Editing Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (section)

===Postwar flight===

Captain [[Eric Brown (pilot)|Eric Brown]] RN, Chief Naval [[test pilot|Test Pilot]] and commanding officer of the [[No. 1426 Flight RAF|Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight]], who tested the Me 163 at the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] at [[Farnborough Airfield|Farnborough]], said, "The Me 163 was an aeroplane that you could not afford to just step into the aircraft and say 'You know, I'm going to fly it to the limit.' You had very much to familiarise yourself with it because it was state-of-the-art and the technology used."<ref name="Thompson with Smith pp. 231-232.">Thompson with Smith 2008, pp. 231–232.</ref> Acting unofficially, after a spate of accidents involving Allied personnel flying captured German aircraft resulted in official disapproval of such flights, Brown was determined to fly a powered Komet. On around 17 May 1945, he flew an Me 163B at Husum with the help of a cooperative German ground crew, after initial towed flights in an Me 163A to familiarise himself with the handling.<ref name="Brown">Brown 2006, p. 110-111.</ref>

The day before the flight, Brown and his ground crew had performed an engine run on the chosen Me 163B to ensure that everything was running correctly, the German crew being apprehensive should an accident befall Brown, until being given a disclaimer signed by him to the effect that they were acting under his orders. On the rocket-powered {{-"}}''scharfer-start''{{-"}} takeoff the next day, after dropping the takeoff dolly and retracting the skid, Brown later described the resultant climb as "like being in charge of a runaway train", the aircraft reaching {{Convert | 32000 | ft}} altitude in 2 minutes, 45 seconds. During the flight, while practicing attacking passes at an American B-17 bomber, he was surprised at how well the Komet accelerated in the dive with the engine shut down. When the flight was over Brown had no problems on the approach to the airfield; apart from the rather restricted view from the cockpit due to the flat angle of glide, the aircraft touching down at {{convert|200|km/h|abbr=on}}. Once down safely, Brown and his much-relieved ground crew celebrated with a drink.<ref name="Wings on my Sleeve, p105-106" >Brown 2006, pp. 105–106.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13713648.heroic-test-pilot-reunited-rocket-powered-messerschmitt/ |title = Heroic test pilot is reunited with rocket powered Messerschmitt |publisher = heraldscotland.com |first = John |last = Bynorth |date = 11 September 2015}}</ref>

Beyond Brown's unauthorised flight, the British never tested the Me 163 under power themselves; due to the danger of its [[hypergolic]] propellants it was only flown unpowered. Brown himself piloted RAE's Komet [[United Kingdom military aircraft serials|''VF241'']] on a number of occasions, the rocket motor being replaced with test instrumentation. When interviewed for a 1990s television programme, Brown said he had flown five tailless aircraft in his career (including the British [[de Havilland DH 108]]). Referring to the Komet, he said "this is the only one that had good flight characteristics"; he called the other four "killers".<ref>{{cite episode |title = Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet |series = Wings of the Luftwaffe |network = Discovery Military Channel |time = 44:09 (25:00 minutes) |language = en}}</ref>