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consTRUCTion

Undercarriage

Ths was o tricyce type wtfi

hydrauic retraction. Hydrauic brakes

were used on ai whees. The

manwhees retracted inwards into

tfie undersde o the wng centre

section, and the nosewhee retracted

rearwards into the fuseage,

Engines

The most sgnficant partofthe Me

262s construction concerned the

two Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 or B-4

eght-stage axa-flow gas turbne

unts, each deveopng 1,980b

thrust, mouned in a nacele sung

under each

wng. The

engnes were

started by means o a Rede two-

cyinder two-stroke starter motor bult

into the nose cone o each jet unt.

Boh the man engnes and ther

starter motors ran on J-2 fue, 87-

octane petro mxed wth 5 per cent

dese

oil.

The Me 262A-1a fighter

carried four fue tanks in the

fuseage, w o 196 Impgal one

o 38 ga andone of 132 ga

capacty, There was aso provson

to carry two drop tanks under the

forward fuseage, wth

a

tota

capacty o 132 Imp ga.

Accommodation

The plot s cockpt was mounted over

the wng traling edge, and was

protected by 15mm armour pates in

front of and behnd the plot, and by

a 90mm toughened gass wnd

screen, Access was ganed va

K1

a sdeways-hnged canopy, m

me 262H-1ariahterdata

messerschmitt me 6 uariants

Me 262A-0Pre-production fighter version, 13 aircraft built during

March and Aprii 1944. Most sent to test establishments

Me 262A-1aFirst production fighter version, armament four 30mm

cannon.

Morethan 1,000 built

Me 262A-1a/U3Tactical reconnaissance version of the A-1 fighter.

Armament reduced to one 30mmcannon, carried two Rb 50/30 aerial

cameras in a vertical split pair. Built in small numbers

Me 262A-2aFighter-bomber version of the A-la fighter. Armour

removed,

and additional fuel tanks mounted in the rear fuselage.

Racks for two 250kg or one 500kg bomb mounted under the nose.

More than 100 built

Me 262B-1aTwo-seat conversion trainer, fitted with dual controls.

Second seat fitted to the rear of the first, in place of the rear fuselage

fuel tank. Produced in small numbers

Me 262B-1a/U1Two-seater modified for the nightfighter role, Fitted

wth SN-2 Liechtenstein laterNeptun airborne interception radar.

Also carried the Naxos equipment for homng on emssions fromthe

BritishH Sradar. Produced in small numbers

Me 262 B-2aDefinitive nightfighter variant. As the B-1a/U1, but with

length increased by just under 4ft to accommodate a fuel tank in the

rear fuselage. Produced in small numbers

Dimensions

Span

Length

Height

Wng area

Wng loading at normal Ioaded weight

Weights

Empty, equipped

Normal Ioaded (no external stores)

Performance

Max speed {clean)

41ft OMn (12-5m)

34ft 9; in (10-6m)

llfteXin (3-5m)

233-58ft (21-72m)

60-4lb/ft

9,742lb (4,420kg)

14,101 Ib (6,396kg)

Max initial rate of climb

Time to 19,500ft

Range

513 m.p.h. at sea levei

541 m.p.h. al 19,500fl,

limting safe Mach No 0-83

3,940ft/mn

6mn 48sec

Normal fighter internai

tankage, 300 mles at s/l,

650 mies at 29,500ft

Armament

Fighter

Four 30mm Rheinmetall-Borsig MK108 cannon, 100 r.p.g. for

the two upper weapons, 80 r.p.g. for the two lower. Later modified to

carry 24 R4Munguided rockets on wing-mounted wooden racks

Fighter-bomberTwo 30mmMK108 cannon with 80 r.p.g. Two

250kg (550lb) or one 500kg (1,100lb) bombs carried externally

under the nose

Tactical

reconnaissance

versionOne 30mmcannon in the extreme

nose.

Two Rb 50/30 automatic cameras in vertical split pair

B O V E R I G H T T h i s J u m o 0 0 4 b e i n g m o v e d i n t o t h e D e u t s c h e s M u s e u m i n 1 9 5 7 g i v e s g o o d i d e a o f t h e p r i m i t i v e j e t s d i m e n s i o n s .

B E L O W M e 2 6 2 A - 1 a W N r 1 1 1 7 1 1 w a s u s e d f o r r e s e a r c h w o r k b y t h e M e s s e r s c h m i t t c o m p a n y , a n d w a s l a t e r m o v e d t o A m e r i c a .

Aeroplane

June

2 j

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HEU

ERGinE- HEUIPROBLEmS

messERSCHmin

IH 262 Database

Theradicai

new

Jumo004jet

engines

gaue

the

llle 262 outstanding

performance

-

prouidedthey

uiorhed

properly.

