Messerschmitt Me 262

Me 262 Schwalbe
Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a late production model
Role	Fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber
Manufacturer	Messerschmitt
First flight	18 April 1941 with piston engine (Junkers Jumo 210) 18 July 1942 with jet engines
Introduction	April 1944
Retired	1945, Germany 1951, Czechoslovakia
Primary users	Luftwaffe Czechoslovak Air Force (S-92)
Number built	1,430

The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed Schwalbe (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944. The Me 262 was faster and more heavily armed than any Allied fighter, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor. One of the most advanced aviation designs in operational use during World War II, the Me 262's roles included light bomber, reconnaissance and experimental night fighter versions.

Me 262 pilots claimed a total of 542 Allied aircraft shot down. although higher claims are sometimes made. The Allies countered its potential effectiveness in the air by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing. Engine reliability problems, from the pioneering nature of its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines—the first ever placed in mass production—and attacks by Allied forces on fuel supplies during the deteriorating late-war situation also reduced the effectiveness of the aircraft as a fighting force. In the end, the Me 262 had a negligible impact on the course of the war as a result of its late introduction and the consequently small numbers put in operational service.

While German use of the aircraft ended with the close of World War II, a small number were operated by the Czechoslovak Air Force until 1951. Captured Me 262s were studied and flight tested by the major powers, and ultimately influenced the designs of a number of post-war aircraft such as the North American F-86 Sabre and Boeing B-47 Stratojet. A number of aircraft have survived on static display in museums, and there have also been several privately built flying reproductions that use the modern J-85 jet engine.

Design and development

Origins

Several years before World War II, the Germans foresaw the great potential for aircraft that used the jet engine constructed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain in 1936. After the successful test flights of the world's first jet aircraft—the Heinkel He 178—within a week of the Invasion of Poland to start the war, they adopted the jet engine for an advanced fighter aircraft. As a result, the Me 262 was already under development as Projekt 1065 (P.1065) before the start of World War II. The project originated with a request by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM, Ministry of Aviation) for a jet aircraft capable of one hour's endurance and a speed of at least 850 km/h (530 mph; 460 kn). Dr Waldemar Voigt headed the design team, with Messerschmitt's chief of development, Robert Lusser, overseeing.

Plans were first drawn up in April 1939, and the original design was very different from the aircraft that eventually entered service, with wing root-mounted engines, rather than podded ones, when submitted in June 1939. The progression of the original design was delayed greatly by technical issues involving the new jet engine. Because the engines were slow to arrive, Messerschmitt moved the engines from the wing roots to underwing pods, allowing them to be changed more readily if needed; this would turn out to be important, both for availability and maintenance. Since the BMW 003 jets proved heavier than anticipated, the wing was swept slightly, by 18.5°, to accommodate a change in the center of gravity. Funding for the jet engine program was also initially lacking as many high-ranking officials thought the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft. Among those were Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, who cut the engine development program to just 35 engineers in February 1940 (the month before the first wooden mock-up was completed); Willy Messerschmitt, who desired to maintain mass production of the piston-powered, 1935-origin Bf 109 and the projected Me 209; and Major General Adolf Galland, who had initially supported Messerschmitt through the early development years, flying the Me 262 himself on 22 April 1943. By that time, problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably. One particularly acute problem arose with the lack of an alloy with a melting point high enough to endure the high temperatures involved, a problem that by the end of the war had not been adequately resolved. The aircraft made its first successful flight entirely on jet power on 18 July 1942, powered by a pair of Jumo 004 engines, after a November 1941 flight (with BMW 003s) ended in a double flameout.

Hans Guido Mutke's Me 262 A-1a/R7 on display at the Deutsches Museum

The project aerodynamicist on the design of the Me 262 was Ludwig Bölkow. He initially designed the wing using NACA airfoils modified with an elliptical nose section. Later in the design process, these were changed to AVL derivatives of NACA airfoils, the NACA 00011-0.825-35 being used at the root and the NACA 00009-1.1-40 at the tip. The elliptical nose derivatives of the NACA airfoils were used on the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces. Wings were of single-spar cantilever construction, with stressed skins, varying from 3 mm (0.12 in) skin thickness at the root to 1 mm (0.039 in) at the tip. To expedite construction, save weight and use less strategic materials, late in the war, wing interiors were not painted. The wings were fastened to the fuselage at four points, using a pair of 20 mm (0.79 in) and forty-two 8 mm (0.31 in) bolts.

In mid-1943, Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as a ground-attack/bomber aircraft rather than a defensive interceptor. The configuration of a high-speed, light-payload Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") was intended to penetrate enemy airspace during the expected Allied invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. It is debatable to what extent Hitler's interference extended the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation; it appears engine vibration issues were at least as costly, if not more so. Albert Speer, then Minister of Armaments and War Production, in his memoirs claimed Hitler originally had blocked mass production of the Me 262, before agreeing in early 1944. Hitler rejected arguments the aircraft would be more effective as a fighter against the Allied bombers destroying large parts of Germany, and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer, Hitler felt its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant it could not be attacked, and so preferred it for high altitude straight flying.

Silhouette of the V3 prototype – V1 through V4 similar

Although the Me 262 is often referred to as a "swept wing" design, the production aircraft had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5°, too slight to achieve any significant advantage in increasing the critical Mach number. Sweep was added after the initial design of the aircraft, when the engines proved heavier than originally expected, primarily to position the center of lift properly relative to the center of mass. (The original 35° sweep, proposed by Adolph Busemann, was not adopted.) On 1 March 1940, instead of moving the wing backward on its mount, the outer wing was repositioned slightly aft; the trailing edge of the midsection of the wing remained unswept. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and wind tunnel results, the middle section's leading edge was later swept to the same angle as the outer panels, from the "V6" sixth prototype onwards throughout volume production.

