When was the me 262 made

By then, it was far too late to have a significant influence on the war. On that date, some 60 Me s engaged more than 1, Allied bombers and fighters. Twenty-seven Allied aircraft were shot down, but 31 Me s, more than half the defending force, were lost. The Me was the first of its kind, and fearsomely advanced, but for Nazi Germany, it was too little, too late.

The new aircraft, while a research vehicle, was intended to be developed into a Luftwaffe fighter. The engines were mounted in the wing roots. As the engine grew in size and weight, the original Project was redesigned as a much larger aircraft, with engines moved from the wing roots to nacelles beneath the wing.

The increase in weight of the BMW engine prompted the Messerschmitt engineers to employ a fix long used by aeronautical engineers—sweeping the wing back to adjust the center of gravity. The design eventually had about 18 degrees of sweep-back, enough to give it a modern appearance and help somewhat in reducing drag at high speeds. Heinkel was awarded a contract for its development in March , as a backup to the Me The He made its first powered flight on April 2, , 15 months before the Me took to the skies.

The He never reached operational service, however, as neither Udet nor Milch was enthusiastic about the radical nature of a jet fighter. Early in , a contract was let for He B-1 fighter-bombers, powered by the Junkers Jumo engines and capable of a top speed of mph.

However, with the characteristic quick flip-flop Luftwaffe management of the time, the He program was officially canceled on March 27, The Me had superior range, and both aircraft required the scarce Junkers Jumo engine. Heinkel would re-enter the jet fighter field with the notorious He Volksjaeger in the fall of Skip to content. By Walter J. AP photo This theory is shortsighted. An Me lands at Lechfeld, Germany.

Supervising everything, if in an indolent, capricious manner, was Goering. These and other factors resulted in a service life of only 10 to 25 hours for a B4 engine. Photo from Eddie Creek collection The limping Me program had completed only a few prototypes by mid, but their performance commanded ever greater respect. Photo from Eddie Creek collection Too Little, Too Late Actual Me production proceeded slowly, so that it was not until April that preproduction aircraft were allocated to Erprobungskommando , to train pilots and develop combat tactics.

About 1, Me s were completed, and it is estimated that some actually reached combat. Walter J. He has written more than articles about aviation topics and 40 books, the most recent of which is Supersonic Thunder. When the roaring…. One of the biggest personnel issues Towberman…. The latter show forty-two victories over Soviet aircraft by Oberfeldwebel Heinz Arnold in piston-engine fighters, and seven perhaps not all by Arnold over American bombers and fighters in NASM's Me Although not a significant factor in the outcome of World War II, the Me introduced many features found on later aircraft, including the swept wing, wing slots, underslung engine nacelle, and heavy cannon armament mounted in the nose.

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During May Hitler believed that Luftwaffe bombers, including the Me fighter-bomber, could throw back the inevitable Allied invasion and directly support German ground forces should the Allies get a foothold on the Continent.

At some point in the early summer Luftwaffe General Karl Koller explained to Hitler that the Me was too fast to be used effectively for bombing. Koller pointed out that if it were used against Allied advancing columns in France, most of the bombs would fall at some distance from the roads and would be wasted. And the few Luftwaffe aircraft available to meet the Allied onslaught were quickly destroyed, so by June 21 the Luftwaffe had been swept off the sky in the West.

Hitler still insisted that the Me be constructed and used as a bomber, thus depriving the Luftwaffe of a significant resource to fight the Allied bombers. During June, 28 Me- s were produced as bombers and during July 59 Mes were produced as bombers; none during those two months produced as fighters. Also hampering the Luftwaffe Fighter Command was the continued insistence by Hitler and Goering during the early summer to maintain bomber output.

There were two other officers also present to receive their decorations. Hitler said he wanted to know from them how things really were. He asked if the Messerschmitts and Folke-Wulfs were inferior to the American planes. One of the Lieutenants answered affirmatively, stating they were between fifty and seventy kilometers an hour faster.

They could fly higher and they were more maneuverable. Hitler said he thought the German planes had methanol-injection engines making them extremely powerful. The Lieutenant said even so, the Americans were faster. Steinhoff jumped in stating they need a new and better aircraft, adding he was thinking of the jet fighter. I had evidently broken a taboo because a flush came to his cheeks.

Steinhoff wrote:. Fate hands me this one chance of wreaking a terrible vengeance-and here are you people trying to deprive me of it with short-sighted squabbles between bomber and fighter pilots. My decision is made. This aircraft is a bomber, a Blitz bomber-my instrument of revenge! It is not a fighter and it never can be a fighter. Steinhoff wanted to put in another protest but Hitler cut him short. After talking about how the Me was really not suitable as a fighter, Hitler launched into another lecture about how the German people showed greatness in adversity; he expected a historical turning-point laying just ahead, and expressed his confidence in victory in the end as long as the brave fighting men did their duty.

I shall astonish the world by mobilizing the entire nation in a way the world has never seen before. Despite its short time in combat, the Me had proven superior to all Allied fighters, accounting for Allied aircraft destroyed while losing On display is a two-seat Me B-1a.

Length: 34 ft. Height: 11 ft. Wing Area: sq. Four 30mm cannon; twenty-four 2. The Sextant. Social Media. Toggle left navigation Nav. Toggle navigation Menu. Toggle navigation. Aircraft on Display ».