Messerschmitt Me 163B1-a, WNr. 191904, "Gelbe 25"
History
"Yellow 25" was operated by Jagdgeschwader 400 (JG 400), a Luftwaffe unit tasked with defending against Allied bombers using rocket-powered aircraft. The aircraft was surrendered to British forces at Husum, Germany, in May 1945.Following its capture, it was transported to the United Kingdom for evaluation and display.
Initially assigned the RAF Air Ministry number AM219, the Me 163 was first sent to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. Subsequently, it was transferred to Brize Norton and later placed on display at the Station Museum at RAF Colerne. After the closure of the Colerne museum in 1975, the aircraft moved to RAF St Athan, where it received the ground maintenance number 8480M.
In May 1988, the Me 163 was returned to Germany and moved to the Luftwaffe Museum at Oldenburg. The airframe was in good condition, but the cockpit had been stripped, and the rocket engine was missing. Through the efforts of a German enthusiast, Reinhold Opitz, and the donation of instruments by a German woman whose late husband had collected them after the war, the missing components were reproduced. The aircraft was eventually displayed at the Luftwaffe Museum in Berlin-Gatow, where it remains today.
At the Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow, "Yellow 25" is displayed alongside a restored Walter HWK 109-509 rocket engine.