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Summary: Messerschmitt Me-163 aircraft Airplane blueprint for the Messerschmitt, Me-163 ... Aviation history and aircraft blueprints/plans. The Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet was the first rocket-powered fighter to be placed in active duty. It was a very beautiful, well-designed and airworthy craft with a small drawback; It was deadly! If that simply had referred to the enemy facing the Komet, it wouldn't be much of a drawback, but unfortunately the pilot and the ground crew were the ones who were in the greatest danger.
Nevertheless the plane was astonishing in flight. After take-off from a dolly it would be going over 200mph at the end of the runway, at which point it would pull up into an 80 degree climb all the way to the bomber's altitude. It could go even higher if need be, reaching 40,000ft in an unheard-of three minutes. Once there it would level off and quickly accelerate to speeds around 550mph or faster, which no allied plane could hope to match.
As the only operational rocket-powered fighter of Second World War, the Komet was designed to exceed the performance of conventional aircraft. Originally tested as a glider, the tailless design incorporated a wheeled dolly dropped during takeoff, and a landing skid under the fuselage. The Komet first flew operationally in May 1944. Though the Komet was not a significant factor in German air defence, the German Air Force took delivery of 339 and flew them until the end of the war.
The Messerschmitt Me-163 has earned a place in aviation history as a revolutionary plane. It had it's problems, but it did have amazing performance. In production form it could attain speeds of up to 597mph, and at full throttle accelerate from 250mph to almost 600mph in seconds!
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