Me 163 Komet Rocket-Powered Fighter Plane (Unusual Aircraft Collection)

The Me 163 Komet was the world's first and only rocket-powered fighter to enter service.   As well as having an unusual power source, it also had an unusual tailless delta layout which was borrowed from designer Alexander Lippisch's early aircraft.   He had done a lot of work with gliders, which was one factor in his decision to have the plane land on a skid under the fuselage, instead of on a normal wheeled undercarriage.   For takeoff, the Komet was mounted on top of a wheeled cart which was jettisoned soon afterwards.   In spite of the lack of a horizontal tail, the Komet flew very well and it was nearly impossible to make it stall or spin.   The thin wings meant that it didn't suffer from the "compressibility" problems experienced even by much slower aircraft like the P-51 Mustang.

The Komet was easily the fastest aircraft of World War Two, able to fly at 596 miles per hour, and it could climb at a 70 degree angle and reach 40000 feet in the incredible time of only 3 minutes.   However it wasn't an effective fighter, partly because its approach speed was so high, so during the war it only shot down a total of 16 bombers.   To make matters worse, many of its pilots were hurt or died because of two undesirable features of the plane.   The rocket fuel consisted of two components, both of which reacted strongly with organic matter, which meant that if some spilled on the pilot or a member of the ground crew then he could be severely burned.   Landing on a grass airstrip was always dangerous, hitting a bump with the skid could injure the pilot's back and any remnants of fuel could leak, causing a fire or explosion.   Refueling was also dangerous, both because of the possibility of explosions and because of the risk of the fuel making contact with someone's skin.