THE LONG AND
WINDING ROAD TO
AN ME 163B DREAM
Photos by Gonzalo Bures | gonzalobures@gmail.com
GONZALO BURES’ STORY BEGINS
in 1996 at the Tortuguero Hawks RC Club in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His friend, Jose Hernandez, purchased a Joe Saitta propeller-driven, 82-inch wingspan Me 163B Komet in Florida and brought the kit to the club. Gonzalo immediately fell in love with it and tried to get one. “I contacted Joe, but at the time, getting a model from a private producer in Florida to Puerto Rico was not an easy task, and I did not acquire the model.” Years passed, and as of today, Jose has never built the model.
In 1999, a Borinquen RC Club (Sabana Seca, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) member purchased a Joe Saitta Me 163B kit. That model passed through various hands during the next 25 years. In 2014, 15 years after it had been purchased, the Me 163 B was still in its original kit stage and ended up in Ricky Rivera’s hands. He did not know much about the model and couldn’t tell Gonzalo exactly what airplane it was, but Gonzalo said that he would take it. “When he brought the model to our flying field, I realized the strange model that he spoke about was the realization to my almost three-decade search for the weird German rocket airplane.”
The incomplete model had lost most of its wood parts and the plans were missing sections, but it did have an intact fiberglass fuselage, nose cone, and canopy, which was an excellent starting point for Gonzalo. “My wife, who was used to seeing models given to me in incomplete conditions, was not surprised when I got home with a bag full of parts,” he wrote. “When she saw the fiberglass fuselage and its peculiar shape, she named it El Gordito.”
Gonzalo contacted Joe Saitta and he shared that the Me 163B was now powered by a turbine and that he had a turbine conversion kit for it. Gonzalo obtained the plans, the turbine conversion kit, model markings, an extra canopy, and an extra nose cone and, “most importantly, I got Joe’s support and guidance to build this dream plane of mine and my first turbine model.”
His Me 163B was initially powered by a Jet Central Super Bee and was later upgraded to a Jet Central Rabbit VT90. “Jet Central has continuously given excellent support through my learning curve,” Gonzalo stated. “Manny [Rodriguez], the US dealer; Juan Ruiz, Jet Central’s engineer; and Victoria Nieto, the owner, have helped me with great professional, human warmth.”
It took him six months to build the model. “I had to learn what was required to operate a turbine model structurally, as well as the required equipment to be included in the build.” Scale flaps were added for slow flight and landing, and a scale cockpit was added. His mentor, Juan Garcia, guided him through this and was instrumental in assisting with the AMA turbine waiver process.
In 2014, Gonzalo made his maiden flight. “Twenty-five years after its purchase, El Gordito would fly,” he wrote. “Juan was my flight partner and everything went well. This model does not have standard landing gear. Like the original Me 163 B, the model is a tail-dragger that rides on a droppable dolly on takeoff and lands/slides in the grass to end the flight.”
Seven years after the maiden flight, the Me 163B Komet continues to be one of Gonzalo’s favorite models to fly. It is stable, fast, and maneuverable. Because of its unconventional looks, it’s a show-stopper wherever it’s flown.
“Fate gave me the opportunity to realize my 1996 desire to own and fly this incredible World War II German rocket airplane that stretched the envelope of flight in all directions.”
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