Test flights

The first test flights began on 18 April 1941, with the Me 262 V1 example, bearing its Stammkennzeichen radio code letters of PC+UA, but since its intended BMW 003 turbojets were not ready for fitting, a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine was mounted in the V1 prototype's nose, driving a propeller, to test the Me 262 V1 airframe. When the BMW 003 engines were installed, the Jumo was retained for safety, which proved wise as both 003s failed during the first flight and the pilot had to land using the nose-mounted engine alone. The V1 through V4 prototype airframes all possessed what would become an uncharacteristic feature for most later jet aircraft designs, a fully retracting conventional gear setup with a retracting tailwheel — indeed, the very first prospective German "jet fighter" airframe design ever flown, the Heinkel He 280, used a retractable tricycle landing gear from its beginnings, and flying on jet power alone as early as the end of March 1941.

This airframe, Wrknr. 111711, was the first Me 262 to come into Allied hands when its German test pilot defected on March 31, 1945. The aircraft was then shipped to the United States for testing.

The V3 third prototype airframe, with the code PC+UC, became a true jet when it flew on 18 July 1942 in Leipheim near Günzburg, Germany, piloted by test pilot Fritz Wendel. This was almost nine months ahead of the British Gloster Meteor's first flight on 5 March 1943. Its retracting conventional tail wheel gear (similar to other contemporary piston powered propeller aircraft), a feature shared with the first four Me 262 V-series airframes, caused its jet exhaust to deflect off the runway, with the wing's turbulence negating the effects of the elevators, and the first takeoff attempt was cut short.

On the second attempt, Wendel solved the problem by tapping the aircraft's brakes at takeoff speed, lifting the horizontal tail out of the wing's turbulence. The aforementioned initial four prototypes (V1-V4) were built with the conventional gear configuration. Changing to a tricycle arrangement — a permanently fixed undercarriage on the fifth prototype (V5, code PC+UE), with the definitive fully retractable nosewheel gear on the V6 (with Stammkennzeichen code VI+AA, from a new code block) and subsequent aircraft corrected this problem.

Test flights continued over the next year, but engine problems continued to plague the project, the Jumo 004 being only marginally more reliable than the lower-thrust (7.83 kN/1,760 lbf) BMW 003. Airframe modifications were complete by 1942 but, hampered by the lack of engines, serial production did not begin until 1944, and deliveries were low, with 28 Me 262s in June, 59 in July, but only 20 in August.

The engine operating lifetime of 50 hours was severely decreased due to the shortages of strategic material especially in metals for ferritic heat-resistant steel with addition of silicon or aluminium, that could resist high temperature up to 1700° Celsius. However, with adequate maintenance between the major overhauls, a pilot could expect an engine life of 20–25 hours from the 004's. While BMW's and Junkers' axial compressor turbojet engines were characterised by a sophisticated design that could offer considerable advantage - also used in a generalized form for the contemporary American Westinghouse J30 turbojet - the lack of rare materials for the Jumo 004 design put it at a severe disadvantage compared to the "partly axial-flow" Power Jets W.2/700 turbojet engine, despite its own largely centrifugal compressor-influenced design (unlike either production German axial-flow jet engine), provided an operational life span of 125 hours. Frank Whittle concludes in his final assessment over the two engines: "it was in the quality of high temperature materials that the difference between German and British engines was most marked"

Me 262 cockpit

Operationally, carrying 2,000 litres (440 imperial gallons; 530 US gallons) of fuel in two 900-litre (200-imperial-gallon; 240-US-gallon) tanks, one each fore and aft the cockpit, and a 200-litre (44-imperial-gallon; 53-US-gallon) tank beneath, the Me 262 would have a total flight endurance of 60 to 90 minutes. Fuel was usually J2 (derived from brown coal), with the option of diesel or a mixture of oil and high octane B4 aviation petrol. Fuel consumption was double the rate of typical twin-engine fighter aircraft of the era, which led to the installation of a low-fuel warning indicator in the cockpit that notified pilots when remaining fuel fell below 250 L (55 imp gal; 66 US gal).

Unit cost for an Me 262 airframe, less engines, armament, and electronics, was RM87,400. To build one airframe took around 6,400 man-hours.

Operational history

Introduction

Me 262 A,W.Nr.500071 "weiss 3" in the summer 1945, Dubendorf Air Base.

On 19 April 1944, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld just south of Augsburg, as a test unit (Jäger Erprobungskommando Thierfelder, commanded by Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder) to introduce the 262 into service and train a corps of pilots to fly it. On 26 July 1944, Leutnant Alfred Schreiber with the 262 A-1a W.Nr. 130 017 damaged a Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft of No. 540 Squadron RAF PR Squadron, which was allegedly lost in a crash upon landing at an air base in Italy. Other sources state the aircraft was damaged during evasive manoeuvres and escaped.

Major Walter Nowotny was assigned as commander after the death of Thierfelder in July 1944, and the unit redesignated Kommando Nowotny. Essentially a trials and development unit, it mounted the world's first jet fighter operations. Trials continued slowly, with initial operational missions against the Allies in August 1944, and the unit made claims for 19 Allied aircraft in exchange of six Me 262s lost.