Dr ALFRED PRICE

ejtplains

tiow

difficultiesuiitli

production

greatly

limited

Its potential

capability

ngine noubles

TTHEEND0FTHE 1930sit

was reaised that the laws o

physcs dctated the

maxmumspeed propeler-

drven fighters coud attain

somewhere around 500mpfi.The

probemcentred

on

the inefficency

otfi

propeler

asa

means

o

converting the rotationa power from

pson engne into propusve thrust.

As anarcraft neared that

speed

propeler efficency fel drasticaly.

For hgh-speed flight, the gas

turbnewasmore efficent than the

pston engne.TheJunkers Jumo

004 gasturbne, the unt whch

powered theMe262 after spring

1942deveoped

1,850 b

of thrust

and

weghed

1,590b,

Lke ther

counerparts in Gea Britan, German

engneers wodngon the eady gas

turbne engnes for arcraft were

beguied

by

ther smpicty. There

werenopropeler converson losses,

norecprocatingparts,andthrust

was

more

or

less Constant

throughou

the

speed range.

Onthe down

sde,

however, the

gasturbne ran tfar hgher

temperaures, much greater

roaiona

speeds,

and proved

consderaby more dfficut to contro

than prevous types o arcraft

engne Desgnersofthe earty gas

turbnes faced a hostofnew

probemswhch,in many cases, they

had to

resove fromfirst princpes.

German engneers workng in ths

feidfaced further constrants,Bythe

md-war period chromumand ncke,

ttie

teel

-hardenngeemens usualy

consdered necessary forhgh-

temperatureSteel

aloys,

were in

desperateyshortsuppy

in

Germany

The muntions industrys needs

exceeded suppyan d stockples of

these matehas depeted wth each

month,

Therewasiitteto spare for

th ejetengne programmo Those

workngonjet engnes endeavoured

to desgn around

th e

probem

and

performance carne secondary to

buldng

engnes

that

couId

be mass-

produced usng avalabe matenas.

Inthecase oth eJumo 004,

Junkers engneers used substitute

matenas whch were oftennotupto

the job. Theengnes combustion

chambers, for exampe were

fashoned frommildsteeI wtha

spray-coating o aumnumbaked on

to prevent oxdsation. During

runnng,

these gradualy became

dstorted,

thus limtingthelite o

th e

engne.

Eary production Jumo 004 B-1

engnes had a runnng lite o ony

10-12 hours. Plotshadto be very

carefu in handing the throttles it

they were to avodtherisk o engne

falures, flameouts or engne fires,

One o

t he

most dfficut probems

concerned getting

the

correct tue

flowto the engne throughout the Me

262s performance enveope.Too

much fueand theturbne bades

woud burn out, too littlean d the

engne wouId flameout At atitudes

above 13,000ft the engne became

increasngy

temperamenta,an d

if it

suffered a flameout itw asnecessary

todescend

beow that

atitude

before

attempting a reight.Theshort

runnng lite, aong wth many other

A B O V E A n e n g i n e l e s s

M e 2 6 2 s t s a m o n g

t h e t r e e s n e x t t o

s t r e t c h

of

r o a d

p r e s s e d i n to s e r v c e

a sa m a k e s h i f t

a r s t r i p

in1 9 4 5 .

O V E F l a m e s p u r t s

f r o maJ u m o 0 0 4

a f t e r

s t a r t u p . N o t e

t h e

i g n i t e d s p i l l a g e

o n

t h e

c o n c r e t e

b e l o w .

A B O V E

S o l d e r s o f

t h e 7 t h

A r m y n s p e c t

t h e

c o m p r e s s o r a n d

R i e d e l s t a r t e r m o t o r

o n

a c a p t u r e d e

2 6 2 a t

G i e b e l s t a d t .

probems, mean theB1engne

contaned too many falings to alow

mass production to begn.

After much hard work to eimnate

weaknesses in the

desgn,

the Jumo

004 B-4

emerged,

wth a nomna lite

o 10 runnng hours before it needed

an

overhau,

anda tota lite o 25

runnng hours.Thenewvanant was

less senstive to throttle handing

than Its predecessorsandgeneraly

less temperamenta. Some contro

probems

remaned,

but the Luftwaffe

couId watno

longer.

Thedesgn o

the 004 B-4 was frozen in June

1944 to alowfor mass production. In

Sepember1944,production reached

sgnficant levesandduring that

monh 90 Me 262s were El

deivered to the Luftwaffe. U

eroplane une

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fIGHTEROR

BOmBER?

In

may1944 Hdolf

Hitlerorderedthat

the me 262 mas

initially

to

gointo

action only in the

high-speedbomher

role.

Despite

uiide

condemnation there

weresound reasons

for

adopting

sucha

course.

DrALFRED

PRICE

esamines

the

motiues for the

order

nd

its

effect

U

NTLTHEAUTUMN 0F1943

the

Me

262 had been

consdered soey for the

bomber-destroyer

roe.

