cat to the thought of T-Stoff injuries,

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

I'm waiting to see if he mentions the Natter, too. It didn't fly enough to have it's own episode, but it IS a Teaching Moment for Young Engineers. Another tremendous foray into German Wank Technology that the utter chaos in Nazi Germany produced. It was a chapter in my Ballentine History of the Violent Century series of books for Nazi Secret Weapons, I think.

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

I haven't gone down the Natter route for this one....however....

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

@@HardThrasher It would make an interesting small example in a compendium when you run out of the more Ubermensch projects and want to talk about the actual design and production process in the Reich, and what a cat rodeo 'Dolphie's Clown Car was. "Help us Obi Wan Hardthrasher, You're our only Hope!"

@bthsr7113 2 месяца назад

There's some twisted logic behind the Natter, though in practice it was another fail of a dying state that shouldn't have been.

@zenkdare1600 4 месяца назад

“I don’t like nazis”. Wise words Mr fancy British man.

@nortyfiner Месяц назад

Lowering the playback speed to 0.75 makes the narration much more understandable. Also, Lippisch sounds like he would have gotten along wonderfully with that guy who designed the Titan submersible and ended up going down with it.

@movetoiceland 4 месяца назад

Casually dropping Terry Pratchett references is what keeps me subscribed

@ianjardine7324 4 месяца назад

Poor Errol/163 he's genuinely friendly just a little high strung.

@TomRozel 4 месяца назад

“You’re a wonderful person just for having got this far.” I’ve never felt so validated for just having watched a video. Especially for one that was so thoroughly entertaining. (For the algorithm.)

@MsZeeZed 4 месяца назад

6:05 - That Opel Rocket car is amazing. Those middle “wings” are in an aeronautical configuration, but with a negative attack-angle, a crude attempt to push the wheels into the road, with the control described as difficult. It’s “negative-lift” rather than genuine “downforce” and not adequate for something as sophisticated as a turn. It’s pure happenstance making it look a bit like a 1970s racecar, that used inverted aerofoils on the steering wheels to turn corners at those speeds. That’s Fritz von Opel himself in 1928 driving at 146mph on the 6 mile AVUS racetrack straight, turning the 3,000 celebrity spectators into rocket-age believers. By comparison it took Mercedes another four years to beat that speed, at the same venue, with a straight-six supercharged petrol engine in a SSKL, Streamliner body which is the original “Silver Arrow”. It’s kind of a miracle Opel’s solid rocket car run came off, attempts to go faster on rail mounted vehicles literally came apart.

@tylerthompson5859 4 месяца назад

36:43 "large caliber freedom seeds". As an American, I completely approve. 🤣🤣🤣

@michaelmaclean6965 4 месяца назад

Spitfire vs 109, Prost Vs Senna, Impreze vs Evo and now Lord Hardthrasher vs Helicopter pilots. I love a good rivalry

@outcastmoth78kaminski4 14 дней назад

09:47 That's a No-No beaker!!! I worked with that stuff in a Quality control testing lab to etch and examine welds

@michaelmcgovern8110 4 месяца назад

My Dear Lord H: I forget how much I enjoy your work, and that of Jenkins, et alia. Now that I see more and am reminded, I thank you all again. Yours, A. Midatlantic Boffin

@theackshow5048 4 месяца назад

Damn you Lord HardThrasher! Once again, you have, through the magic of the RU-vid "Subscibe" button, caused me to lose some perfectly useful sleep watching your highly informative and semi-mesmerizing presentations on Nazi Germany's comic attempts at world domination! Although this time I have no family-related commentary on the the technology involved in winning the War for this post, at least I understood at least seven out of ten of the words you spoke thanks to my continued exposure to the "English" English language. Thank you, citizens of Weymouth, Dorset, the staff at The Imperial War Museum in London and my friend and British Expat Clumpton - who lives in Vichy, France. Someday, someone will create a series of Lord HardThrasher theme music Memes like that of RU-vid's Mark Felton... Do keep up the good work, chap. Cheers!

@marklittle8805 2 месяца назад

Lord Hardthrasher takes what Mark Felton does, fleshes out details and then adds in large doses of sarcasm. Good show! Education with large amounts of comic comment to keep one enthused.

@Checklight66 4 месяца назад

I have seen more than a few videos on the ME 163, this is one of the best, both in content and as usual that brilliant Hard Thrasher story telling. Thank you.

@NoSTs123 4 месяца назад

Finally the Kraftei 💪🥚 I would like to rewatch this video without having to hear the same 4 chords over and over again.

@HsMals3n 4 месяца назад

I dont mind the music, especially after min 30 ! The industrial electronic is fitting the topic and your style of narration (i see and appreciate you're experimenting and developing, i like it) Then again, everyone is different... Turning on subs might help your brain stay on track by providing a parallel visual stream the narration.