Despite orders to stay grounded, Nowotny chose to fly a mission against an enemy bomber formation flying some 30,000 feet above, on 8 November 1944. He claimed two P-51Ds destroyed before suffering engine failure at high altitude. Then, while diving and trying to restart his engines, he was attacked by other Mustangs, and forced to bail out. Nowotny was probably downed by Lt. Robert W. Stevens of the 364th Fighter Group. The exact circumstances surrounding the death of Nowotny remain uncertain to this day. It is also possible he was hit by "friendly" flak. The Kommando was then withdrawn for further flight training and a revision of combat tactics to optimise the 262's strengths.

On 26 November 1944, a Me 262A-2a Sturmvogel of III.Gruppe/KG 51 'Edelweiß' based at Rheine-Hopsten Air Base near Osnabrück was the first confirmed ground-to-air kill of a jet combat aircraft. The 262 was shot down by a Bofors gun of B.11 Detachment of 2875 Squadron RAF Regiment at the RAF forward airfield of Helmond, near Eindhoven. Others were lost to ground fire on 17 and 18 December when the same airfield was attacked at intervals by a total of 18 Me 262s and the guns of 2873 and 2875 Squadrons RAF Regiment damaged several, causing at least two of them to crash within a few miles of the airfield. In February 1945, Sergeant Pollards's B.6 gun detachment of 2809 Squadron RAF Regiment shot down another Me 262 over the airfield of Volkel. The final appearance of 262s over Volkel was in 1945, when yet another fell to 2809's guns.

Me 262 A-1a, W.Nr. 112372, on display at RAF Cosford, 2002. Some Me 262 A-1a aircraft, like the A-2a bomber variant, attached additional hardpoints, such as twin bomb racks under the nose of the aircraft, one rack apiece flanking the nose gear well. This was accomplished by having two slots near the ejector chutes of the MK 108 cannons where bomb racks could be attached. W.Nr. 112372, which is currently on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London, is a surviving example of this type.

By January 1945, Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) had been formed as a pure jet fighter wing, although it was several weeks before it was operational. In the meantime, a bomber unit—I Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54)—had re-equipped with the Me 262 A-2a fighter-bomber for use in a ground-attack role. However, the unit lost 12 jets in action in two weeks for minimal returns. Jagdverband 44 (JV 44) was another Me 262 fighter unit, of squadron (staffel) size given the low numbers of available personnel, formed in February 1945 by Lieutenant General Adolf Galland, who had recently been dismissed as Inspector of Fighters. Galland was able to draw into the unit many of the most experienced and decorated Luftwaffe fighter pilots from other units grounded by lack of fuel.

During March, Me 262 fighter units were able, for the first time, to mount large-scale attacks on Allied bomber formations. On 18 March 1945, 37 Me 262s of JG 7 intercepted a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters. They shot down 12 bombers and one fighter for the loss of three Me 262s. Although a 4:1 ratio was exactly what the Luftwaffe would have needed to make an impact on the war, the absolute scale of their success was minor, as it represented only 1% of the attacking force. In 1943 and early 1944, regardless of the presence of the small numbers of Me 262s, the USAAF was able to keep up offensive operations at loss ratios of roughly 5%..

In the last days of the war, Me 262s from JG 7 and other units were committed in ground assault missions, in an attempt to support German troops fighting Red Army forces. Just south of Berlin, halfway between Spremberg and the German capital, Wehrmacht’s 9th Army (with elements from the 12 Army and 4th Panzer Army) was assaulting the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front. To support this attack, on 24 April, JG 7 dispatched 31 Me 262s on a strafing mission in the Cottbus-Bautzen area. Luftwaffe pilots claimed six lorries and seven Soviet aircraft, but three German jets were lost. On the evening of the 27 April, 36 Me 262s from JG 7, III.KG(J)6 and KJ(J)54 were sent against Soviet forces that were attacking German troops in the forests north-east of Baruth. They succeeded in strafing 65 Soviet lorries, after which the Me 262s intercepted low flying IL-2 Sturmoviks searching for German tanks. The jet pilots claimed six Sturmoviks for the loss of three Messerschmitt. During operations between 28 April and 1 May Soviet fighters and ground fire downed at least 10 more Me 262 from JG 7. However, JG 7 managed to keep its jets operational until the end of the war. And on the 8th of May, at around 4 p.m. Oblt. Fritz Stehle of 2./JG 7, while flying a Me 262 on the Erzgebirge, attacked a formation of Soviet aircraft. He claimed a Yakovlev Yak-9, but the plane shot down was most probably a P-39 Airacobra. Soviet records show that they lost two Airacobras, one of them downed probably by Stehle, who thus scored the last Luftwaffe air victory of the war.

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 taken to the UK for testing.

Several two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a, had been adapted through the Umrüst-Bausatz 1 factory refit package as night fighters, complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar, using Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae with a set of dipole elements shorter than the Lichtenstein SN-2 had used, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10. Staffel Nachtjagdgeschwader 11, near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of the 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. However, actual intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. As the two-seat trainer was largely unavailable, many pilots made their first jet flight in a single-seater without an instructor.

Despite its deficiencies, the Me 262 clearly marked the beginning of the end of piston-engined aircraft as effective fighting machines. Once airborne, it could accelerate to speeds over 850 km/h (530 mph), about 150 km/h (93 mph) faster than any Allied fighter operational in the European Theater of Operations.

