Messerschmitt Me-262A-1 Schwalbe

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 2

Speed: 10

Maneuverability: 1

Firepower: 10

Climb Rate: 6

Ground Attack: 6

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	507	517	526	540	541@ 22966'	280 mph	1:15	3:14	7:15
kph	815	832	847	869	870@ 7000m	450 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: July 1944

Primary Guns: 2x Mk108 30mm cannon with 80 rpg in nose

Secondary Guns: 2x Mk108 30mm cannon with 100 rpg in nose

Ordnance: 2x 551 lb (250 kg) bombs or 2x 475 lb (215 kg) drop tanks or 24x 9lb (4 kg) R4M rockets

Engine(s): 2x Junkers Jumo 004B-1 turbojets rated at 1,980 lbs thrust each

Int Fuel Capacity: 2,736 lbs (1,241 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 950 lbs (430 kg)

Maximum Speeds: 514 mph (827 kph) at sea level, 540 mph (869 kph) at 19,685 ft (6,000 m)

Ceiling: 37,565 ft (11,450 m)

Loaded Weight: 14,101 lbs (6,396 kg)

Wing Area: 234 sq ft (21.8 sq m)

Wing Loading: 60.3 lbs/sq ft (293.4 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Speed: When not carrying bombs or rockets, the Me-262 can walk away from anything else in the skies.

Firepower: Four 30mm cannon and twenty-four air-to-air rockets gives the Me 262 the most potent firepower in the game.

Weaknesses

Acceleration: Once it is slowed down, the 262 is also slow to regain its speed leaving it prey to the quicker accelerating piston-engine planes.

History

The basic design concept of the Me-262 was begun in late 1938 when the RLM issued an order to Messerschmitt for a plane capable of using the new axial-flow turbojets being developed by BMW. BMW estimated that their new P3302 engine would produce 1,320 lbs. of thrust and would be available for installation by December 1939.

The Messerschmitt design team began work and on June 7, 1939 submitted their proposal to RLM as Project 1065. Utilizing two P3302 engines, the 1065 was projected to have a top speed of 560 mph. After inspecting the mock-up in January 1940, the RLM issued an order for three airframes for static and flight testing.

By now of course, BMW had failed to deliver the 003 engine, as the P3302 had been redesignated, and its size was appreciably larger than anticipated. The lack of availability was a time issue, but the larger size was a design issue as it had originally been planned to mount the engines in the wing roots. A complete redesign was in order and the result was a larger plane with the engines mounted in nacelles under the wings. The new design was accepted in June 1940.

Meanwhile bench tests of the BMW 003s revealed their output to be less than 570 lbs. of thrust, less than half of what they had promised. Fortunately, Junkers had also begun work on a turbojet, the Jumo 004. Although it was successfully run on the bench in November 1940, it too had problems and the first prototype was thus fitted with a single Junkers Jumo-210G in-line engine in the nose for flight testing of the airframe. It was in this form that the plane first flew on April 18, 1941 and although it could only reach 260 mph, the airframe displayed pleasant handling characteristics. Further tests revealed some minor buffeting problems in a dive, which were subsequently resolved.

The first flight-worthy BMW-003s arrived at Augsburg in November 1941 and were mounted in the nacelles of the 210G powered 262. After static testing it was declared flight-worthy and on March 25, 1942 the plane thundered down the runway under the power of all three engines. However, the plane was barely airborne before first one, then the other engine flamed out. Despite the increased weight and drag of the dead engines, the test pilot was able to make a circle and land safely. Upon inspection it was learned that the compressor blades had inexplicably broken and the engineers returned to BMW to work out the problems. As it turned out the BMW-003 had to be completely redesigned and would not fly again until late 1943.

Soon Junkers had resolved most of the problems in their turbojet and the pre-production Jumo-004A-0 was delivered to Augsburg for installation. Being larger and heavier than the BMWs the Jumos required larger nacelles and a larger rudder to compensate for the expected disruption to lateral stability. Finally, on July 18, 1942 the Jumo-powered 262 was ready to fly and the team commenced high-speed taxiing trials. After some aborted attempts to raise the tail-wheel off the ground it was suggested to the pilot that he tap the brakes to "kick" the tail into the air. This worked and at 8:40 in the morning the Me-262 took to the air on turbojet power alone.

