Messerschmitt Me 262
The Me 262 was a German fighter aircraft flown during late World War II. It was the first jet to be used in war. It began test flights in 1942, but was not used in combat by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, until 1944. Very few were built because Germany's enemies were bombing factories. It saw little action because the war was nearly over. The jet engines of the new machine often caused problems, that's why a lot of machines had deathly accidents.
| Me 262 Schwalbe(Swallow) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a late production model | |
| Role | Fighter aircraft, fighter-bomber and ʽJet aircraftʼ |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt |
| First flight | 18 April 1941 with (Junkers Jumo 004 B turbine engines) 18 July 1942 with jet engines[1] |
| Introduction | April 1944[2][3] |
| Retired | 1945, Germany 1951, Czechoslovakia[4] |
| Primary users | Luftwaffe Czechoslovak Air Force (S-92) |
| Number built | 1,430 |
Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmidt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 kph (120 mph) per hour, the Schwalbe restored to the faltering German Luftwaffe. The Me-262 has two ʽJumo 004 B turbine enginesʼ with a top speed of 869.4 kph (540 mph). It's armament includes two ʽMK 103 30 mm cannonsʼ, two ʽ108 30 mm cannonsʼ, and a pair of ʽMG 151/20 20 mm cannonsʼ.
Messerschmitt Me 262 Media
Hans Guido Mutke's Me 262 A-1a/R7 on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich
Silhouette of the V3 prototype – V1 through V4 similar. Note retracting conventional tail wheel gear
- mecockpitcolor
Me 262 A-1a on display at RAF Cosford.
- Information added by Wikimedia users.Le Me 262 A W.Nr.500071 « weiss 3 » en avril 1945. Le pilote Mutke a atteri à la base aérienne de Dübendorf (de) en Suisse le 25 avril 1945 après avoir déserté la Luftwaffe. Tracteur :
Me 262B-1a/U1 night fighter, Wrknr. 110306, with FuG 218 Neptun antennae in the nose and second seat for a radar operator. This airframe was surrendered to the RAF at Schleswig in May 1945 and tested in the UK
Mock-up of an Me 262A-1a/R7 with R4M underwing rocket racks on display at the Technikmuseum Speyer, Germany
This airframe, Wrknr. 111711, was the first Me 262 to come into Allied hands when its German test pilot defected on 31 March 1945. The aircraft was then shipped to the United States for testing.[5]
Me 262 being shot down, as seen from USAAF P-51 Mustang gun camera, January 1945. Note the jettisoned canopy and empty cockpit.
Scale model of one of the Me 262 HG III versions at the Technikmuseum Speyer
Related pages
References
- ↑ Radinger & Schick 1996, p. 23.
- ↑ Price 2007, pp. 36–37.
- ↑ Radinger & Schick 1996, p. 49.
- ↑ Balous et al. 1995, p. 53.
- ↑ Samuel 2004, pp. 20–21.