The Me 262's top ace was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills, including six four-engine bombers and 10 P-51 Mustang fighters, although night fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved by eye, even though Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar. Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär, who claimed 16 enemy aircraft.

Anti-bomber tactics

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress of the 815th Bombardment Squadron was lost on the mission to Ruhland, Germany on 22 March 1945, it was hit by Flak, then finished off by an Me 262. Eight of the crew survived as POWs

The Me 262 was so fast that German pilots needed new tactics to attack Allied bombers. In the head-on attack, the closing speed of about 320 m per second (1,050 ft) was too high for accurate shooting. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great to use the short-ranged 30 mm cannon to maximum effect. Therefore, a roller-coaster attack was devised. The 262s approached from astern and about 1,800 m higher (5,900 ft) than the bombers. From about 5 km behind (3.1 mi), they went into a shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1.5 km astern (0.93 mi) and 450 m (1,480 ft) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce their excess speed. On levelling off, they were 1,000 m astern (1,100 yd) and overtaking the bombers at about 150 km/h (93 mph), well placed to attack them.

Since the 30mm MK 108 cannon's short barrels and low muzzle velocity (only 540 m/s (1,800 ft/s)) rendered it inaccurate beyond 600 m (660 yd), coupled with the jet's velocity, which required breaking off at 200 m (220 yd) to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots normally commenced firing at 500 m (550 yd). Gunners of Allied bomber aircraft found their electrically-powered gun turrets had problems tracking the jets. Target acquisition was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile, which proved more effective.

Me 262 with R4M underwing rockets on display at the Technikmuseum Speyer, Germany.

The Royal Navy's best test pilot, Captain Eric Brown, chief naval test pilot and commanding officer of the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight Royal Aircraft Establishment, who tested the Me 262 noted: "This was a Blitzkrieg aircraft. You whack in at your bomber. It was never meant to be a dogfighter, it was meant to be a destroyer of bombers... The great problem with it was it did not have dive brakes. For example, if you want to fight and destroy a B-17, you come in on a dive. The 30mm cannon were not so accurate beyond 600 metres. So you normally came in at 600 yards and would open fire on your B-17. And your closing speed was still high and since you had to break away at 200 meters to avoid a collision, you only had two seconds firing time. Now, in two seconds, you can't sight. You can fire randomly and hope for the best. If you want to sight and fire, you need to double that time to four seconds. And with dive brakes, you could have done that."

Eventually, German pilots developed new combat tactics to counter Allied bombers' defences. Me 262s, equipped with up to 24 unguided folding-fin R4M rockets — 12 in each of two underwing racks, outboard of the engine nacelle — approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns, fired a salvo of rockets with strongly brisant Hexogen-filled warheads, exactly the same explosive in the shells fired by the Me 262A's quartet of MK 108 cannon. One or two of these rockets could down even the famously rugged B-17 Flying Fortress, from the "metal-shattering" brisant effect of the fast-flying rocket's 520 g (18 oz) explosive warhead. The much more massive BR 21 large-calibre rockets, used from their tubular launchers in undernose locations for an Me 262A's use (one either side of the nosewheel well) were only as fast as the MK 108's shells.

Though this broadside-attack tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war, and only small numbers of Me 262s were equipped with the rocket packs. Most of those so equipped were Me 262A-1as, members of Jagdgeschwader 7. This method of attacking bombers became the standard, and mass deployment of Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles was cancelled. Some nicknamed this tactic the Luftwaffe's Wolf Pack, as the fighters often made runs in groups of two or three, fired their rockets, then returned to base. On 1 September 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz expressed the fear that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied bombing offensive by daylight.

Counter-jet tactics

The Me 262 was difficult for its opponents to counter because its high speed and rate of climb made it hard to intercept. However, as with other turbojet engines at the time, the Me 262's engines did not provide sufficient thrust at low air speeds and throttle response was slow, meaning in certain circumstances such as takeoff and landing, the aircraft became a vulnerable target. Another disadvantage that pioneering jet aircraft of the World War II era shared, was the high risk of compressor stall and if throttle movements were too rapid, the engine(s) could suffer a flame out. The coarse opening of the throttle would cause fuel surging and lead to excessive jet pipe temperatures. Pilots were instructed to operate the throttle gently and avoid quick changes. German engineers introduced an automatic throttle regulator later in the war but it only partly alleviated the problem.

The plane had, by contemporary standards, a high wing loading (294.0 kg/m², 60.2 lbs/ft²) that required higher takeoff and landing speeds. Due to poor throttle response, the engines' tendency for airflow disruption that could cause the compressor to stall was ubiquitous. The high speed of the Me 262 also presented problems when engaging enemy aircraft, the high-speed convergence allowing Me 262 pilots little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropriate amount of deflection. This problem faces any aircraft that approaches another from behind at much higher speed, as the slower aircraft in front can always pull a tighter turn, forcing the faster aircraft to overshoot.

"I passed one that looked as if it was hanging motionless in the air (I am too fast!). The one above me went into a steep right-hand turn, his pale blue underside standing out against the purple sky. Another banked right in front of the Me's nose. Violent jolt as I flew through his airscrew eddies. Maybe a wing's length away. That one in the gentle left-hand curve! Swing her round. I was coming from underneath, eye glued to the sight (pull her tighter!). A throbbing in the wings as my cannon pounded briefly. Missed him. Way behind his tail. It was exasperating. I would never be able to shoot one down like this. They were like a sack of fleas. A prick of doubt: is this really such a good fighter? Could one in fact, successfully attack a group of erratically banking fighters with the Me 262?"

