The Komet

Focuses on the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, a German interceptor aircraft designed for point-defence. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph) in level flight. Designed by Alexander Lippisch, its performance and aspects of its design were unprecedented. In early July 1944, German test pilot Heini Dittmar reached 1,130 km/h (700 mph), an unofficial flight airspeed record unmatched by turbojet-powered aircraft until 1953.