ME-163 Komet flown by Test Pilot Rudy Opitz.

[@longshot7601]

The pilot was even wearing a WW2 version GoPro. THAT'S extreme. :-)

[@gratefulguy4130]

Ahead in everything 💪

[@tomkugler925]

I heard a story about a soaring convention near DC and there was a tour of the Air and Space Museum set up for the attendees. They went on a bus to an area where an Me 163 was being refurbed and the museum docent was talking about the plane to the crowd when Rudi stepped forward. To the amazement of the docent, Rudi started talking about the plane and his experiences with it.

[@gratefulguy4130]

That's incredible

[@vonmazur1]

Rudi was a friend of mine when he worked at Lycoming in Stratford CT. He was a very intersting fellow. We flew the UH-1 together there in 1971....

[@brucebear1]

My gliding club in Maryland, 1980s time frame, held sailplane competitions. I believe that Rudi had given up active racing competitions but his son Michael was an active competition pilot and Rudi would usually come to these meets as part of Mike's support team. Rudi was also asked to speak at discussion events and instructors' courses. I am glad that I got to know him slightly.

[@twobluehorses]

If I recall correctly two of the fuel tanks were in the cockpit situated on either side of the pilot. The pilot wore a special suit constructed, I think, of asbestos so that if there were a leak he'd have a few seconds to escape before the fuel began reacting with his skin and melted his flesh. Knowing that you have to wonder what Herr Optiz is smiling about. Brave man!

[@skyjock3213]

Rudy taught me to fly gliders when I was 14 years old (18 years ago). I was scared shitless of this German pilot with a thick accent. Even through my fear, he was an amazing man and I always enjoyed listening to him tell stories. My favorite recollection of him was that when I made a mistake in the air, he would slap the stick against my leg while yelling NEIN NEIN NEIN!

[@TucsonDude]

What did you thnk of him?

[@seanthompson8071]

I worked for a guy that was also a glider pilot and met Rudy many years ago.

[@BOOOZB]

You'r juste saying that you have flown gliders with Rudi OPITZ as your flight instructor ! That's a huge piece of history ! Each of these young men that flew in Bad Zwischenhahhn , to test and tune the final brew of this tool of future , were as well . a young team of very enthusiastic pupils, very sharp pilots , and for few unlucky ones : short time of life test pilots ! Later , I found the book , writen by Mano Ziegler : relating this foolish training period , flown under the fleets of terrorists blind bombers mainly in Bad ZwischenAhn ! Please , could you tell some more about these guys ? Among German pilots that survived the WW2 were very impressive peoples ,most of them were prestigious glider pilots , with incredible experience in glider fligts over the Alpen . I met few of them when I had the chance to perform gleider flights in Bayerischen Alpen ( most magnificent Alpen ! Bad Reichenhall , Salzburg ,Grossglockner .. Steinemeer...). Thank you anyway for what you have told us already .

[@b3j8]

The man"s got balls of steel to get into that thing Pure steel!

[@TheWorld-of7dd]

He ain't got no choice

[@BELCAN57]

Notice that Herr Opitz is wearing a special suit. It was a rubberized safety garment that was supposed to be "resistant" to the extremely corrosive fuels used in the Walther rocket engine. The fuel was so corrosive that it could dissolve your hand if you should be so unlucky to get some splashed on you.

[@charletonzimmerman4205]

Rubberized -"ASBESTOS", yeah, nothing says "SAFETY", like ASBESTOS"

[@NeonNotch]

(I believe) the fuel was “C-Stoff” and the oxidizer was “T-Stoff”. T-Stoff alone, to my knowledge, is highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Together the two form a hypergolic mixture. Scott Manley has a great KZbin video on both substances and discusses the book “Ignition!” by John D Clark. Scary.

