Messerschmitt Me 263

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Me 263/Ju 248
Type	Interceptor
Manufacturer	Junkers
Maiden flight	August 1944 (Unpowered)
Number built	2

For the fictional aircraft of this designation from Aces: Iron Eagle III, see Messerschmitt Me 263 (fictional)

The Messerschmitt Me 263 was a rocket-powered fighter aircraft developed from the Messerschmitt Me 163 towards the end of World War II. Only two airframes were ever completed, and the type seems never to have actually flown under power.

Early in the project's life, it was redesignated the Junkers Ju 248 resulting from the complicated nature of the later developments of Me 163. After the Me 163's designer, Alexander Lippisch left the project, Junkers was put in charge of finishing development of the Me 163D variant and was issued a new designation for the type.

The aircraft was an attempt to overcome the largest shortcomings of the Me 163, based on the results of tests with the Me 163D (a modified Me 163B, sometimes referred to as the Me 263 V1). The fuselage was considerably stretched to accommodate larger fuel tanks to give longer range, the cockpit was redesigned for pressurization and fitted with a bubble canopy to improve rear view for the pilot, and the Me 163's skid undercarriage was replaced with a conventional retractable undercarriage. The engine was equipped with two chambers - one to provide power for take-off and climbing, and a second chamber to provide lower power (and therefore lower fuel consumption) for cruising. This arrangement had previously been tested on modified Me 163Bs. By August 1944, one of the prototypes was undergoing glide tests, towed aloft by a Junkers Ju 188. The following month, the type was ordered into production.

In early 1945, the RLM re-assigned the project to Messerschmitt, and re-instated the Me 263 designation, but the aircraft never reached the production line. The production version was intended to be powered by a BMW 708 engine in place of the Walter powerplant. In the meantime, the Junkers factory was over-run by the Red Army and the prototype Ju 248, along with materials and staff, were taken to the Soviet Union.

Further development of the design continued after the war, resulting in the abortive Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 interceptor.