Originally posted by expat
Check this out , i wonder if they have a rocket for it ...
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1080746/L/
It's a glider. Me 163 was essentially a rocket powered glider, and reported to handle extremerely beautifullly, both in powered and non powered flight.
And no, 163 was much less lethal to its own pilots than the urban myths claim. Of course there were accidents, but way less than people think. A much bigger problem than the rocket engine or the fuels themselves were the actual airfields, as the 163 were often forced to operate from airfields that were completely unsuitable for rocket fighters. Short, bumpy, busy, cramped... Some 163s were lost in landing collisions, when the glider approached for landing and some handsomehunk in his powered plane took off or landed from same runway. Or tehre were bumps in the grass or runway, that threw the plane off course. Etc. Landings were usually the tricky part in those conditions.