Me-262

[GermansRGeniuses]

Motor veichles, it incorporates anything with an internal combustion engine. That's tanks as well. And for a good economy you needed a good transport system, and the most efficient ran on the internal combustion engine with good roads. That's why Hitler ordered the construction of the Auto-Bahns you hear so much about today, 700km worth to be precise.

The pic shows another use of this great road.

 

[plan_D]

I've seen that pic before, the caption I saw was funnier. It was something like 'Another way to get to the target'.

 

[ev0]

Didn't the me-262's engines blow up if you went from "0% to 100%" to fast?

 

[Erich]

it depended on the amount of thrust given through the turbines, this was at a distinct disadvnatage on a climbing turn. Several times Me 262's at night of Kommando Welter would have a "flame-out" where one engine would actually shut down.

~E

 

[plan_D]

Flame-out not meaning the engine blew up, just shut down. It happens on aircraft these days as well.

Erich, on the test 262 the pilot had to brake a little on take off to get the tail up. Did they have to do that on all variants?

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

no as with the prototype it had tailweel landing gear, the pilot had to break a little to get the tail in the air, he didn't need to do that on all varients as the rest had noseweel landing gear.....................

 

[plan_D]

That's true, I didn't think of that...where's the stupid thing so I can do it on myself. That'll have to do.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

ohhhhh, that tomato one's a bit harsh isn't it.....................

 

[ev0]

thought I read that the engines did blow up . Oh well. Btw, when was the first me-262's ready? What date?

 

[Lightning Guy]

The Me-262 made its first jet-powered flight on July 18th, 1942. The first delivery was made in May of 1944 but it didn't enter regular squadron service until Sept. of that year.

 

[GermansRGeniuses]

Kinda. EkDo 262 had it flying in combat in April of '44. The first two kills were scored on a) a Mossie and b) a P-38, both on Photo-Recce missions.

How ironic, no matter how much you guys argue whats better, the Me-262 comes out on top!

 

[plan_D]

I read the EKdo 262 started armed flights in July 1944 and the first to be shot down by them were two F-5 Lightnings and a PR. Mosquito. And that unit became Kommando Nowotny.

 

[MattyG]

Most of the posts seem to say "No", but I have to say "Yes". If it had been produced in sufficient numbers early enough. It was air superiority that dictated the tide of the war. The early years belonged to the Germans. Then, with huge numbers of American aircraft to tip the balance, it went to the Allies. Sufficient 262's would have swept the sky clear of bombers and fighters. German industry would have been unhampered by bombing. And with air superiority on the German side, can you say that the D-day landings would have succeeded?

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but that's it, they would have to have been produced earlier, which they weren't..........................

 

[plan_D]

And it seems in his eyes there were no British planes over the skies of Europe.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and that the 262 was invinsible.....................................

 

[GermansRGeniuses]

I read the EKdo 262 started armed flights in July 1944 and the first to be shot down by them were two F-5 Lightnings and a PR. Mosquito. And that unit became Kommando Nowotny.

Nah, it was April '44.

 

[Erich]

the date was 26 July 1944 with Lt Schreiber claiming 1 mossie downed but in actuality the Mossie landed without problem.

Schreiber scored or claimed the second kill of the 262 in August 2, of 44, this being over a Spitfire. Lt Weber scored the third claim on August 8, 1944 over a Mossie

 

[Huckebein]

IMHO the '262 alone couldn't have won the war, even had it been in service by late '43, a year earlier than it was. It would have established complete, but temporary, air-superiority, but then all that would be needed to counteract them would be to flood Europe with P-51s etc, watching the jets' bases. We all know how vulnerable the Schwalbe was on takeoff and landing, and they would always have been heavily outnumbered. Barring the early introduction into active service of first-class prop-fighters to cover the jets near the ground (such as the Dora 9, which could have been ready in '43 were it not for interfering beaurocrats), the Allies would simply have had to fight a very costly war of attrition withh the jets: thousands of high-performance prop-fighters constantly harrassing a few hundred (max) jets. Once they were under control, the bombing of industry could begin, and there'd be no way back for the Nazis...

No, the '262, after say 1942, was not a war-winner all on its own.

 

[GermansRGeniuses]

Beaver, there would be more than hundreds of jets, they Germans completed a bit (about 42) more than 1,300!