Powered Replica Me 163 Komet to Fly in Germany

As reported by Klassiker der Luftfahrt,  the leading German aviation magazine, an ambitious project has been conducted in Germany for the last few years. Heinz-Dieter Sippel has been working on building a flying, powered replica of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and plans to unveil it at 2024 AERO Friedrichshafen, Europe’s most important trade show for general aviation which will take place in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the Friedrichshafen exhibition center right next to Friedrichshafen Airport, Germany.

The Messerschmitt Me 163 was intended to counter the overwhelming flow of bombers against Germany’s cities.  It was the first aircraft to break the magic barrier of 1,000 km/h – and in doing so became the fastest aircraft in WWII. The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, designed by Alexander Lippisch, was one of the most spectacular aircraft to appear in the German skies before 1945. The radical interceptor with a rocket engine was denied great success but it still became famous.

Most of the aircraft produced did not survive long after the end of the war; only a few were even preserved. It has been claimed that at least 29 Komets were shipped out of Germany after the war and of those at least 10 are been known to have survived the war to be put on display in museums around the world. Most of the survivors were part of JG 400 and were captured by the British at Husum, the squadron’s base at the time of Germany’s surrender in 1945. According to the Royal Air Force Museum, 48 aircraft were captured intact and 24 were shipped to the United Kingdom for evaluation although only one, VF241, was test flown albeit unpowered (Wikipedia has a very detailed section describing the survivors).

An unpowered replica (registered D-1636) was built in the 1990s by former Luftwaffe pilot Joseph Kurtz and flown for several years, but it has been a museum piece at the Flugmuseum Messerschmitt for some time. But now the silhouette of the Me 163 is set to return to the sky – this time as a self-launching replica.

The new 1:1 scale replica is the work of Heinz-Dieter Sippel. After years of work, he built his Me 163B entirely from composite materials in a lightweight sandwich construction. Sippel received support from the German Society for the Preservation of Historic Aircraft and the company Silence Aircraft.

Like the original, the replica measures 5.99 meters from nose to tail and the wingspan is 9.3 meters. However, the weight of the real Komet, which was 4.3 tons, was far more than Sippel’s Me 163B. The replica should weigh only 240 kilograms. The speed also seems quite comfortable at around 140 km/h. A JetCat turbine type P1000-Pro with a kilonewton of thrust provides propulsion. It is powered by kerosene (Jet A-1), diesel, or petroleum. The start is either in F-tow or self-start.

Many thanks to Philipp Prinzing of KLASSIKER DER LUFTFAHRT  for providing the details and photos.