Messerschmitt Me 262
| Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Fighter | |
| Crew | one, pilot | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 10.58 m | 34 ft 8 in |
| Wingspan | 12.5 m | 41 ft 1 in |
| Height | 3.83 m | 12 ft 7 in |
| Wing area | 21.7 m² | 233 ft² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 3,800 kg | 8,636 lb |
| Loaded | ||
| Maximum take-off | 6,400 kg | 14,454 lb |
| Powerplant | ||
| Engines | 2x Junkers Jumo 004B-1 turbojets | |
| Power | 18 kN | 4091 lb |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 870 km/h | 540 mph |
| Combat range | 1,050 km | 650 mile |
| Ferry range | ||
| Service ceiling | 11,450 m | 37,664 ft |
| Rate of Climb | 1,200 m/min | 3,937 ft/min |
| Armament | ||
| Guns | 4x 30 mm MK 108 cannon | |
| Bombs | none | |
| Rockets | 24x 55 mm R4M rockets | |
The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) was the first operational jet powered fighter aircraft. It saw limited action during the end of World War II. German pilots nicknamed it the Turbo, while to the allies they were blow jobs.
During development, the Me 262 was turned into a swept-wing fighter when the outer wings were swept back in conjunction with an increase in the projected weight of the still unfinished jet engines in March 1940. In 1942, the leading edges of the inner wings were extended, too, to turn the Me 262 into a true swept-wing aircraft. Swept wings had been proposed as early as 1935 by Adolph Busemann, and Willy Messerschmitt had conducted research on the topic beginning in 1940. In April 1941, he actually proposed to fit a 35ÃÂð swept wing (PfeilflÃÂügel II) to the Me 262. Though this suggestion wasn't implemented, he continued this line of thought with the projected HG II and HG III high-speed derivatives of the Me 262 in 1944, which were designed with a 35ÃÂð and 45ÃÂð wing sweep respectively.
The first test flights began in April 1941, but since the BMW 003 turbojets were not ready for fitting, a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine was mounted in the nose in order to test the airframe. When the BMW 003 engines were finally installed the Jumo was retained for safety reasons; this proved wise as on the first flight with the 003's both of them failed in-flight and the pilot had to land the plane with the nose mounted engine alone.
It was the third airframe that was to become a true jet plane when it took to the air on July 18 1942 in Leipheim near GÃÂünzburg, Germany, piloted by Fritz Wendel. Instead of the planned 003 engines which were proving unreliable, the Junkers Jumo 004 had become available and was installed in its place.
Test flights continued over the next year but the engines continued to be completely unreliable. Although all modifications to the airframe design were completed by 1942, they didn't bother to start production until 1944 when the engines finally started to work. Even then they rarely managed to last 12 hours, and it was not uncommon to have them explode during their first run-up tests. Planes often ended combat with one or both engines dead.
A characteristic of jet engines is that they have less thrust at low speed than comparable piston or turboprop engines, it's only once the plane is up and running that they come into their own. If a go-around became necessary on landing, acceleration is relatively poor as a result, and for the Me 262, it was made even poorer because all early jet engines responded only slowly to throttle changes.
On the other hand, the higher power of jet engines at higher speeds meant that the Me 262 could climb as quickly most piston fighters, but at a much higher climb speed. Used tactically, this would give the jet fighter an even greater speed advantage than level flight at top speed.
Operationally, the Me 262 had an endurance of 60 to 90 minutes.
Even with all of these problems the plane was clearly pointing to the end of the propeller aircraft as a fighting machine. Once the plane was in the air it quickly accelerated to speeds well over 800 km/h, over 150 km/h faster than anything in the air. As long as the pilot flew the plane well, it simply flew right past the opposing fighters and tore into the bombers with its heavy armament of four 30 mm cannons. In the hands of an even better pilot, the plane could run down P-51's so fast that the opposing pilots simply couldn't get out of the way in time.
Willy Messerschmitt regarded the Me 262 as it went into production only as an interim type. His interest in high-speed flight that had lead him to initiate work on swept wings as early as 1940 is evident from the developments he had on his drawing board in 1944. While the Me 262 HG I (Hochgeschwindigkeit - high speed) that was actually flight-tested in 1944 had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profiled canopy to reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical. The projected HG II variant combined the low-drag canopy with a 35ÃÂð wing sweep and a butterfly tail. The HG III aircraft had a conventional tail, but a 45ÃÂð wing sweep and the jet turbines embedded in the wing root.
Messerschmitt also conducted a series of carefully controlled flight tests with the series production Me 262. In these dive tests, it was established that the Me 262 was out of control in a dive at Mach 0.86, and that higher Mach numbers would lead to a nose-down trim that could not be counter-acted by the pilot. The resulting steepening of the dive would lead to even higher speeds and self-destruction of the airframe due to excessive negative G loads.
The HG series of Me 262 derivatives was estimated to be capable of reaching transsonic Mach numbers in level flight, with the top speed of the HG III being projected as Mach 0.96 at 6 km altitude. Despite the necessity to gain experience in high-speed flight for the HG II and III designs, Messerschmitt undertook no attempts to exceed the Mach 0.86 limit for the Me 262.
After the war, the Royal Aircraft Establishment - at that time one of the leading instituations in high-speed research - re-tested the Me 262 to help with the British attempts at breaking the sound barrier. The RAE achieved speeds of up to Mach 0.84 and confirmed the results from the Messerschmitt dive tests as accurate. No attempts were made to exceed the Mach limit established by Messerschmitt.
Only after Willy Messerschmitt's death, the former Me 262 pilot Hans Guido Mutke claimed to be the first person to break the sound barrier on April 9th 1945 in a Me 262. This claim is only based on Mutke's memory of the airspeed indicator reading. It is disputed.
In the end, the overwhelming numbers of allied planes meant that the jets had no overall effect on the war. On March 18th 1945 thirty-seven Me 262s intercepted a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters. They managed to shoot down 12 bombers and 1 fighter for the loss of 3 Me 262s. Although 4 to 1 exchange numbers were exactly what the Luftwaffe was dreaming about, it represented only 1% of the attacking force — more were lost to mechanical problems.
After the end of World War II, the Me 262 as well as other advanced German technology was quickly swept up by both the Soviets and the Americans. Many Me 262s were found in working conditon by both sides, and were "liberated". These aircraft were extensively studied, aiding development of early US and Soviet jet fighters. The F-86 Sabre and the Sukhoi Su-9 (1946) were directly influenced by the Me 262.
Development
Although often viewed as a last ditch superweapon, the Me 262 was actually under development under the project designation P.1065 before the start of WWII. Plans were first drawn up in April 1939, and the original design was very similar to the plane that would eventually enter service. High Speed Research
Operations
Initially, only bomber units were equipped with the Me 262s despite the aircraft had been designed as a fighter. Due to the characteristics of jet engines, dogfighting at low speeds had to be avoided. Given that speed was its only real advantage, good pilots made sure to make only small turns and never let the speed drop too much, making long, zooming passes at the bomber formations.Variants
Post-war variants
See also: Nakajima Kikka, Sukhoi Su-9 (1946), P-80 Shooting Star,Bell XP-59A Airacomet, Gloster Meteor, Heinkel He 178, Gloster-Whittle E.28/39
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