Johannes Steinhoff, Luftwaffe fighter ace.

Luftwaffe pilots eventually learned how to handle the Me 262's higher speed and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter, with pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down 17 enemy fighters in the Me 262, 10 of them American P-51 Mustangs. Other notable Me 262 aces included Georg-Peter Eder, with 12 enemy fighters to his credit (including nine P-51s), Erich Rudorffer also with 12 enemy fighters to his credit, Walther Dahl with 11 (including three Lavochkin La-7s and six P-51s) and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with six (including one Spitfire and two P-51s) amongst many others.

Pilots soon learned that the Me 262 was quite maneuverable despite its high wing loading and lack of low-speed thrust, especially if attention was drawn to its effective maneuvering speeds. The controls were light and effective right up to the maximum permissible speed and perfectly harmonised. The inclusion of full span automatic leading-edge slats, something of a "tradition" on Messerschmitt fighters dating back to the original Bf 109's outer wing slots of a similar type, helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, greatly improving the aircraft's turn performance as well as its landing and take off characteristics. As many pilots soon found out, the Me 262's clean design also meant that it, like all jets, held its speed in tight turns much better than conventional propeller-driven fighters, which was a great potential advantage in a dogfight as it meant better energy retention in maneuvers. Luftwaffe test pilot and flight instructor Hans Fey stated, "The 262 will turn much better at high than at slow speeds and, due to its clean design, will keep its speed in tight turns much longer than conventional type aircraft."

Me-262 being shot down. Note jettisoned canopy and empty cockpit. As seen from USAAF P-51 Mustang gun camera

Too fast to catch for the escorting Allied fighters, the Me 262s were almost impossible to head off. As a result, Me 262 pilots were relatively safe from the Allied fighters, as long as they did not allow themselves to get drawn into low-speed turning contests and saved their maneuvering for higher speeds. Combating the Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the U.S. fighters fought the more nimble, but slower, Japanese fighters in the Pacific.

Allied pilots soon found that the only reliable way to destroy the jets, as with the even faster Me 163 Komet rocket fighters, was to attack them on the ground or during takeoff or landing. Luftwaffe airfields identified as jet bases were frequently bombed by medium bombers, and Allied fighters patrolled over the fields to attack jets trying to land. The Luftwaffe countered by installing extensive flak alleys of anti-aircraft guns along the approach lines to protect the Me 262s from the ground—and by providing top cover during the jets' takeoff and landing with the most advanced Luftwaffe single-engined fighters, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D and (just becoming available in 1945) Focke-Wulf Ta 152H. Nevertheless, in March–April 1945, Allied fighter patrol patterns over Me 262 airfields resulted in numerous jet losses.

As the Me 262A's pioneering Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow jet engines needed careful nursing by their pilots, these jet aircraft were particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing. Lt. Chuck Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group was one of the first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban Drew of the 365th Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke, who had transferred to the Mustang equipped 479th Fighter Group, shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of the 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire Staffel of Me 262As at takeoff and destroyed six jets.

The British Hawker Tempest scored a number of kills against the new German jets, including the Messerschmitt Me 262. Hubert Lange, a Me 262 pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest — extremely fast at low altitudes, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed." Some were destroyed with a tactic known to the Tempest 135 Wing as the "Rat Scramble": Tempests on immediate alert took off when an Me 262 was reported airborne. They did not intercept the jet, but instead flew towards the Me 262 and Ar 234 base at Hopsten air base. The aim was to attack jets on their landing approach, when they were at their most vulnerable, travelling slowly, with flaps down and incapable of rapid acceleration. The German response was the construction of a "flak lane" of over 150 emplacements of the 20 mm Flakvierling quadruple autocannon batteries at Rheine-Hopsten to protect the approaches. After seven Tempests were lost to flak at Hopsten in a single week, the "Rat Scramble" was discontinued.

High-speed research

Scale model of one of the Me 262 HG III versions at the Technikmuseum Speyer

Adolf Busemann had proposed swept wings as early as 1935. Messerschmitt researched the topic from 1940. In April 1941, Busemann proposed fitting a 35° swept wing (Pfeilflügel II, literally "arrow wing II") to the Me 262, the same wing sweep angle later used on both the American F-86 Sabre and Soviet MiG-15 Fagot fighter jets. Though this was not implemented, he continued with the projected HG II and HG III (Hochgeschwindigkeit, "high-speed") derivatives in 1944, which were designed with a 35° and 45° wing sweep, respectively.

Interest in high-speed flight, which led him to initiate work on swept wings starting in 1940, is evident from the advanced developments Messerschmitt had on his drawing board in 1944. While the Me 262 V9 Hochgeschwindigkeit I (HG I) actually flight tested in 1944 had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profile canopy — tried as the Rennkabine (literally "racing cabin") on the ninth Me 262 prototype for a short time — to reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical. The projected HG II combined the low-drag canopy with a 35° wing sweep and a butterfly tail. The HG III had a conventional tail, but a 45° wing sweep and turbines embedded in the wing roots.

Messerschmitt also conducted a series of flight tests with the series production Me 262. In dive tests, they determined that the Me 262 went out of control in a dive at Mach 0.86, and that higher Mach numbers would cause a nose-down trim that the pilot could not counter. The resulting steepening of the dive would lead to even higher speeds and the airframe would disintegrate from excessive negative g loads.

