A literal powered egg, brainchild of Dr. Alexander Lippisch, was designed as a point defense rocket fighter which would takeoff, ascend vertically, fight the American bombers, and glide down to their airfield.
Since it was so small, it didn’t have wheel wells, so the landing gear jettisoned after takeoff. When landing, the aircraft would extend a skid and land over it.
300 were built, achieving only 9 kills.
The users were:
- Luftwaffe (most iconic aircraft was Wolfgang Spatte’s PK+QL painted in bright red).
- Royal Aircraft Establishmen (FE 500)
- Red Air Force.