The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was designed by Alexander Lippisch, it is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have seen operational deployment. Its design was revolutionary, and the Me 163 was capable of performance unrivaled at the time. In 1944 Messerschmitt test pilot Rudy Opitz reached 1,123 km/h (698 mph). Over 300 Me 163's were delivered, but fuel shortages kept the vast majority on the ground. Active combat operations began in May 1944, although on a small scale. As expected, the aircraft was extremely fast; and for a time, the Allied fighters were at a complete loss as what to do about it. Singly or in pairs, the Komets attacked, often faster than the opposing fighters could dive in an attempt to intercept them. A typical Me 163 tactic was to zoom through the bomber formations at 9,000 m (30,000 ft), rise up to an altitude of 10,700–12,000 m (35,100–39,000 ft), then dive through the formation again. This approach afforded the pilot two brief chances to fire a few rounds from his cannons before gliding back to his airfield. As the cockpit was unpressurized, the operational ceiling was limited by what the pilot could endure for several minutes while breathing oxygen from a mask, without losing consciousness. Pilots underwent altitude-chamber training to harden them against the rigors of operating in the thin air of the stratosphere without a pressure suit. Special low-fiber diets were prepared for pilots, as gas in the gastrointestinal tract would expand rapidly during ascent. The first Me 163 combat wing, (Jagdgeschwader 400 (JG 400) ), based at Brandis near Leipzig, was to provide additional protection for the Leuna synthetic gasoline works which were raided particularly heavily and frequently at the end of 1944. A further group was stationed at Stargard near Stettin to protect the large synthetic plant at Pölitz (today Police, Poland). Further defensive units of rocket fighters were planned for Berlin, the Ruhr and the German Bight. The first actions involving the Me 163 occurred at the end of July, when two USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress were attacked without confirmed kills. Combat operations continued til spring 1945, during this time, there were nine confirmed kills with 14 Me 163s lost. Feldwebel Siegfried Schubert was the most successful Me 163 pilot, with three bombers to his credit. Allied fighter pilots soon noted the short duration of the powered flight. They would wait, and when the engine died they would pounce on the unpowered Komet. However, the Komet was extremely manoeuvrable and could pull out of a turn much later than any Allied fighter. Another Allied tactic was to attack the fields the Komets operated from, and strafe them after the Me 163s landed.Establishing a defensive perimeter of anti-aircraft guns quickly ensured that Allied fighters avoided these bases. At the end of 1944, 91 aircraft had been delivered to JG 400 but still a continuous lack of fuel had kept most of them grounded. It was clear that the original plan for a huge network of Me 163 bases was never going to happen. Up to that point, JG 400 had lost only six aircraft due to enemy actions.Eight were lost to other causes, a remarkably low number for such a revolutionary and technically advanced aircraft. In the last days of the Third Reich the Me 163 was given up in favour of the more successful and threatening Me 262. In May 1945, Me 163 operations were stopped, JG 400 was disbanded, and many of it's pilots sent to fly Me 262s. In any operational sense, the Komet was a complete failure, although they shot down 16 aircraft in total, mainly expensive four-engined bombers, this did not warrant the amount of vital resources poured into the project. At the end of the war, the Komets designer Alexander Lippisch was 'relocated' to America under Project Paperclip. He went on to design delta-winged supersonic aircraft for the Convair Corporation. Tomorrow, "More speed"....