[@JPIGGUS]

Rudy Opitz came to the USA after the war, worked for FairChild Hiller in Connecticut but I think he was restricted from test flying. Became a well known glider pilot instructor. His son was a pilot for Eastern Air Lines, participated in gliding championships in Europe with his father being ground crewman. Story was that son did not have a glider but when he and father appeared in Europe for the competition, his father's reputation got him a glider donation. Interview shows Opitz describing his being 2nd test pilot to fly the Komet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHzbdJeQnceki6M

[@j.thomas3207]

I met Mr. Opitz when I was a child, through my grandfather, Thomas O'Donnell, Flying Gliders at Nutmeg Soaring..

[@TucsonDude]

What did you think?

[@danndank]

1:15 - proof that zee germans invented the GoPro camera

[@adrianotero7963]

Go pro in 1943.

[@opoxious1592]

Ze Germans pretty much invented every advanced technology

[@krollpeter]

@@opoxious1592 not every but I am amazed about all these beautiful toys "my grandpa" developed.

[@craigd1275]

Germans invented inventing. .

[@Kppot]

He's got GoPro on his head for 4K movies!

[@jonbryn4]

lol

[@slimchancetoo]

Pity the newsreel cameraman did NOT have one.

[@fortboy66]

That's a robot camera, it had a clockwork film advance system.

[@hugohxl2758]

Camera was installed in the nose of the messerschmit

[@liondecka9062]

Kppot war is never funny, buthead

[@gordonmusic9712]

True heroes not for what Nazis did but to all test pilots the courage and bravery required to fly some of those contraptions

[@alamzebkhan4904]

Mother of GoPro in 1943! No doubt Germans were the true fathers of modern military technology.

[@mailperson]

Nice, nothing like staring at white sky.

[@predattak]

overexposure is the devil...

[@TheSoundsage]

Ja, they were light years ahead of the Allies (except in lighting)

[@anthonyz7000]

Some say he taxied all the way to France

[@nicktamer4969]

For those who wonder, the music is from Franz von Suppé. That's funny how YT oblige to write musical credit where you can find several publishing label you will never care about, but you will not find the name of the composer, wich is the only important thing.

[@NathanDudani]

Sounds pretty corporate to me

[@kneeslider47]

An invisible fighter! Wow, no wonder the Luftwaffe had high hopes for it!

[@danielvalente5597]

Que Avanzada Estaba Alemania..Fijate..Una Go-Pro..En El Casco!!..Espectacular

[@wwhb4780]

look at the wall in your room or office. If you happen to have a spider, even a small one, there is more action than in this video. Not every scrap of film is worth publishing. I still awarded a "like" for publishing a historic moment, but it does way of more promise than keep.

[@jamielacourse7578]

Say what you want about ww2....as a test pilot this guy has balls that clank!!!

[@kamikazeyamamoto4545]

Wow! I never knew the Germans invented the GoPro Cameras! Those damn Nazi scientists were some damn smart cookies! Ausgezeichnet!

[@francisfake782]

They were responsible for moon landings.

[@SSmith-fm9kg]

I've often wondered who the Komet caused more grief to, its pilots or the B-17s they went after...

[@dmcalut]

No need to wonder, it was to its pilots.

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

...it inspired terror in U.S. bomber crews (a condensation trail rising from the ground was a sight that bomber crews quickly came to fear), but this aircraft was far more dangerous to the pilots and ground crew than to any U.S. bomber... ...many of these planes simply exploded just waiting on the runway...

[@Pfsif]

Beautiful plane, cool concept by way too dangerous to fly anywhere with that fuel.

[@TucsonDude]

Rudi was truly one of the Master Race. We only one by sheer volume (quantity over quality). Excellent vid...thanks!

[@annihilus10]

BRAVE man

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

...@1:12.. ...the grandfather of all Go-Pros!...

[@MrPijus123]

Dat GoProAlpha tho

[@murraykriner9425]

Intriguing images from the very beginnings of the Komet program. Sadly the camera man didn't know how to set his film camera up for the final run on this bright day. My thanks for sharing.

[@arthurlewis9193]

I was watching this avidly. Then I realised it was a biscuit crumb on my monitor.

[@zuf4511]

Классный у него фотик, в то время в СССР такого и не видели даже.

