Editing Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (section)

===United States===
[[File:Messerchmitt Me163B-2 (4976596499).jpg|thumb|Me 163B 191 301 at [[Wright Field]] display in October 1945]] 
[[File:Messerschmitt Me 163B-1a Komet.jpg|thumb|Unrestored Messerschmitt Me 163B ''Komet'' at the [[Udvar-Hazy center]]]]
[[File:Me 163B.jpg|thumb|Me 163B at [[Wright-Patterson National Air Force Museum]]]]

* Five Me 163s were originally brought to the United States in 1945, receiving the Foreign Equipment numbers FE-495 and FE-500 to 503.<ref>Andrade 1979, p. 251.</ref> An Me 163 B-1a, Werknummer (serial number) 191301, arrived at Freeman Field, Indiana, during mid-1945, and received the foreign equipment number FE-500. On 12 April 1946, it was flown aboard a cargo aircraft to the U.S. Army Air Forces facility at Muroc dry lake in California for flight testing. Testing began on 3 May 1946 in the presence of Dr. [[Alexander Lippisch]] and involved towing the unfueled ''Komet'' behind a [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] to an altitude of {{convert|9000|-|10500|m|ft|abbr=on}} before it was released for a glide back to earth under the control of test pilot Major Gus Lundquist.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2022/03/21/high-desert-hangar-stories-a-tale-of-two-bobs-flight-test-legends-bob-cardenas-and-bob-hoover/ |title = High Desert Hangar Stories: A tale of two Bobs: Flight test legends Bob Cardenas and Bob Hoover |publisher = aerotechnews.com |first = Bob |last = Alvis |date = 21 March 2022}}</ref> Powered tests were planned, but not carried out after delamination of the aircraft's wooden wings was discovered. It was then stored at [[Norton AFB]], California until 1954, when it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. The aircraft remained on display in an unrestored condition at the museum's [[Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility]] in [[Suitland, Maryland]], until 1996, when it was lent to the [[Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum]] in [[Pooler, Georgia]] for restoration and display. It has since been returned to the Smithsonian and as of 2011 is on display unrestored at the National Air and Space Museum's [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] near [[Washington D.C.]]
* Me 163B, Werknummer 191 095, is on fully restored display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson AFB]] near [[Dayton, Ohio]]. It was acquired from the Canadian National Aviation Museum (now the [[Canada Aviation and Space Museum]]), where it had been restored, and was placed on display 10 December 1999. ''Komet'' test pilot {{ill|Rudolf Opitz (pilot)|lt=Rudolf "Rudi" Opitz|de|Rudolf Opitz (Pilot)}} was on hand for the dedication of the aircraft and discussed his experiences of flying the rocket-propelled fighter to a standing room only crowd. During the aircraft's restoration in Canada it was discovered that the aircraft had been assembled by French forced laborers who had deliberately sabotaged it by placing stones between the rocket's fuel tanks and its supporting straps. There are also indications that the wing was assembled with contaminated glue. Patriotic French writing was found inside the fuselage. The aircraft is displayed without any unit identification, but has its Werknummer restored<ref>{{cite web |url=https://media.defense.gov/2005/Dec/22/2000574802/-1/-1/0/030801-F-1234P-080.JPG |title=NMUSAF photo of WkNr. 191 095}}</ref> to its normal fin location. Fully restored examples of both the Me 163B's single-chamber rocket motor,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196240/walter-hwk-509a-rocket/ |title=Walter HWK 509A Rocket |website=National Museum of the United States Air Force™}}</ref> as well as the only known example in the United States of the experimental twin-chamber Walter 509B rocket motor,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196241/walter-hwk-509b-1-rocket/ |title=Walter HWK 509B-1 Rocket |website=National Museum of the United States Air Force™}}</ref> are each on display in front, one each to either side, of WkNr. 191 095.
[[File:1983 at Duxford Messerschmitt Me 163 191660.jpg|thumb|191660 placed alongside a B-17 at Duxford in 1983.]]
* Me 163B, Werknummer 191660, "Yellow 3", is owned by [[Paul Allen]]'s [[Flying Heritage Collection]]. Between 1961 and 1976, this aircraft was displayed at the [[Imperial War Museum]] in London. In 1976, it was moved to the [[Imperial War Museum Duxford]]. It underwent a lengthy restoration, beginning in 1997, that was frequently halted as the restorers were diverted to more pressing projects. In May 2005, it was sold, reportedly for £800,000, to raise money for the purchase of a [[De Havilland DH.9|de Havilland/Airco DH.9]] as the Duxford museum had no examples of a World War I bomber in its collection. Permission for export was granted by the British government's [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] as three other ''Komets'' were held in British museums.