Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

The 109-509A-1 was the power plant for the World War II German Me 163 B-1 Komet rocket fighter. It was the first variable-thrust rocket engine to be installed in a service aircraft and employed hydrogen peroxide with a hydrazine hydrate/methanol mixture as propellants. Some peroxide was diverted to a catalytic chamber containing potassium permanganate, producing steam to drive turbopumps to move the propellants The engine produced from 200-1800 kg (660-3740 lbs) thrust for 8-10 minutes. Developed by the firm of Helmut Walter in Kiel, it went into series production in August 1944. The Me 163 B-1, the world's first and only operational rocket fighter, was used in attacks against U.S. bombers in the fall of 1944, but did not prove very successful.

The Smithsonian received this engine as a gift from Purdue University in 1967, which presumably had received it from the U.S. Air Force after World War II.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Boeing Aviation Hangar
Object Details
Date 1944-1945 Country of Origin Germany Type PROPULSION-Rocket Engines Manufacturer Helmuth Walter KG
 Dimensions Overall: 2 ft. 3 in. tall x 3 ft. 1/2 in. wide x 8 ft. 5 1/2 in. deep x 8 in. diameter, 365 lb. (68.6 x 92.7 x 257.8 x 20.32cm, 165.6kg)
 Materials Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Paint
 Inventory Number A19680002000 Credit Line Gift of Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.