[@sonofwallacecoyb4744]

Amazing this little aircraft could reach a bomber formation at 25,000feet in about 4 mins whilst it could took conventional fighters about 25 mins..In reality tho it did more damage to the Luftwaffes airmen than it did in shooting down bombers.

[@BOOOZB]

Le vol de démo est magnifique !

[@saschaesken5524]

nothing to be seen

[@Sk_fargo]

A true Legend.

[@boomerhgt]

Brave men flew these contraptions rocket powered death traps more dangerous to the pilot than the enemy

[@Skandalos]

Nothing to do with bravery when you just do what you fear the least.

[@Bing80]

1:11 World's first GoPro! :D

[@mariomendez936]

musica de fondo: obertura de la caballería ligera . excelente !!!

[@glennquagmire1747]

This is the world's first GoPro in use 🤣

[@myname-xt5gx]

I have often thought of using the new amateur rocket technology comprising a solid fuel and throttleable oxygen delivery to make an airshow replica . Would be great fun to replicate that climb !

[@martinharris6155]

pssh, GoPro acting like it was the first....

[@WilliamJones-Halibut-vq1fs]

Probably “minox” camera that took sequential photographs for latter flight data analysis.

[@randall1959]

And here we all thought we were cool sticking GoPro cameras on our heads

[@alexm566]

1:17 First GoPro ever?

[@hkja99]

Cool dramatic music

[@SoundJunkie_nl]

that is a Robot IIa camera. first motorwinder camera.

[@totalitaer.]

Ze werld has tu understant zat it waz never ze fault of ze Jermans. It waz ze fault of ze Amerikans zet we lost ze war. It was ze fault of ze Kommunists zat we hat to invade Russia. It waz ze fault of all ze foreign workers seting free Jermans to be soldiers. And it waz zeir fault zat we hat to fight till ze end because zey made all ze weapons for Hitler.

[@lucidphreak1137]

C-stoff and H-stoff I think it was? There was a really good book I read about 25 years ago about the natter and other experimental planes…

[@bwbethel]

GoPro -- yet another German invention!

[@th3lunchb0x]

@metalmikexx I totally thought the same thing. Wonder where THAT footage is?

[@markdavies5066]

One idea , turn music of when you listen

[@alexiswolfe]

Those crazy Germans! a test flight on a foggy day, or was it a snow storm he flew in to?

[@TucsonDude]

Why does everything have to have a soundtrack?

[@nikonmark37814]

Admire his bravery. The Luftwaffe was so far ahead of the allies it's to bad it all ended in tragedy. We benefit today from their evil research.

[@lumox7]

When refueling, if the ground crew accidentally mixed up the C-Stoff with the T-Stoff, the pilot would be P-Stoff.

[@bill605able]

hehe

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

@john wilks ...nope... ...all pilots know of the "Pucker Factor" (every plane, and the aerobatic maneuvers inherent to a particular plane has an intrinsic factor as to how tight it will make a pilot's anal sphincter Pucker, which is rated on a scale of one(1) to ten(10), with ten being the tightest pucker... ...the more harrowing the maneuvers, the higher the "Pucker Factor"... ...on this scale of one to ten, the Me 163 has a "Pucker Factor" of... ...583!...

[@spanishball9449]

Wow, I thought the plane couldn't take off carrying those 2 big balls of steel.

[@roybennett6330]

Love the music, wants me to want to Goose step!!

[@faffaflunkie]

Where did it go.

[@carlosvarelafunes9319]

La gloriosa luwaffe con valor y honor

[@kakavdedatakavunuk8516]

If I can see anything after he took off

[@alfredenisz4775]

This plane could have broken the sound barrier long before Chuck Yaeger.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

Physically impossible. The plane but experienced compressibility go out of control and disintegrate

[@janezjonsa3165]

It very likely did...

[@jacksonhammy]

wow, i didnt know that the GoPro was that old, although it would only have been like 720p....

[@slimchancetoo]

Clip seems to end at 1:50 or thereabouts.

[@helvehammer7846]

Like flying a hand grenade - pull the pin and go for a ride.