@MsJoao101 4 месяца назад

I did not realize how much i missed his Lordship! And i still can not find a god damned Jenkins bell anywhere...

@MrGrimsmith 4 месяца назад

Thank you so much for this, you have forever cemented the name of the slightly delayed exploding thing as the Muppet 163 Kermit rather than what they claim it was. I would like to make one observation with regards to your otherwise very accurate opinion of gliders - when something goes awry with your means of propulsion it is somewhat beneficial to have slightly better aerodynamic characteristics than that of a brick and knowing how to use them can be beneficial. I would also suggest amending your pre-falling from the sky ritual a smidge too. Only using the ashes of the heretic's hair seems wasteful...

@UnnamedBridgeburner 4 месяца назад

The electronic music is a bit distracting and gives me a headache after too long.

@GameBusterInc 4 месяца назад

Ohohoho! Lord Hard Thrasher thrashes a crackpot wunderwaffe classic? Delightful! Fiddleford fetch me a brandy! I shan't be leaving the study for quite a while!

@ebnertra0004 4 месяца назад

54:05 Fun fact: Assuming the placard is right, the tank car pictured is carrying H2O2 of at least 60% purity. It's no 80%, but still plenty angry if spilled

@baanibarnes9711 4 месяца назад

Entertaining, educational and colourful! Very well researched too, thanks for your informative efforts and yes, the dissolving-the-pilot fuel scares the hell out of me too - did no-one else see the issue with that (obviously they weren't flying it?). Apparently a lot more threatening to the poor bloody pilot than the enemy he was supposed to be taking out (landing was a bit of an issue too - a skid to save weight, not the pilot's arse).

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

And a fixed moulded seat to ensure spinal injuries in case they survive!

@RichieKeane 4 месяца назад

Genuinely miss your vids! Love the science with Thrasher! Defo skydeamon’s

@PNut8421 4 месяца назад

This video came to me as a random autoplay while driving home from work. This video succeeded a video on bloody SWORDS! 2 minutes in and I'm almost pissing myself. HOW HAVE I NOW FOUND THIS CHANNEL BEFORE NOW!?!?!?

@hairy-dairyman 4 месяца назад

Morning from the colony of Victoria. Love your work mate keep it up.

@johnscarsandstuff 4 месяца назад

I discovered your channel what feels like five minutes ago. Having watched all your videos I was eagerly awaiting the latest offering and was not disappointed. I remember reading with horror the Me163's gruesome history; I can think of few worse ways to die than being slowly dissolved by a corrosive substance. I'm already looking forward to the next video, whatever it may be.

@simonwhite8474 4 месяца назад

I was about 6 years old and in peak Thunderbirds when I saw one hanging from the roof of The Science Museum in London Blotchy camouflage paint, no wheels, tiny hole at the back and a ludicrous little propeller at the front. I hadn't seen anything so perfect since Thunderbird 2. While extremely glad that operationally it was a bag of shite, I still think it makes a fantastic exhibit. Cheers for the story.

@grievesy83 4 месяца назад

Commenting for the algorithm as I've nothing fresh to add beyond my usual comment that this video was an excellent addition to the collection, m'lord. Quite honestly, many an actual laugh out loud moment. I doff my hat.

@tinman7551 4 месяца назад

Immensely enjoyable video. Hilarious and informative, thank you 🙏🏻 😊

@plunder1956 3 месяца назад

The design and build of this aircraft and "Engine" was an insane idea before you started describing it. I am shocked that it built at all. Erick Brown flew one - even for him that seems like a drastic decision. How that guy survived so long was utterly astoninshing.

@grapeshot 4 месяца назад

These Wonder Weapons that were not so wonderful and did absolutely nothing to turn the tide.

@tedarcher9120 4 месяца назад

Also, Germans had like double the casualties of the allies because they banned the journal with instructions how to make penicillin

@Oldtanktapper 4 месяца назад

Well, from an allied point of view I’d say they were bloody marvellous weapons.

@grapeshot 4 месяца назад

@@Oldtanktapper but they did not turn the tide to help the Nazis win the war now did it

@sir0herrbatka 4 месяца назад

V1 and V2 did something. Battle of Antwerp was somewhat important and "Operation Crossbow" was something that at least Churchill considered important.

@jonathanmormerod 4 месяца назад

@@grapeshot Spot the person who didn't read the comment properly before replying.🤣🤣

@fookdatchit 4 месяца назад

Watched this multiple times now. Bloody hell its good. Top work m' Lud.

@nukclear2741 4 месяца назад

0:27 "Very effective at destroying resistance. Would recommend" Ghengis Khan, probably.