After completing seven additional short test flights it was felt that the plane could be turned over to a Luftwaffe test pilot for evaluation. After being told the take-off procedure the pilot tried to take off, but had difficulty getting the tail up in time. He barely had gotten airborne by the end of the runway, when he plowed through a hedge and into a manure pile, causing a ground loop from which he, but not the plane emerged safe. This set back the development program by a good six months while the prototype and new pre-production engines were rebuilt.

During 1943 flight-testing showed the engines to be extremely susceptible to either flaming out or burning the turbine blades. The plane required precise manipulation of the throttle with mistakes resulting in disaster. Even an excessive side-slip could cause an engine failure as they found on the second test flight of the reconstructed prototype when it crashed, killing the pilot.

On November 2, 1943 Göring visited the Messerschmitt firm to ask if the Me-262 could carry bombs (a requirement most German fighters had to fulfill). Messerschmitt replied that the plane had always been envisaged to carry two 551 lb. or a single 1102 lb. bombs, but that the equipment had not yet been installed. Göring then asked how soon the bomb-carrying version could be ready for delivery, to which Messerschmitt replied that the equipment hadn't actually been designed yet. Pressed further as to how much of a delay would be incurred, Messerschmitt amazingly replied, "Oh, not very long - two weeks perhaps. It isn't really much of a problem; just a matter of camouflaging the clips." Göring gullibly bought this excuse and left with the impression that the plane would soon be capable of carrying bombs.

On November 26, Göring returned to Augsburg with Hitler for a demonstration of the Me-262. It was at this meeting that Hitler is purported to have asked if the plane could carry bombs and on learning that it could, proclaimed it to be the new Blitzbomber. However a subsequent telegram from Hitler's Luftwaffe aide to Göring revealed a desire to get as many "fighter-bombers" into front-line service as fast as possible and his feeling that "a delay in our jet fighter program would be tantamount to irresponsible negligence". Several months later when he learned that the planes delivered were not capable of carrying bombs, he flew into a rage and ordered that all Me 262s coming off the line be so equipped.

But regardless of whether the plane was able to carry bombs or not the simple fact was that the revised Jumo-004B was still nowhere close to entering large-scale production. Only a few engines had been delivered by June 1944 when development was "frozen" in order to devote all resources to production of what they had achieved by that time. Further, the trickle of engines that flowed from the factory had to be split between the twin needs of the Me-262 and the Arado Ar-234 jet bomber.

The problem of engine flameout was largely solved by the addition of fuel regulators, which provided the proper fuel flow regardless of how the throttle was handled, and the new plane was considered easier to fly than the Bf-109G. It was equipped with four 30mm Mk 108 cannon in the nose and could carry either two 551 lb. bombs or a single 1,102 lb. bomb. While the guns were effective, the most successful anti-bomber weapon was the brace of twenty-four R4M rockets, which were fired as a group into bomber formations. The rockets had about the same trajectory as the Mk 108 cannon and thus the same sight could be used.

Sixteen pre-production Me-262A-0s had been accepted by the Luftwaffe by April 1944, with the majority going to Erpobungskommando 262 commanded by Hauptman Thierfelder at Lechfeld air base for the purpose of devising both a conversion training program and new combat tactics. They started receiving their first production Me 262A-1a models in July.

Following Hitler’s demands for the use of the Me 262 as a blitz bomber, some pilots of the KG 51 were retrained as jet bomber pilots at Lechfeld. They formed the Erprobungskommando 51, also named the 'Schenck Unit' after its commanding major. On 22 Aug 44, the Schenk Unit comprising of nine Me 262 jet bombers was transferred to Jouvincourt; but only five of these planes reached their new base. Four of the jets crashed along the way because the pilots lacked the most basic training. In early Sept 44 the Me 262 A-2 became operational with KG 51 in the bomber-reconnaissance role. Other bomber units which subsequently equipped with the Me 262 were KG 6, KG 27 and KG 54, although only small numbers of the jet were used by them. The largest operation by Me 262 bombers occured on 14 Feb 45 when 55 Me 262s and Ar 234s of KG 51 and KG 76 attacked Allied ground forces in the Kleve sector.