[@logibear64]

@getlow1985 even we I have a SIGNED card from him as "Rudy" ?

[@rcpilot9963]

This me-163 pilot looks like rc pilot with this camera on his forehead. Was this a Go Pro camera? :)

[@СергейСоломыкин-э7ъ]

Отважный человек!

[@halfpipefreak]

haha the first GOPRO xD

[@mrfrankincense]

What's the soundtrack?

[@john-lenin]

The first GoPro!

[@berndmeier6617]

1943 schon mit Action Cam am Helm :)

[@gccgeo8028]

That was quite a flight.

[@kimmoantola8090]

What happened to Rudy?

[@janezjonsa3165]

He didnt survive the most dangerous thing on earth... life.

[@driedsock449]

is that gopro?

[@guillermohoffmann8417]

in fact it was "go down like a pro" ....he didn't have a parachute!

[@Zhonguoria]

ME-163 "The Flying Bomb"

[@ex59neo53]

+Zhonguoria Theflying nightmare

[@DoctorCreepy]

I wouldn't get in that thing.

[@t0pcat517]

Peter Paulus i don’t think you got the joke

[@jeffreyhagelin6047]

@@eisenkopf69 "V- 1", designation signifies first in series, it had nothing to do with propaganda.

[@mirimar69]

I thought I could see the aircraft in the distance then realized it was a pixel screen damage :(

[@getlow1985]

@logibear64 maybe im wrong i just always thought it was rudi anyway i apologize :)

[@marienfeld07]

German technology at its best

[@patsematary]

It's Komet, not KoMMet, even if you don't like Wordreference

[@0Turbox]

Wing Suit flier would run scared away.

[@logibear64]

@patsematary I knew that I was just checking to see if you knew it! :o)

[@steveststst2968]

Let's cut the music

[@robertdawson8522]

Noticed he didn't bother with a parachute.

[@dmcalut]

What for?

[@abrahkadabra9501]

That pilot had no parachute! 😨

[@fredferd965]

It looks like the original photographer over exposed the film. They should have used a smaller F-stop.

[@wirikuta14]

it can clearly be seen at around 2:37

[@getlow1985]

its rudi not rudy

[@logibear64]

@mrfrankincense von suppe Light Cavalry overture"

[@tedsmith6137]

Nothing to see after 1:50, unfortunately.

[@xennelul]

1:10 Germans also invented the helmet cam

[@leneanderthalien]

photo camera, no film camera

[@Tarten46]

1:16 the money shot. on the side of breakfast cereal box; Das Wheaties!

[@zaromit]

1:11 GoPro Hero 480p

[@bojanl100]

Rudi Opitz ,hmm strange . The word OPIT in Croatian means TEST.

[@janezjonsa3165]

No, it means tipsy, or drunk

[@ColaWhiski]

The launch preparations are very interesting, from the flight itself, unfortunately, we see nothing .. shame.

[@ufoengines]

Cool! the camera was a great touch! Was this Rudy guy one of the pilots that was dissolved when some of the fuel leaked into the cockpit ?

[@drstrangelove4998]

No, he inspired people working in the USA post-war.

[@ufoengines]

@@drstrangelove4998 I'm glad he lived. We need all the help we can get! kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3elooF4q75gb6M

[@garybanglebangle7949]

Good flight for the bird. Music no so .

[@Nobody-rj2me]

*Bro had a GoPro in 43'* 💀

[@Redhand1949]

The music is unbelievably annoying.

[@mwewering]

Schade, sein Smartphone kann man nicht sehen, er trägt es am Oberschenkel.

[@martink.9442]

Rudy????? OMG

[@grafvon-starhemberg4545]

Right :-) with USB V. 0.001 interface :-D

[@okiuto]

飛んだあとはひたすら真っ白ですな

[@alastair9446]

Kind of crazy that a glider could reach 900km/h taking off from a field. Too bad its 2 minute powered flight let it down.

[@Abakan545]

8 mins

[@ВасилийВасилий-б9у]

2минуты у би 1

[@lazarus7216]

Here you can definatly say you fly without a safety net.......