Nazi Germany wasn’t a fearsome enemy just because of the brutality of the regime, but because of the intelligence of the people behind the scenes. Rocketry, jet aviation…both owe heavily to the workers of the time period from Germany, the engineers and the designers who had fantastic visions and a leader so hell-bent on being the best that he was willing to throw money at them, so long as progress could be measured. The issue with this kind of thinking by the Nazi Party was that when World War II was actually in full swing, everything had to have a military purpose and had to rub the egos of higher-ups the right way in order to progress.

Rational thinking would have suggested that the Nazis should’ve stuck with their “Amerikabomber” project, the idea of a plane that could drop bombs on New York City and return home in one trip. Instead, they got the Messerschmitt Me163 “Komet“, a rocket-powered interceptor that was notable for flying over 700 miles per hour, climbing to well over 30,000 feet in altitude in under three minutes. The Komet was one hell of a ride, for sure: pilots praised it’s flying characteristics, which included the inability to stall or spin, and it’s glider-like shape made for some excellent handling and landing attitudes. But the Komet had issues, too. First and foremost was the fuel that powered the rockets. Two separate fuels blended to provide the thrust: “C-Stoff” (57% methanol, 30% hydrazine, 13% water, and a tiny amount of “Catalyst 431”) mixed with “T-Stoff” (80% concentrated hydrogen peroxide and small amounts of 8-Hydroxyquinoline, 20% water) combined to create a hypergolic propellant…meaning, when the two substances came into contact with each other, they spontaneously ignited. Look at the size of the Komet and guess how well that ended for the pilot if something went wrong. One screw-up and the next noise heard was an explosion…which happened with alarming regularity. The Komet’s wartime service was a disaster. What can you actually do with about seven minutes of powered flight time? And what can you do when fuel is scarce regardless of type because you’re losing?

There are a few Me163s sitting in museums, but this is not one of them. It’s not a real Me163, it’s a creation, with no functional rockets. It’s a true glider, which was actually the Komet’s best asset. No exploding fuel, no special low-fiber diet for the pilot. And yeah, that is a real thing…due to the Komet‘s unreal climb rate, digestive gas in the tract would increase in volume and would leave the pilot uncomfortable. Powered flight was borderline unreal in World War II…but it’s unpowered flight was a peach that was celebrated when the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight group performed an unauthorized powered flight in 1945.