[yooling]

"The Me 163 was a death trap and will not be flying again anytime soon".....

Unless these guys have anything to say about it.

[Chode]

is the little prop an electric generator for onboard systems???

[Western Phil]

Related to the ME163: On Page 92 of Flying for the Fatherland it says,"On 30 October 1942, she was towed off the airfield at Regensburg in an an unpowered Me 163B. It was her fifth flight in the Komet that month. Seconds after take-off, she pulled the lever which should have released the launching trolley, the aircraft started to vibrate. . . To her dismay Hanna realized that the lever had not released the undercarriage. . . The Me 163B hit a ploughed field just short of the runway at 150 mph, bounced violently twice, lost a wheel and came to a standstill after a 180 degree turn."

The pilot was Hanna Reitsch and this particular episode ended with her injury. She later flew the V1 on a number of test flights.