High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Messerschmitt Me 263 was a rocket-powered fighter aircraft developed from the Me 163 Komet towards the end of World War II. Three prototypes were built but never flown under their own power as the rapidly deteriorating military situation in Germany prevented the completion of the test program. The Me 163B had two main shortcomings. One was a limited flight endurance; the second was the lack of a retractable landing gear, because it took off on a jettisonable two-wheel "dolly" that functioned as the main wheels of a conventional landing gear arrangement. The latter meant that the aircraft had to land on a retractable skid. Both shortcomings prevented it from becoming an efficient fighter aircraft.