Editing Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (section)

===Background===
[[File:Me163Variants.jpg|thumb|Development of the Me 163]]
[[File:HWK 109-509 A.jpg|thumb|A Me 163's [[Walter HWK 109-509|HWK 109-509A]] engine]]
[[File:HWK 109-509.jpg|thumb|Position of the Walter HWK 109-509A-1 rocket motor]]

During 1937, work on what would become the Me 163 commenced,<ref name = "lepage 243">LePage 2009, p. 243.</ref> the initial work was conducted under the aegis of the ''[[Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug]]'' (DFS)—the German Institute for the study of [[sailplane]] flight. Their first design was a conversion of the earlier [[Lippisch Delta IV]] known as the '''DFS&nbsp;39''' and used purely as a glider testbed of the [[airframe]]. A larger follow-on version with a small propeller engine started as the [[DFS 194]]. This version used [[wingtip]]-mounted [[rudder]]s that Lippisch felt would cause problems at high speed. Lippisch changed the system of vertical stabilization for the DFS 194's airframe from the earlier DFS 39's wingtip rudders, to a conventional [[vertical stabilizer]] at the rear of the aircraft. The design included a number of features from its origins as a glider, notably a skid used for landings, which could be retracted into the aircraft's keel in flight. For [[takeoff]], a pair of wheels, each mounted onto the ends of a specially designed cross-axle, were needed due to the weight of the fuel, but the wheels, forming a takeoff [[bogie#Bogie (aircraft)|dolly]] under the landing skid, were [[landing gear#Detachable|released shortly after takeoff]].<ref name="wotl 226">Donald 2000, p. 226.</ref><ref name = "lepage 248">LePage 2009, p. 248.</ref>

The designers planned to use the forthcoming Walter R-1-203 ''cold engine'' of {{convert|400|kg|lb|abbr=on}} thrust, which like the self-contained [[Walter HWK 109-500]] ''Starthilfe'' [[RATO]] booster rocket unit, used a [[monopropellant]] consisting of stabilized [[High-test peroxide|HTP]] known by the name [[T-Stoff]]. [[Heinkel]] had also been working with [[Hellmuth Walter]] on his rocket engines, mounting them in the [[Heinkel He 112#Early experiments with rocket propulsion|He 112R]]'s tail for testing – this was done in competition with [[Wernher von Braun]]'s bi-propellant, alcohol/[[LOX]]-fed rocket motors, also with the He 112 as a test airframe – and with the Walter [[Z-Stoff|catalyzed]] HTP propulsion format for the first purpose-designed, liquid-fueled rocket aircraft, the [[Heinkel He 176|He 176]]. Heinkel had also been selected to produce the fuselage for the DFS 194 when it entered production,{{when|date=March 2017}} as it was felt that the monopropellant fuel's high reactivity with organic matter would be too dangerous in a wooden fuselage structure. Work continued under the code name ''Projekt X''.<ref name="ww2-planes">[https://myhobbylife.com/messerschmitt-me-163-komet/ "Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet"]. World War 2 Planes. Retrieved: 22 March 2009.</ref><ref name = "lepage 2478">LePage 2009, pp. 247-248.</ref>

The division of work between DFS and Heinkel led to problems,{{when|date=March 2017}} notably that DFS seemed incapable of building even a [[prototype]] fuselage. Lippisch eventually asked to leave DFS and join [[Messerschmitt]] instead.<ref name = "lepage 247">LePage 2009, p. 247.</ref>{{#tag:ref|In spite of his transference to Messerschmitt, the relationship between Lippisch and [[Willy Messerschmitt]], the company's head, were allegedly strained, nor did the latter have particular enthusiasm for the Me 163 project.<ref name = "dorr 114">Dorr 2013, p. 114.</ref><ref name = "Ziegler 634">Ziegler 1976, pp. 63-64.</ref>|group=N}} On 2 January 1939, Lippisch moved with his team and the partly completed DFS 194 to the Messerschmitt works at [[Augsburg]]. The delays caused by this move allowed the engine development to catch up. Once at Messerschmitt, the team decided to abandon the propeller-powered version and move directly to rocket-power. The airframe was completed in Augsburg and in early 1940 was shipped to receive its engine at [[Peenemünde Airfield|Peenemünde-West]], one of the quartet of ''Erprobungsstelle''-designated military aviation test facilities of the Reich. Although the engine proved to be extremely unreliable, the aircraft had excellent performance, reaching a speed of {{convert|550|km/h|abbr=on}} in one test.<ref name = "Nowarrav 163">Nowarra 1993, p. 163.</ref>

It is important to note that the wing sweep incorporated in the design stemmed from its tailless nature and the need to balance centre of gravity and centre of lift positions for stability purposes. The sweep in both the Me 163 and Me 262 stemmed from these CG and CL issues (heavier than planned engines in the case of the Me 262), not from high speed aerodynamic requirements.<ref>''The Design of the Aeroplane'', Darrol Stinton, 1983, {{ISBN|0 632 01877 1}}, p. 142.</ref>

In the Me&nbsp;163B and -C subtypes, a [[ram-air turbine]] was installed on the extreme nose of the fuselage that, along with a backup [[lead–acid battery]] inside the fuselage that it charged, provided electrical power for various pieces of onboard equipment.<ref name = "heath 220"/> Such apparatus included the [[radio]], [[reflector sight|reflector gunsight]] (either Revi16B, -C, or -D), [[radio direction finder|direction finder]], [[compass]], firing circuits for the twin cannons, as well as some of the lighting for the cockpit instrumentation. Due to the limited capacity of the battery, the fitting of an electrical generator had been necessary.<ref name = "heath 220"/>

The [[airspeed indicator]] averaged readings from two sources: the [[pitot tube]] on the leading edge of the port wing, and a small pitot inlet in the nose, just above the top edge of the underskid channel.{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}} There was a further tapping-off of pressure-ducted air from the pitot tube which also provided the rate of climb indicator with its source.{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}}

The resistance group around the Austrian priest [[Heinrich Maier]] (later executed) had contacts with the Heinkelwerke in Jenbach in [[Tyrol]], where important components for the Me 163 were also produced. The group supplied location sketches of the production facilities to the Allies, thus greatly aiding Allied bombers in carrying out targeted air strikes against them.<ref>Peter Broucek (2008). ''Die österreichische Identität im Widerstand 1938–1945'', p. 163.</ref><ref>Pirker 2012, p. 252.</ref><ref>Hansjakob Stehle "Die Spione aus dem Pfarrhaus (German: The spy from the rectory)". In: ''Die Zeit'', 5 January 1996.</ref>