The HG series of Me 262 derivatives was believed capable of reaching transonic Mach numbers in level flight, with the top speed of the HG III being projected as Mach 0.96 at 6,000 m (20,000 ft) altitude. Despite the necessity to gain experience in high-speed flight for the HG II and III designs, Messerschmitt made no attempt 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 institutions in high-speed research, re-tested the Me 262 to help with British attempts at exceeding Mach 1. The RAE achieved speeds of up to Mach 0.84 and confirmed the results from the Messerschmitt dive tests. The Soviets ran similar tests.

After Willy Messerschmitt's death in 1978, the former Me 262 pilot Hans Guido Mutke claimed to have exceeded Mach 1, on 9 April 1945 in a Me 262 in a "straight-down" 90° dive. This claim is disputed because it is only based on Mutke's memory of the incident, which recalls effects other Me 262 pilots observed below the speed of sound at high indicated airspeed, but with no altitude reading required to determine the actual speed. Furthermore, the pitot tube used to measure airspeed in aircraft can give falsely elevated readings as the pressure builds up inside the tube at high speeds. Finally, the Me 262 wing had only a slight sweep, incorporated for trim (center of gravity) reasons and likely would have suffered structural failure due to divergence at high transonic speeds. One airframe — the aforementioned Me 262 V9, Werknummer 130 004, with Stammkennzeichen of VI+AD, was prepared as the HG I test airframe with the low-profile Rennkabine racing canopy and may have achieved an unofficial record speed for a turbojet-powered aircraft of 975 km/h (606 mph), altitude unspecified, even with the recorded wartime airspeed record being set on 6 July 1944, by another Messerschmitt design — the Me 163B V18 rocket fighter setting a 1,130 km/h (700 mph) record, but landing with a nearly disintegrated rudder surface.

Production

Underground manufacture of Me 262s

About 1,400 Me 262s were produced, but a maximum of 200 were operational at any one time. According to sources they destroyed from 300 to 450 enemy planes, with the Allies destroying about 100 Me 262s in the air. While Germany was bombed intensively, production of the Me 262 was dispersed into low-profile production facilities, sometimes little more than clearings in the forests of Germany and occupied countries. Through the end of February to the end of March 1945, approximately 60 Me 262s were destroyed in attacks on Obertraubling and 30 at Leipheim; the Neuburg jet plant itself was bombed on 19 March 1945.

Large, heavily protected underground factories were constructed to take up production of the Me 262, safe from bomb attacks, but the war ended before they could be completed. Wings were produced in Germany's oldest motorway tunnel at Engelberg, to the west of Stuttgart. At B8 Bergkristall-Esche II at St. Georgen/Gusen, Austria, slave labourers of concentration camp Gusen II produced fully equipped fuselages for the Me 262 at a monthly rate of 450 units on large assembly lines from early 1945.

Postwar history

Reproduction of a Messerschmitt Me 262 (A-1c) at the Berlin Air Show 2006

After the end of the war, the Me 262 and other advanced German technologies were quickly swept up by the Soviets, British and Americans, as part of the USAAF's Operation Lusty. Many Me 262s were found in readily repairable condition and were confiscated. The Soviets, British and Americans wished to evaluate the technology, particularly the engines.

During testing, the Me 262 was found to be faster than the British Gloster Meteor fighter jet, and had better visibility to the sides and rear (mostly due to the canopy frames and the discoloration caused by the plastics used in the Meteor's construction), and was a superior gun platform to the Gloster Meteor F.1 which had a tendency to snake at high speed and exhibited "weak" aileron response. The Me 262 had a shorter range than the Meteor and had less reliable engines.

The USAAF compared the P-80 Shooting Star and Me 262, concluding that the Me 262 was superior in acceleration and speed, with similar climb performance. The Me 262 appeared to have a higher critical Mach number than any American fighter.

The Americans also tested a Me 262A-1a/U3 unarmed photo reconnaissance version, which was fitted with a fighter nose and a smooth finish. Between May and August 1946, the aircraft completed eight flights, lasting four hours 40 minutes. Testing was discontinued after four engine changes were required during the course of the tests, culminating in two single-engine landings. These aircraft were extensively studied, aiding development of early US, British and Soviet jet fighters. The F-86, designed by engineer Edgar Schmued, used a slat design based on the Me 262's.

Avia S-92, Kbely Museum, Prague, 2012.

The Czechoslovak aircraft industry continued to produce single-seat (Avia S-92) and two-seat (Avia CS-92) variants of the Me 262 after World War II. From August 1946, a total of nine S-92s and three two-seater CS-92s were completed and test flown. They were introduced in 1947 and in 1950 were supplied to the 5th Fighter Squadron, becoming the first jet fighters to serve in the Czechoslovak Air Force. These were kept flying until 1951, when they were replaced in service by Soviet jet fighters. Both versions are on display at the Prague Aviation museum in Kbely.

Flyable reproductions

Me 262 (A-1c) replica of (A1-a), Berlin air show, 2006.

In January 2003, the American Me 262 Project, based in Everett, Washington, completed flight testing to allow the delivery of near-exact reproductions of several versions of the Me 262 including at least two B-1c two-seater variants, one A-1c single seater and two "convertibles" that could be switched between the A-1c and B-1c configurations. All are powered by General Electric CJ610 (civil J85) engines and feature additional safety features, such as upgraded brakes and strengthened landing gear. The "c" suffix refers to the new CJ610 powerplant and has been informally assigned with the approval of the Messerschmitt Foundation in Germany (the Werk Number of the reproductions picked up where the last wartime produced Me 262 left off – a continuous airframe serial number run with a 50-year production break).

