The Messerschmitt Bf 163 was an STOL aircraft designed by BFW and built by

Weserflug Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH, known as Weserflug, was an aircraft manufacturing company in Germany. History The company was founded in 1934 as a subsidiary of the ship and machine company Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG (DESCHIMAG). It began prod ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Design and development

During the autumn of 1935, the considerable potential of the

Fieseler Fi 156 The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, "stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short fie ...

project for the tasks of short-range reconnaissance and aerial observation had prompted the RLM to draw up a requirement for an army cooperation and observation aircraft with its performance parameters. The requirement stipulated the use of the

Argus As 10 The Argus As 10 was a German-designed and built, air-cooled 90° cylinder bank-angle inverted V8 "low power" aircraft engine, used mainly in training aircraft such as the Arado Ar 66 and Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stösser and other small short-range r ...

or the

Hirth HM 508 The Hirth HM 508 was an air-cooled, eight-cylinder, 60° cylinder bank angle inverted-V aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1930s. It had a bore and stroke of 105 mm × 115 mm (4.1 in × 4.5 in) and developed 210 kW (280 ...

engine and placed emphasis on short field performance, maximum possible allround view for the two crew members, and a wide range of speed. It was intended that the resultant aircraft, which the

Siebel Si 201 The Siebel Si 201 was a German air observation post and army cooperation aircraft, designed and built by Siebel. Evaluated against other types, the Si 201 did not enter production and only two prototypes were built. Design and development Design ...

was also designed to compete for, would be evaluated in competition with the Fi 156. The Bf 163 closely followed the formula established by the Fi 156 by being a high-wing braced

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with a metal structure, automatic leading edge wing slots, double slotted flaps, and an exceptionally tall undercarriage. The aircraft's most interesting feature was the provision for varying the incidence of the entire wing which swivelled on its mainspar, the bracing struts being attached to the fuselage by ball joints and changing their angle with movement of the wing. Construction of the sole prototype was entrusted to

, though due to its origin with the ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' before mid-July 1938, it retained the ''Bf'' RLM prefix for the earlier firm.

Operational history

First flown on 19 February 1938 and powered by the Argus As 10C, the Bf 163 V1 proved to have similar performance characteristics to those of the Fi 156 but was more complex and expensive. Although some components for a second prototype were manufactured, the Bf 163 V2 was not completed and further work on the Bf 163 was terminated in favor of the

Designation

In a very rare decision, the RLM reissued the airframe designation number 8-163 for the Me 163 ''Komet'' rocket-propelled interceptor, after having used the number for the Bf 163. The two aircraft are distinguished by the abbreviation: the earlier ''Bf'' 163, and the later ''Me'' 163. The new "Me" prefix was adopted for all new designs of Messerschmitt aircraft, after the company's official name of ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' (BFW) was changed to ''Messerschmitt AG'', from

Willy Messerschmitt Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most important ...

's full acquisition of the ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' firm on July 11, 1938.

Specifications (Bf 163 V1)

Sources

* Green, William ''Warplanes of the Third Reich''. Galahad Books, 1986. . {{RLM aircraft designations Bf 163 1930s German military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938

Design and development

Operational history

Designation

Specifications (Bf 163 V1)

See also

Sources