Joining the German military in 1943 led Joachim Hoehne to the cutting edge of the future of aviation. https://ww2thebigone.com/2016/07/08/rocket-man/
I think I saw a video Hoehne being interviewed in later years and I remember seeing that 163 up in Dayton. Little kids were confused, as usual, by the little propeller for the generator Here is the great Capt Winkle Brown talking about flying them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLcUKB-jws
Dude. Wow. Just wow. What a remarkable bit of information. I can't imagine flying an airplane like that, with so many risks. Is there a total tally of how many kills they achieved? Was the design really even successful?
His is quite a remarkable story, just to survive. . I would think one rode the 163 rather than fly it.. Gaines