During World War II
the Me 262 was the great achievement of German scientific achievement.
This shark like craft with its jet engines and potent firepower might have
swept the Allied bombers from the skies, had it been used properly. The
Me 262 gave pilots a superb fighting machine for which the Allies had no
equal. The Me 262 pilot had under his control the world’s first operational
jet fighter. One of Germany’s finest fighter pilots, Major Walter Nowonty,
formed the Kommando Nowonty in late 1944 to combat Allied bombers and their
fighter escorts.The result greatly alarmed the RAF and USAAF. The graceful,
potent Me 262 was easily the fastest fighter in the world. Armed with guns
and unguided R4M rockets, this fighter could have easily knocked the B-17
Flying Fortresses out of the skies. The Allies were only saved by sending
massive air raids over to Germany to destroy the factories and prototypes
while they were in hangers. Other German pilots flew the Me 262 as a bomber,
a bad decision that lost all of the technical advances offered by this
new warplane. The Me 262 came in too late and was not always used
properly but it still frightened the Allies. The Me 262 came in too late
to change the course of the war. Afterwards, Allied Jet experts studied
the airframe and engine and found out that the Messerschmitt 262 was years
ahead of fighters of other nations. The secrets helped the Allied Forces
develop more advanced Jet’s that eventually went through the Sound Barrier.
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Technical Details Me 262 A-2
The Me 262 is a single seat air superiority fighter. The engine were two 8.82-kN Junkers Jumo 004B-1, -2 or 3- axial-flow turbojets. It had a maximum speed of 870 km/h. It had a range of 1050 km at 9000 m. Its maximum altitude was 11450 m. It weighed 3795kg empty and 6387 fully laden. It had 4 30mm Rheinmetall-Borsig Mk 108A-3 cannons. It also had 12 R4M air-to-air rockets. And sometimes two 250kg bombs or one 500 kg bomb. |
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