 The Me 163 was designed to use its entire load of fuel to reach combat altitude and then return to the ground as a glider, with the He 162A having a short, 30-minute flight envelope with a similarly fast landing speed.However, the landing speed of around 200 km/h (125 mph) posed a special challenge for pilots.Trainees therefore began on a "Stummel-Habicht" on which the original Habicht's 13.6-metre (44 ft 7 in) gull wings had been replaced with straight wings of 8-metre (26 ft 3 in) span, and then progressed to another version with a 6-metre (19 ft 8 in) span.