The Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet was the first rocket-propelled aircraft to enter operational service by any country in the world. Developed by Alexander Lippisch during World War II, it is one of the most innovative and radical fighter designs ever built. This is its story.
The design of the Me-163 was started in 1936 by famed designer Alexander Lippisch. Lippisch was a German aeronautical engineer and professor at the Technical University of Aachen. He had previously designed delta wing aircraft, and he would later go on to design the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket fighter plane. The Komet was powered by a pulse-jet engine which didn’t give it very good range or speed but made up for it with its maneuverability.
The Me-163 was built with a short-span wing to reduce drag and improve performance. It entered service with the Luftwaffe in July of 1944 and was designed to intercept the Allied heavy bomber formations raiding Germany. This aircraft was the first aircraft to use rocket propulsion, and it was one of the most advanced German aircraft ever built. Its unique appearance made it instantly recognizable on both sides of World War II’s Western Front.
The Me-163 was designed as an interceptor, to attack enemy aircraft at high speed. It had no onboard radar or radio equipment. This meant that it could not be used as a long-range fighter. The Me-163 was light and small, with a high power-to-weight ratio, which meant it could fly at very high speeds and was agile in the air.
The development of a successor, the Ta-183, began in October 1944 but was not completed by the end of the war. The Ta-183 was a derivative of the Me-163, with an emphasis on high-altitude performance for intercepting B-29 Superfortresses. It had a redesigned fuselage and wings and was powered by an improved Walter HWK 109-509 A2 rocket engine. The first flight took place on 23 December 1945, with further test flights until June 1947, when construction stopped due to problems with the engine.
Lippisch’s ideas for advanced delta-wing designs led him to be recruited by Curtiss Wright and he became an American citizen in 1956 to work for Curtiss Wright. He continued developing his delta-wing designs, which led to the F-102 Delta Dagger supersonic interceptor which would later be used as a basis for North America’s F-107 delta-wing fighter aircraft.
A follow-on to the Me-163 Rocket interceptor, called the Messerschmitt P.1202 design featured a more conventional fuselage and twin turbojets mounted side by side behind a swept-back delta wing.
The P.1202 had a retractable tricycle landing gear, but it also carried two nose wheels that retracted into the fuselage at high speeds, like in other rocket aircraft of its era.
The development of rocket-powered fighter aircraft has allowed the exploration of a new way of aerial warfare. These rockets have been developed for use in many different applications including space exploration, weapons systems, and guided missiles. They have also made it possible to build the fastest airplane ever flown.
A museum dedicated to the Me-163 in memory of former pilots is located on the site of the former Neuburg Air Base on the outskirts of Hörsching in Austria. The museum is open Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m.to 6 p.m., April through October, and on weekends, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., November through March. Between February and November, before 3 p.m., visitors may speak with one of the guides via phone or Skype for an additional fee of five euros per person.
Automatically, a red light came on when the plane was launched from its platform on the ground and a green rounded out when ready for takeoff. The plane needed only 27 feet to take off and could go 1300 mph. The British Buggs Bunny and American planes would run into this plane and explode on impact. The plane couldn’t keep up to Allied planes but was good for over 10,000 feet. The plane was put on display in 1943 in Germany.
You can see the Me-163 right on display in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the place where it was created.