@coreymillward5984 3 месяца назад

The only thing I can say about this style of aviation content is I apologise for not finding you sooner. Absolute gold. And you deserve the impending thousands of subscribers you will gain from this. Thankyou for your time and research to put this out. I couldn’t subscribe fast enough.

@HardThrasher 3 месяца назад

Glad you like it, and welcome aboard!

@MisterFastbucks 4 месяца назад

Background music is making me stabby. 🔪🔪🔪🔪

@SouseMouse 4 месяца назад

You nailed it. Damn do I wish we had multi-track playback and could mute it.

@pork_cake 4 месяца назад

It's making me drink more. Probably the intended effect TBH.

@shlomz 4 месяца назад

Excellently researched and presented. Thanks!

@tinglydingle 4 месяца назад

The "develop flights mid leak" line at 39:20 is either the funniest joke or the most apropos misspeak you've ever made old boy!

@kenon6968 4 месяца назад

there is an example of one at the aviation museum in Ottawa remember seeing it as a kid and just being blown away by how small it is, I admire the balls of anyone who would climb into that thing willingly

@TheFozzieH 4 месяца назад

When we needed his Lordship most, he uploaded.

@HalfdanWinebench 4 месяца назад

Lol, your sense of humour always cheers me up with my morning coffee, before I go a gardening 😂

@materg7505 4 месяца назад

If like me, you were thinking that book of “Brilliant Decisions Made by Hitler” looked a little too thick, don’t worry I checked it out and all the pages are blank.

@johnwh1039 4 месяца назад

Thank you Hardthrasher. Superb. We; researched, witty as well as full of content. I doff my cap to you. There was a 163 in the RAF museum where I used to work as an engineering volunteer. Think its gone to RAF Museum Hendon now. I worked on it several times, It did feel 'scary'

@xXxNECROMONGERxXx 4 месяца назад

My favorite thing about the 163 is nobody considered how the hell you were supposed to like... Actually aim the fucking thing even at a target the size of a B-17 when you're in a trans-sonic dive through clouds.

@rbaxter286 4 месяца назад

Just think, they COULD have developed guided missiles to be a potent threat, as there were programs to do so. Instead, they wasted their time on Red Baron bravado!

@blockboygames5956 4 месяца назад

Fascinating and superbly researched. And regularly amusing. Thank you!

@chrisgibson5267 4 месяца назад

In much the same way as I've only ever met one dedicated fascist, I only know of one man who has had any kind of truck with gliders. You'll completely understand when I tell you that he was exhilarated when he managed to get his brand new Blackbird* airborne whilst riding ( flying?) through very technically challenging Trough of Bowland, was positively beaming after leaving a Mercedes sports car trailing in his wake as he crossed a nearby moss** at a little over130 mph, and how strange he thought it was when he reduced a friend of his to a quivering jelly when they took their respective motorcycles onto the German autobahn***. He did once tell about a number of the recent fatalities at the gliding club brought on by the presence of the many steep, immobile and otherwise harmless hills in the area which are lovely to look at from a distance, but best avoided once airborne and travelling at speed. I'll see myself out. * Some kind of ridiculously fast motorcycle that large bulky men in their late 70s should absolutely bloody avoid if they have any ideas about being an octogenarian. ** Most of the roads across the various mosses are only roads due to the rather broad and hazy definition of the word in farming and country communities. It's always been obvious to me that six feet of relatively flat ancient tarmacadam with often entirely random cambers bordered by steep ditches greatly reduces your options when an unforced error leaves you in need of something a little broader, a whole lot flatter, and far less curvy. *** " He's a fuc€ing lunatic, and I'm never going back there with him as long as I can fuc€ing draw breath! Tw@t!"

@henrythewhite 4 месяца назад

30:37 the most badass and triumphalist introduction I've ever heard Lord Hardthrasher give the Allied Air Forces

@Shadooe 4 месяца назад

"... so fuck 'em." That sums it up pretty well.

@colm-u8m 4 месяца назад

Fantastic. I admire your refreshing interpretation of historic figures. Never stop.

@seanquigley3605 4 месяца назад

I say HardThrasher......thats the last time I send my Irish Navvys over to assist you on a project.....did you let them drink the fuel? My God man they were pissed as newts and going on about reunification and independence and all kinds of rot!!!! Good God even my Scottish servants were into whatever it was you sent them home with. All of them were singing something about being "On the road to paradise." My security detail said its called a "Celtic Symphony" but sounded damned Bolshie, I know your rather easy on your man Jenkins and go at least a fortnight between whippings but I say man!!!! As much as I enjoy you showing how our Aristocratic elite managed to whip the Boch twice in one century with help from our cheerfull working class I shall have to withdraw my servants assistance on projects if this happens again!!!

