fastmongrel
1st Sergeant
If a Mossie saw a 262 coming in time and had altitude it would be a lucky 262 that got close before it ran short of fuel. The Mossies best tactic was to run hard in a shallow dive.
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Now that's actually a good observation. Service ceiling is set by lift and by power. The 262 actually probably had enough lift to fly above 37000 feet, but the engines seemed to run into cooling trouble up there.I'm just wondering about a 262 vs Mosquito encounter at high altitude. Just how much thrust did the 262 have up there?
The Jumo004s did fine at higher altitudes and it was actually faster the higher it flew.Now that's actually a good observation. Service ceiling is set by lift and by power. The 262 actually probably had enough lift to fly above 37000 feet, but the engines seemed to run into cooling trouble up there.
Only Meteor III had air brakes. Meteor I did not. The Me 262 could have been fitted with something, split flap type similar to Me 410 maybe.You might be thinking of the Gloster Meteor. That had airbrakes from the beginning iirc.
Back in '44, one of the first Allied encounters with a Me262, was a PRU Mossie.I have mentioned this before but I heard a mosquito pilot say in an interview that if they knew a 262 nightfighter was hunting them they would head for the deck as they knew the jet fuel burn was much higher causing them to break off much earlier. Would that be a viable tactical option during daylight?
Bits fell of the mossie either from a hit or the intense manoeuvring and it disappeared into the clouds. That's why the engagement was broken of.Back in '44, one of the first Allied encounters with a Me262, was a PRU Mossie.
They spotted an enemy aircraft closing on them (at 30,000 feet) and they opened the throttle, getting up to 400mph and the enemy was still closing. The enemy A/C was the unknown Me262, so they had no way of knowing what they were up against and when it opened fire, landing hits, they took violent evasive maneuvers.
One tactic they did, was a descending spiral which caused the Me262 to bleed off speed (the Mossie's saving grace) and then it would close again and they continued every trick in the book to shake it and this went on for nearly 15 minutes and then suddenly, the Me262 broke off.
So I would surmise that the Mosquito's pilot, by an astounding stroke of luck, found the 262's shortcomings in the first encounter: force the Me262 to slow down and run it out of fuel.
The mossie survives still in the RAF museum.
90 minutes cruise or 30 minutes of combat - having two turbojets consumed the 475 gallons of fuel quickly if it had to go into combat.Bits fell of the mossie either from a hit or the intense manoeuvring and it disappeared into the clouds. That's why the engagement was broken of.
The mossie survives still in the RAF museum.
Under the RADAR: Mosquito versus Me 262 - YouTube
The Me 262 carried a huge amount of fuel, 650 miles worth, so it was short ranged only compared to a P-51
I've read the same thing somewhere about diving down low and get the 262 to burn up fuel. I wondered how the Allied pilots would know this.I have mentioned this before but I heard a mosquito pilot say in an interview that if they knew a 262 nightfighter was hunting them they would head for the deck as they knew the jet fuel burn was much higher causing them to break off much earlier. Would that be a viable tactical option during daylight?
The Me 262 carried a huge amount of fuel, 650 miles worth, so it was short ranged only compared to a P-51
I've read the same thing somewhere about diving down low and get the 262 to burn up fuel. I wondered how the Allied pilots would know this.
After all, the initial encounters must have been a bit of a shock.
The Sunderland was much more agile and heavily armed than it looked, quite a few stories about them getting the better of Ju 88s. The Stirling was too. One Lancaster crew developed their own method of dealing with attacks. When the tail gunner warned the pilot a night fighter was approaching on a given signal the pilot throttled back, this gave the tail gunner a shot at the fighter as it overshot, the tail gunner opening fire was the signal to the pilot to open the throttles full and dive into a "corkscrew", they claimed 3 x Bf110s destroyed and a Bf109 damaged in a single action over France.I wonder how certain other aircraft may have performed doing that.
Not changing the timeline nor tactics. Heavy bombers flying daylight missions in tight formations suddenly doing the Lancaster corkscrew is ridiculous. But, as individual airplanes, doing these maneuvers, was the B-17 a joy to fly? Are their anecdotes about Liberators, Halifaxes, and maybe Sunderlands?
I can't read anymore-everything I know is wrong-especially the "Greg" thing.
... as individual airplanes, doing these maneuvers, was the B-17 a joy to fly?