As the title states, this is the first of two volumes on the Me-163. As with other Classic books, this one is going to set the benchmark for books on this aircraft. It is the same 12x9 large size hardback as the previous editions and is 224 pages in length. In terms of books, you definitely get your money's worth in terms of size and material. Similar to the other books in the series it contains many plans, photos and superb artwork, though not as much artwork as in the earlier books. This is undoubtedly due to the similarity in color schemes between the early aircraft.

The book starts with a history of tail-less aircraft and after covering early pioneers such as Etrich, Weiss, Dunne,  and Espenlaube, concentrates on the work of Alexander Lippisch. I must confess that after reading the Horton Brothers book reviewed many years earlier, I had a definite dislike for Lippisch. This book does not change my personal opinion of this man, but gives more in-depth information on his designs and his machinations as he tried to get his designs to be accepted by a very conservative military establishment.

The next section is on rocket propelled aircraft in general and there is the only photo I have ever seen of the rocket powered He-176. This entire chapter is particularly fascinating if you have an interest in early rocket motors. This is followed by a chapter on Lippisch's own views of events of the time as was written in 1942. As you might expect, they differ from other historical accounts!

Section 4 is on the development and production of the Me-163. I was particularly surprised by Messerschmitt's real lack of desire to see this design come to fruition. They literally stalled the project by a considerable amount of time. In fact, the real construction of the plane was turned over to Klemm and Junkers, with very few actually having been built by Messerschmitt. The complete opposite attitude was shown by Walther who designed the rocket motor and was always on hand to assist with the development of the motor. It was also enlightening to learn that the plane was not the pilot killer it was supposed to be nor was it as hazardous to operate as I had thought.

The next to last section is basically the operational diary of Erprobungskommando 16, who was tasked with operational testing and development of the Me-163. It is literally a day to day account of the unit from April 1942 until October 1944. Some may find this a bit dry, but I was fascinated by the lack of direction provided this unit by the higher command of the RLM and the lack of support that was given it by Messerschmitt.

The final major part is on JG 400 from March to September 1944. These folks were basically operating many of the surprising number of prototype and preproduction aircraft that were built. Their operational debut was less than inspiring and the unit was shuffled around the country quite  a bit. Throughout the book each aircraft is identified either by serial number, or code numbers to help readers track the history of specific aircraft.

There are several appendices that include a full list of personnel who flew the plane, a section on biographies of selected individuals, and a listing of all known flights of the large number of prototype aircraft.

Frankly, I seriously doubt if there will be anything around in quite a while to top this one. If you have any interest in the type, you could not find a better reference than this.

Maybe one of these days, Classic will see fit to send me review copies, but until then, this one is courtesy of my credit card!

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