Luftwaffe Ground Crew:

“NEW” Luftwaffe Aircraft Matainc / Mechanic:

There are a lot of overlooked uniforms on the site, here is just one that needs recognition, the guys who kept the aircraft flying, and got them ready for their daily missions, in all countries, are an overlooked lot. Look airplanes are like boats, but compounded times ten, they’re expensive to operate. They have to have pilots with some kind of training that is expensive and takes time and an investment in your people, but their planes are a whole other situation, the plane has to be ready to go as much as possible on a moment’s notice, so on downtime- matai nance was done, and aircraft are complicated, and even then high tech for the time, so the matai nance people were well trained educated people as well, and planes need a lot of matai nance, as well as refueling, re-arming, bomb-loaded, radio frequencies dialed in, tires checked, oil changes, and fuel and oil filter changes, coolant levels checked and so on on a daily level.

So the armorers, and mechanics, radio repairmen, and, a lot of talented folks kept the war machines running. From the frontline people to the people providing the food and bullets to get to where they need to go, the trains, trucks, boats, and ships to move it all, the tanks, destroyers, and bombers, its all about getting the support to push-on, lottery all the people behind them, and that’s what wins wars. A lot of brave, hard chargers, backed by serious support., and that’s where the guy in the coveralls comes in.

Luftwaffe Aircraft Expert Michanic:

Technichen Oberfeldwebel, ME-163 Komet Jagdgeschwader 400:

The Messerschmitt Me-163 was the world’s first rocket-powered fighter to enter squadron service, and the only one to ever see combat. The Komet had a wingspan of 30’7″ swept at 23°, one of very few swept-wing WWII warplanes, and was 19’2″ long. It weighed 4,190 pounds empty and 9,500 pounds ready for combat; the vast bulk of its total weight being fuel. The combat ceiling was 54,000′.

The plane was armed with two MK-108 30mm guns with 60 rounds each. There was a FuG-16ZU radio (with a blade antenna on top of the fuselage) and a FuG-25A IFF system. The rated maximum speed was 518 knots although in a dive under power, the Me-163 could exceed 543 knots. The Komet was the first plane in the world to exceed Mach 0.8 in level flight. By comparison, the top speed of a P-51 Mustang was 380 knots. By a wide margin, the Me-163 was the fastest operational plane of WWII.

The engine was a HWK-109-509A single-chamber, liquid-fuel rocket. The two-part fuel was the propellant C-Stoff (a hydrazine-hydrate/methanol blend) and the oxidizer T-Stoff (hydrogen peroxide mixed with potassium and cyanide). Forced together under pressure by a steam turbine, these two dangerous chemicals reacted very violently. Extreme care had to be taken when fueling a Me-163 so that residue or drops of one did not contact another. Several Me-163s blew up during fueling, as did an entire hangar.

The T-Stoff oxidizer also reacted with human skin and the fueling crews experimented with various protective gear. Komet pilots had to wear a special nylon over-suit. Leder Schutzanzug worn by the Oberfeldwebel shows wear and tear as well as some holes perhaps caused by a splash of T-Stoff. His place as a senior Technichen is clearly shown by the special Luftwaffe sleeve rank. With the Schutzanzug he will wear an enlisted Eineheitsfeldmütz and Schurstiefel.