Flight testing of the first newly manufactured Me 262 A-1c (single-seat) variant (Werk Number 501244) was completed in August 2005. The first of these machines (Werk Number 501241) went to a private owner in the southwestern United States, while the second (Werk Number 501244) was delivered to the Messerschmitt Foundation at Manching, Germany. This aircraft conducted a private test flight in late April 2006, and made its public debut in May at the ILA 2006. The new Me 262 flew during the public flight demonstrations. Me 262 Werk Number 501241 was delivered to the Collings Foundation as White 1 of JG 7; this aircraft offered ride-along flights starting in 2008. The third replica, a non-flyable Me 262 A-1c, was delivered to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in May 2010.

Collings Foundation's replica Me 262 B-1a, Marana Ariz., 2013

Variants

Me-262 variants

Note:- U = Umrüst-Bausatz – conversion kit installed at factory level, denoted as a suffix in the form /Un.

Me 262 A-0

Pre-production aircraft fitted with two Jumo 004B turbojet engines, 23 built.

Me 262 A-1a "Schwalbe"

Primary production version, usable as both fighter (interceptor) and fighter-bomber.

Me 262 A-1a/U1

Single prototype with a total of six nose mounted guns, two 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 cannon, two 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 103 cannon, and two 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon.

Me 262 A-1a/U2

Single prototype with FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 90 MHz radar transceiver and Hirschgeweih (stag's antlers) antenna array, for trials as a night-fighter.

Me 262 A-1a/U3

Reconnaissance version modified in small numbers, with Rb 20/30 cameras mounted in the nose or alternatively one Rb 20/20 and one Rb 75/30 (Rb – Reihenbildmesskammer – series-picture, topographic camera). Some retained one 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon, but most were unarmed.

Me 262 A-1a/U4

Bomber destroyer version, two prototypes with an adapted 50 mm (1.969 in) MK 214 (intended armament) or BK 5 (test ordnance only) anti-tank gun in the nose.

Me 262 A-1a/U5

Heavy jet fighter with six 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon in the nose.

Me 262 A-1b

Trio of A-1a evaluation versions, starting with Werknummer 170 078, re-engined with two BMW 003 turbojets in place of the Jumo 004s, maximum speed 800 km/h (500 mph; 430 kn).

Me 262 A-2a "Sturmvogel"

Definitive bomber version retaining only the two lower 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon.

Me 262 A-2a/U1

Single prototype with advanced bombsight.

Me 262 A-2a/U2

Two prototypes with glazed nose for accommodating a bombardier.

Me 262 A-3a

Proposed ground-attack version.

Me 262 A-4a

Reconnaissance version.

Me 262 A-5a

Definitive reconnaissance version used in small numbers at end of the war.

Me 262 B-1a

Two-seat trainer.

Me 262 B-1a/U1

Me 262 B-1a trainers converted into provisional night fighters, FuG 218 Neptun radar, with Hirschgeweih (eng:antler) eight-dipole antenna array.

Me 262 B-2

Proposed night fighter version with stretched fuselage.

Me 262C

Proposed development prototypes in four differing designs, meant to augment or replace the Jumo 004 jets with liquid-fueled rocket propulsion, as the "Home Protector" (Heimatschützer) series.

Me 262 C-1a

Single prototype [made from Me 262A Werknummer 130 186] of rocket-boosted interceptor (Heimatschützer I) with Walter HWK 109-509 liquid-fuelled rocket in the tail, first flown with combined jet/rocket power on 27 February 1945.

Me 262 C-2b

Single prototype [made from Me 262A Werknummer 170 074] of rocket-boosted interceptor (Heimatschützer II) with two BMW 003R "combined" powerplants (BMW 003 turbojet, with a single 9.8 kN (2,200 lbf) thrust BMW 109-718 liquid-fuelled rocket engine mounted atop the rear of each jet exhaust) for boosted thrust, only flown once with combined jet/rocket power on 26 March 1945.

Me 262 C-3

Heimatschützer III – proposed version with Jumo 004 turbojet engines replaced with Walter HWK RII-211 Liquid-fuelled rocket engines.

Me 262 C-3a

Heimatschützer IV - a rocket-boosted interceptor with a Walter HWK 109-509S-2 rocket motor housed in a permanent belly pack. Prototypes and initial production aircraft were captured before completion.

Me 262 D-1

Proposed variant to carry Jagdfaust mortars.

Me 262 E-1

Proposed variant based on A-1a/U4 with a 55 mm (2.165 in) MK 114 cannon.

Me 262 E-2

Proposed rocket-armed variant carrying up to 48 × R4M rockets.

Me 262 S

Zero-series model for Me 262 A-1a

Me 262 W-1

Provisional designation for Me 262 with 2x 2.7 kN (610 lbf) Argus As 014 pulse jet engines

Me 262 W-3

Provisional designation for Me 262 with 2x 4.90 kN (1,102 lbf) "square-intake" Argus As 044 pulse jet engines

Me 262 Lorin

Provisional designation for Me 262 with 2x Lorin ramjet booster engines in "over-wing" mounts, one above each of the Jumo turbojet nacelles.

Rüstsätze (field modification kits)

Rüstsatze may be applied to various sub-types of their respective aircraft type, denoted as a suffix in the form /Rn. Data from:'Messerschmitt Me 262A Schwalbe

/R1

Underfuselage pylon for 500 L (110.0 imp gal; 132.1 US gal) external fuel tank.

