Editing Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (section)

==Surviving aircraft==
It has been claimed that at least 29 ''Komets'' were shipped out of Germany after the war and that of those at least 10 have been known to survive the war to be put on display in museums around the world.<ref>Ethell 1978, pp. 157–158.</ref> Most of the 10 surviving Me 163s were part of JG 400, and were captured by the British at [[Husum (Schleswig)|Husum]], the squadron's base at the time of Germany's surrender in 1945. According to the RAF museum, 48 aircraft were captured intact and 24 were shipped to the United Kingdom for evaluation, although only one, ''VF241'', was test flown (unpowered).<ref name="rafm">Simpson, Andrew. [https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/85-AF-66-Me-163B.pdf "Individual History Messerschmitt ME163B-1a W/NR.191614/8481M"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201215155/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/85-AF-66-ME-163B-191614.pdf |date=1 February 2014}}. Royal Air Force Museum, 2007. Retrieved: 2 November 2009.</ref>

===Australia===
[[File:Me 163 191907 on display at the Australian War Memorial May 2015.jpg|thumb|Me 163B, Werknummer 191907, is part of the collection of the [[Australian War Memorial]] in Canberra]]

* Me 163B, Werknummer 191907 was part of JG 400, captured at Husum and was shipped to the RAE. It was allocated the RAF [[Air Ministry]] number of AM222 and was dispatched from Farnborough to No. 6 MU, [[RAF Brize Norton]], on 8 August 1945. On 21 March 1946, it was recorded in the Census of No. 6 MU, and allocated to No. 76 MU (Wroughton) on 30 April 1946 for shipment to Australia. For many years this aircraft was displayed at [[RAAF Williams]] Point Cook, but in 1986, the Me 163 was transferred to The [[Australian War Memorial]] for refurbishment. It was stored at the AWM Treloar Technology Annex Mitchell, refurbished and reassembled, and was later put up for display together with a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]]A-2a, Werknummer 500200 (AM81).<ref>Butler 1994, p. 107.</ref>

===Canada===
[[File:Me 163 Komet Displayed at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Me 163B, Werknummer 191914, at the [[Canada Aviation and Space Museum]]; the tiny propeller operates as a [[ram air turbine]] that provides electrical power]]

* Me 163B, Werknummer 191659 (AM215) or 191914 (AM220), is held at the [[Canada Aviation and Space Museum]], Ottawa. Like two of the British Komets, this aircraft was part of JG 400 and captured at Husum. It was shipped to Canada in 1946.

: Werknummer 19116 (but more probable 191916) and 191095 (AM211) also seem to have been held at one time in this museum.<ref name="Pejčoch 2007, p. 69"/><ref>Ethell 1978, p. 158.</ref>

===Germany===
[[File:Me163.jpg|thumb|Messerschmitt Me 163 at the ''[[Luftwaffenmuseum]]'' in Berlin-Gatow]]

* A Me 163B, Werknummer 191904, "Yellow 25", belonging to JG 400 was captured by the RAF at Husum in 1945. It was sent to England, arriving first at Farnborough, receiving the RAF Air Ministry number AM219 and then transferred to [[RAF Brize Norton|Brize Norton]] on 8 August 1945, before finally being placed on display at the Station Museum at [[RAF Colerne|Colerne]]. When the museum closed in 1975 the aircraft went to [[RAF St Athan]], receiving the ground maintenance number 8480M. On 5 May 1988 the aircraft was returned to the [[Bundeswehr]]'s ''[[German Air Force|Luftwaffe]]'' air arm, and moved to the ''Luftwaffe'' [[Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet|Alpha Jet]] factory at the air base in Oldenburg (JBG 43), not far from the JG 400 unit's wartime base at [[Bad Zwischenahn]], now a golf course. The airframe was in good condition but the cockpit had been stripped and the rocket engine was missing.

Eventually an elderly German woman came forward with Me 163 instruments that her late husband had collected after the war, and the engine was reproduced by a machine shop owned by Me 163 enthusiast Reinhold Opitz. The factory closed in the early 1990s and "Yellow 25" was moved to a small museum created on the site. The museum contained aircraft that had once served as gate guards, monuments and other damaged aircraft previously located on the air base. In 1997 "Yellow 25" was moved to the official [[Luftwaffe Museum|''Luftwaffe'' Museum]] located at the former RAF base at [[Gatow Airport|Berlin-Gatow]], where it is displayed today alongside a restored Walter HWK 109–509 rocket engine. This particular Me 163B is one of the very few World War II–era German military aircraft, restored and preserved in a German aviation museum, to have a [[swastika]] marking, in a "low visibility" white outline form, currently displayed on the tailfin.

* Me 163B, Werknummer 120370, "Yellow 6" of JG 400, is displayed at the [[Deutsches Museum]], [[Munich]]. It was originally sent to Britain, where it had received the RAF Air Ministry number AM210. It was given to the Deutsches Museum by [[RAF Biggin Hill]] Station. Some claim this is ''191316'', but that is still at the London Science Museum.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

===United Kingdom===
Of the 21 aircraft that were captured by the British, at least three have survived. They were assigned the British [[United Kingdom military aircraft serials|serial numbers]] AM200 to AM220.<ref name="Pejčoch 2007, p. 69">Pejčoch 2007, p. 69.</ref>

* Me 163B, Werknummer 191316, "Yellow 6", has been on display at the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum]] in London, since 1964 with the Walter motor removed for separate display. A second Walter motor and a [[takeoff]] dolly are part of the museum's reserve collection and are not generally on display to the public.
* Me 163B, Werknummer 191614, is now displayed at the [[RAF Museum London]], where it was moved from the [[Royal Air Force Museum Midlands]] site at [[RAF Cosford]], its former home since 1975. Before then, it was at the [[Rocket Propulsion Establishment]] at Westcott, Buckinghamshire.<ref> RAF Museum Official Site[https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/messerschmitt-me-163b-1a-komet/"]</ref>
* Me 163B-1a, Werknummer 191659 and RAF [[Air Ministry]] serial number AM215, "Yellow 15", was captured at Husum in 1945 and was sent to the College of Aeronautics at [[Cranfield]], England in 1947. After many years of touring airshows and various outdoor gatherings around the UK it was loaned to the [[National Museum of Flight]] at [[East Fortune]] Airfield, [[East Lothian]], Scotland in 1976.

===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.