@JohnSmith-ye3me 4 месяца назад

Keep them coming, helps me get through the week 👍🏻

@bigblue6917 4 месяца назад

Ironically there was a proposal to make a scaled down version as a surface to air missile, where going bang in mid air was a positive advantage. The problem was the plan was halted in 1943 and by the time it was realised what a good idea it was it was too late.

@hedgehog3180 4 месяца назад

I mean the Nazis did try to make a SAM but that didn't work and if you look up the engineering of the SA-75 you'll probably understand why, there's no way that Nazi radar technology would accomplish that.

@20chocsaday 4 месяца назад

Oh, did you see the film clip where two anti-aircraft rockets were strapped together, but they were both at a slight angle to each other? The intention was to induce spin so they would fly straight like a shell.

@richardvernon317 4 месяца назад

It was built and flown as the Enzian. Around 35 of them were flown in prototype form, but it like most of the other SAM projects were canned in January 1945. Like all of the other German SAM projects, the proposed guidance systems were next to useless.

@bigblue6917 4 месяца назад

@@richardvernon317 Interestingly all those involved in the cancelled projects, including the scientists and engineers, were sent to fight on the Eastern Front. So much for the NAZIs being big on science.

@ssg9offical Месяц назад

I wanna see a picture of this.

@free_at_last8141 4 месяца назад

This was a lot of fun! Please keep up the great work!

@geordiedog1749 4 месяца назад

See that picture of Willie M? That’s like a picture of him posing. He hasn’t been caught in that rictus grimace. He’s choosing to look like that. Mein gott

@Deltaguy447 4 месяца назад

I really do hope that leak gets sorted out. Thank you for another splending watch, HardTrasher! Found your channel through pig and animarchy, and have not regretted subscribing ever since :) Really enjoy the truely british humor and clever remarks. Keep it up!

@kyleshape8645 4 месяца назад

H2O2? Fly the Komet if you _really_ want to frost your tips LOL

@HardThrasher 4 месяца назад

At 80% concentration your tips would be smoking. Literally.

@MostlyPennyCat 4 месяца назад

You know what's really fun? H²O³ Just reading its name causes it to explode.

@idontknowhowtonamemychannel 4 месяца назад

I once held bare handed supposedly washed bones after 20% h202 soak and my skin turn white full thickness immedeately. Bones were very clean so that at least was correct.

@BjornTheDim 4 месяца назад

Peroxide? 80 percent hydrogen peroxide as fuel? As in eight-zero, not one-eight? HOOH boy....

@theleva7 4 месяца назад

It'll frost your tip allright

@mitchellminer9597 4 месяца назад

Thank you, Lord. That was more fun than an actual flight in a 163.

@adamnoakes2550 4 месяца назад

It's fine for transitions, but please remove the music from behind the main presentation sections. Otherwise wonderful.

@kylemosher6487 4 месяца назад

Thank you so much for another awesome video. Keep up the good work

@NewbType07 4 месяца назад

The joke about italian war heroes hit way harder than i anticipated

@andyguy0610 4 месяца назад

What can I say, well up to your excellent standard! Facinating watching, When people ask why do i not have a TV licence and watch TV, er well channels like yours is the answer. Keep up the excellent work. I hope Jenkins was able to resolve the issue with Customs and Excise, perhapse with some more garden remodeling 🙂

@francesconicoletti2547 4 месяца назад

The Japanese had rocket powered suicide gliders as well. They just designed them that way from the start.

@gregoryphilip9731 4 месяца назад

😂😂😂

@barbaraanneneale3674 4 месяца назад

This was well worth waiting for. It is one of your very best efforts So far. Well done indeed.

@jeffstaples347 4 месяца назад

168 views, 651 likes. Hardthrasher provides.

@bunderwood2000 4 месяца назад

Your videos are always well detailed and well researched, plus I like when someone is talking about history with a fair amount of expletives used. Looking forward to the next video.

@samrobinson566 4 месяца назад

Your Lordship, I've been a fan and a subscriber since pre-Pig days, but I am struggling with the background music. It doesn't seem to quite fit the tone of the video, and your voice is more than enough to carry the commentary. Please, could we go back to a lack of background music in future? I'm finding it hard to tune out the noise so I can listen to the wisdom. Love your work, recommend your channel regularly to fellow plane nuts, but I hope you don't mind a little feedback Best wishes, and I hope Her Ladyship's riding is improving S Edit - I saw your note, and switched to the draft version. Thanks 😊

@Ostentatiousnessness 4 дня назад

Your talking about how spectacularly explosive the early fuel mixtures were reminds me of Drach’s video on the Long Lance, and liquid oxygen torpedoes in general, where they learned really fucking quickly that pure oxygen will explode if it touches anything as innocuous as room temperature machine grease.