/R2

Ratog installation for two Rheinmetall 109-502 solid rocket engines.

/R3

BMW 003R rocket boosted turbojet installation.

/R4

Installation of the FuG 350 Zc Naxos radar warning receiver / detector.

/R5

The standard 4x 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon installation

/R6

Jabo (JagdBomber) equipment, such as bombsights and bomb racks.

/R7

Underwing installation of 12x R4M rockets carried on wooden racks'

/R8

R110BS Air to air rocket installation

/R9

Ruhrstahl Ru 344 X-4 air-to-air missile installation.

Postwar variants

Avia S-92

Czech-built Me 262 A-1a (fighter)

Avia CS-92

Czech-built Me 262 B-1a (fighter trainer, two seats)

Reproductions

These reproductions are constructed by Legend Flyers (later Me 262 Project) of Everett, Washington. The Jumo 004 engines of the original are replaced by more reliable General Electric CJ610 engines. The first Me 262 reproduction (a two-seater) took off for the first time in December 2002 and the second one in August 2005. This one was delivered to the Messerschmitt Foundation and was presented at the ILA airshow in 2006.

A-1c

American privately built, based on A-1a configuration.

B-1c

American privately built, based on B-1a configuration.

A/B-1c

American privately built, convertible between A-1c and B-1c configuration.

Operators

• Luftwaffe
• Czechoslovak Air Force (postwar, nine S-92 and three CS-92)

Surviving aircraft

Me 262A-2a (Black X), Australia, 2012

Me 262B-1a/U1 (Red 8), South Africa, 2008

Me 262 B-1a (White 35), Willow Grove, Pa., 2007

Me 262A and its Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine (Yellow 5), NMUSAF-Dayton, 2007

Me 262 A-1a/R7, W.Nr.500071 White 3, III./JG 7

Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany. This aircraft, flown by Hans Guido Mutke while a pilot of 9. Staffel/JG 7, was confiscated by Swiss authorities on 25 April 1945 after Mutke made an emergency landing in Switzerland due to lack of fuel (80 litres were remaining, 35 litres were usually burnt in one minute). Removed (2015?) from main museum for restoration and relocated to: Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim, Ferdinand-Schulz-Allee (for navigation systems), 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany.

Me 262 A-1a

Reconstructed from parts of crashed and incomplete Me 262s. Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr, Germany.

Me 262 A-1a W.Nr.501232 Yellow 5, 3./KG(J)6

National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Me 262 A-1a/U3 W.Nr.500453

Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, Washington, USA, currently in US undergoing restoration to flying condition. It is intended to fly using its original Jumo 004 engines. The aircraft was bought from The Planes Of Fame, Chino, California.

Me 262 A-1a/R7 W.Nr.500491 Yellow 7, II./JG 7

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Possesses twin original underwing racks for 24 R4M unguided rockets.

Me 262 A-1a W.Nr.112372

RAF Museum Hendon, London, United Kingdom.

Me 262 A-2a W.Nr.500200 Black X 9K+XK, 2 Staffel./KG 51

Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia. Built at Regensburg in March 1945, same batch from which the Deutsches Museum White 3 was built. Flown by Fahnenjunker Oberfeldwebel Fröhlich and surrendered at Fassberg. She remains the only Me 262 left in existence wearing her original (albeit worn, as seen in the picture) colours. Her markings show both the Unit signatures along with the Air Ministry colours applied at Farnborough, where she was allocated reference Air Min 81. Restoration was completed in 1985 and aircraft was put up on display. The Australian War Memorial's website states that the aircraft "is the only Me 262 bomber variant to survive, and is the only remaining Me 262 wearing its original paint".

Me 262 B-1a/U1, W.Nr.110305 Red 8

South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Me 262 B-1a, W.Nr.110639 White 35

National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida (previously at NAS/JRB Willow Grove, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, USA)

Avia S-92

Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely, Prague, Czech Republic.

Avia CS-92

Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely, Prague, Czech Republic.

Specifications (Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a)

Data from Quest for Performance Original Messerschmitt documents

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)
• Height: 3.50 m (11 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 21.7 m² (234 ft²)
• Empty weight: 3,795 kg (8,366 lb)
• Loaded weight: 6,473 kg (14,272 lb)
• Max. takeoff weight: 7,130 kg (15,720 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each
• Aspect ratio: 7.32

Performance

• Maximum speed: 900 km/h (559 mph)
• Range: 1,050 km (652 mi)
• Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,565 ft)
• Rate of climb: 1,200 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,900 ft/min)
• Thrust/weight: 0.28

Armament

• Guns: 4 × 30 mm MK 108 cannon (The A-2a had only two cannons)
• Rockets: 24 × 55 mm (2.2 in) R4M rockets
• Bombs: 2 × 250 kg (550 lb) bombs or 2 × 500 kg (1,100 lb) bombs (A-2a variant)

Notable appearances in media

Main article: Messerschmitt Me 262 in fiction

See also

• Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp which provided the slave labour for production of Me 262.
• Me 262 Project, construction of several flightworthy reproduction Me 262 aircraft in the 20th/21st century
• Wunderwaffe

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bell P-59 Airacomet
• Gloster Meteor
• Heinkel He 280
• Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
• Messerschmitt P.1099
• Nakajima Ki-201
• Nakajima Kikka
• Sukhoi Su-9 (1946)

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of fighter aircraft
• List of jet aircraft of World War II

References

Bibliography

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