On 3 Oct 44, after Thierfelder was killed in a crash, Major Nowotny, an outstanding 23-year-old fighter pilot, took command and the name of the unit was changed to Kommando Nowotny. The test unit was now made up of two squadrons stationed at Achmer and Hesepe airfields near Osnabrück, posessing a total of 40 Me 262s. Next day, four Me 262s took off from Achmer for the first time. Canadian Spitfires of 401 Squadron watched the airfield though and two jets were shot down over the takeoff field and a third was shot down while landing. Nowotny was killed on 8 Nov 44 when his jet was shot down during the approach by two P-51s.

In Jan 45 a special Mosquito-hunter group was established at Burg airbase (110 km west of Berlin). When this airbase became increasingly damaged, the jets used the nearby Autobahn (highway) instead. Initially dependend on searchlights, the double-seated Me 262 B-1a/U1 were later equipped with the latest Neptun radar. On 30/31 Mar, the unit's commander Welter shot down four Mosquitos in one sortie. Probably the majority of the 13 Mosquitos that were shot down in the Berlin area during Jan - Mar 45 were the victims of his unit.

In Feb 45, the first regular jet-fighter group, JG 7, reported ready for combat. The nucleus of this group came from Kommando Nowotny which had been disbanded. JG 7 soon developed a special bomber-intercept tactic, the 'Leapfrog'. Four jets, cruising in a classical finger-four formation, were guided by ground control to a position behind a bomber formation at a higher altitude. When this position was reached, the jets changed to a column formation and following the lead jet dived through the escort-fighter screen with a speed of 850 km/h. Still behind and below the bombers, the jets deaccelerated and climbed again to reduce speed. Soon the jets were positioned behind the bombers with an optimal speed difference of 160 km/h. Cannons and/or R4M rockets were now fired whereafter the jets accelerated and pulled up in order to avoid debris.

Also in Feb 45, a unit consisting solely of fighter aces, the JV 44 under Adolf Galland, was established. The unit's top five aces alone had more than 1 000 victories. The unit had some 50 pilots and 25 Me 262 jets, though no more than six of these planes were operational at any time.

It was only during March and April 45 that German jets were encountered by Allied bombers in some numbers. During the largest jet operation, on 10 Apr, 55 jet sorties were flown against 1 000 US bombers and fighters, 10 bombers were destroyed at 27 own losses (all from JG 7, half its strength). That very day, the 8th AF launched relay raids on all known Me 262 airfields in northern Germany. Parchim, Oranienburg, Briest, Rechlin and Burg were badly damaged. A short time later, all the Me 262 units that were still intact, were ordered to transfer to southern Germany and Czechoslovakia.

By the end of the war, the Me 262s had accounted for 150 enemy aircraft destroyed (50 of these by JV 44), 100 jets were lost in the process. Despite being years ahead of its time, the Me 262 came too late to save Germany. There were far to few aircraft to make any difference and in an environment of Allied air supremacy the jets were extremely vulnerable during takeoff and landing.

After the war, the Czechs continued to build single- and double-seated Me 262s under the designation S.92/CS.92. Dubbed the Turbina (Turbine) the S.92 was demonstrated to a Yugoslav delegation which placed an order for two although in the event these were never delivered. During the victory parade of 9 May 1951, six S.92s flew over Prague, but later that year the Czechs began to license-manufacture the MiG-15 instead. The Soviets copied the Jumo 004 and BMW 003 jet engines and used them in their first jetfighters, the MiG-9, Yak-15 and La-150 (the latter never reaching operational status). The swept-wing design of the Me 262 influenced several post-war jets like the US F-86 Sabre and the Soviet MiG-15 and the axial-flow design of the Jumo 004 became the standard for jet engines until today.

Sources

Green, William; Warplanes of the Third Reich; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Messerschmitt A.G.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II