There are claims that have long circulated the internet about an Me 163 pilot getting dissolved to nothing by its volatile rocket fuel.
Fact, myth or embellishment? I cannot find any documents or testimonty on this.
Me 163 pilot getting dissolved?
Re: Me 163 pilot getting dissolved?
Well, generally it is pretty a myth, originating from Oblt. Joschi Poehs' accident on December 30, 1943 in Bad Zwischenahn.
Poehs flew the cold engined Me 163 A V8 (CD+IM) on that day. When the undercarriage was jettisoned after take off, it hit some bulge on the ground, bounced unusually high, striking the aircraft and damaging a fuel line. This caused an automatic engine shutdown (it was a safety measure to prevent explosion in case of improper fuel to catalyst flow ratio). Poehs performed an unpowered turn back towards the airfield but then hit a radio mast with a wing, having not enough controllability no to avoid it. The aircraft crashed to the ground and exploded, killing the pilot on the spot.
According to the EKdo 16 commander, Wolfgang Spaete, who described the accident in detail, chief engineer Brede, investigating the accident, reported that "Even though he was wearing a protective suit, his entire right arm was dissolved by T-Stoff. It just simply wasn't there. There was nothing more left in the sleeve, The other arm, as well as the head, was nothing more than a mass of soft jelly".
On the other hand, the T-Stoff (i.e. 80% stabilized hydrogen peroxide) was not so dissolving - Spaete also describes on another occasion a kind of a joke, he encountered - the liquid could be safely stirred with a finger, one just needed to rinse the finger quickly afterwards, risking only that the skin will be bleached.
Poehs flew the cold engined Me 163 A V8 (CD+IM) on that day. When the undercarriage was jettisoned after take off, it hit some bulge on the ground, bounced unusually high, striking the aircraft and damaging a fuel line. This caused an automatic engine shutdown (it was a safety measure to prevent explosion in case of improper fuel to catalyst flow ratio). Poehs performed an unpowered turn back towards the airfield but then hit a radio mast with a wing, having not enough controllability no to avoid it. The aircraft crashed to the ground and exploded, killing the pilot on the spot.
According to the EKdo 16 commander, Wolfgang Spaete, who described the accident in detail, chief engineer Brede, investigating the accident, reported that "Even though he was wearing a protective suit, his entire right arm was dissolved by T-Stoff. It just simply wasn't there. There was nothing more left in the sleeve, The other arm, as well as the head, was nothing more than a mass of soft jelly".
On the other hand, the T-Stoff (i.e. 80% stabilized hydrogen peroxide) was not so dissolving - Spaete also describes on another occasion a kind of a joke, he encountered - the liquid could be safely stirred with a finger, one just needed to rinse the finger quickly afterwards, risking only that the skin will be bleached.