By

then it

was

cear that

the

Aiies were

assembing forces foramaor

invason operationinthe folowng

year,to

be

launched aganst

a

pont

in nortfi-west Europe,

When

the bow

fel,

the

tight

tosecure

the

beachhead

woud decde

the

oucome o

the

war If

the

invason

succeeded,theGermanArmy wouId

be squeezed inexorabybetweenthe

Easternand

Western

fronts. If,onthe

other

band,

the invason was

defeated,

Alied losses

wood

probaby

be so

great

as

to precude a

further attemp for

some

time,

During that time

theGerman

Army

couId concentrate its forcesonthe

Eastern

Front,

andtry to secure a

maor vctory there.

The critica intia hours o a

landng operation wouId befraught

wth dfficuty

and

confuson. How

much more dfficut

wouId

the

invaders task

be

if the Luftwaffe

sen 50 or 100 hgh-speed bombers

lo bomb

and

strae the troops

comng ashore? Just a lew hours

deay in securing the beachhead

mghtbedecsve, if German

armoured unts reached the scene

first

anddrove

the invaders into the

sea. In

the

even,

the landngs on

Ornato beachonDDay

ran into

severe dfficuties,and hadthere

beenaddtiona harassment from

scores o hgh-speed bombers

strafing the troops

as

they came

ashore, the landng couId bave

faied dsastrousy.

In November 1943 Htler had

watchedanimpressve demons-

Iration o hgh-speed flight by the Me

262 V6.WlliMesserschmtt was in

attendance, and aftemards the

FJhrer

asked

wheher the arcraft

couId carry bombs. Messerschmtt

assured hm it

couId,

ether one

1,000kg(2,200b)or

two 500kg

(1,100b)

bombs.

That was the

answer Htlerwantedtobear.Ths

wasthe Bitzbomber he sought, an

arcraft

wth

the speed to punch

through the

Alied

tighter screens and

pan its bombs

on

the invaders.

From

then

on

the

Me

262

fighter-

bomber feaured promnenly in

Htlers counter-invason pans.

Yet

he

faied to communcate the strength of

hs feeings to those responsbe for

preparing the arcraft for that roe.

Sgnficantly, in the months that

folowed, the Messerschmtt company

dd not inliae detaied desgn work

on

a fighter-bomber

verson

o the

Me

262 and

senor Luftwaffe officers

dd not press it to do so. For hs part

Generafedmarschal Erhard Mlch, in

charge of arcraft production for the

Lufhwaffe, acknowedged the

usefuness of arcraft as a

fighter-

bomber Buheconsdered that it

wouId do better intialy as a bomber-

destroyer, and he concentrated the

work

on

readyng the Me 262 for

servce in that

roe,

That dvergence,

between Htlers wshes

and

the

course of the arcrafl's deveopment,

set in motionatran o events that

threatened to shake IheMe262

programmo to its very foundations,

Matters came to a

head

on May

23,1944, when Htler ordered a top

leve conference at hs Berghot

resdence to dscuss Ihe latest

Luftwaffe production programmes.

Among those present were

/?e/c/7smarsc/7a//Hermann Goering,

Erhard Mlch, Luftwaffe Chet o Saff

A B O V E T h e k e y p l a y e r s i n t h e

d e v e l o p m e n t

o f

t h e

M e 2 6 2

m e e t

a t

B e r c h t e s g a d e n

i n

1 9 4 3 . S h a k i n g H i t l e r s

h a n d

is

G e n e r a l m a j o r A d o l f G a l l a n d ,

wth

G e n e r a l f e l d m a r s c h a l l

E r h a r d

M i l c h j u s t v i s i b l e

b e h i n d t h e F h r e r . N e a r e s t

t h c a m e r a i s G e n e r a l m a j o r

H a n s J e s c h o n n e k , C h i e f o f

S t a f f o f t h e L u f t w a f f e .

L E F T c l o s e - u p o f t h e

s t r e a m l n e d b o m b r a c k

u n d e r t h e f u s e l a g e o f a n M e

2 6 2 A - 2 a , c a r r y i n g a n S C 2 5 0

g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e b o m b .

Genera

GntherKorten,

Inspector o

Fghters Generamaor Adof Galand

and other senor staff

officers,as

wel

asAbert Speerandofficas from hs

armament mnstry.

Htler listened wthout great

interest to detals o thenewfighter

production programmes, unh theMe

262 was menioned.

He

asked how

the Bitzbomber

was

progressng,

how many had yet

been

bult? Mlch

repied that no

Me

262s had ye

been bult as bombers, the arcraft

was beng manufactured excusvey

as a fighter There wasanawkward

slence, then Htler lost hs

composure

and

the meeting

deveoped into a bazng if rather

one-sded

row. TheAlies

mght

launch ther invason o Northem

Europe any dayandthe arcrafthe

needed lo defea the landngsdid not

exst.Hewas particuady angryal the

8

eroplane une

oos

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