Messerschmitt Me 262
| Me 262 Schwalbe(Swallow) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a late production model | |
| Role | Fighter aircraft, fighter-bomber and ʽJet aircraftʼ |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt |
| First flight | 18 April 1941 with (Junkers Jumo 004 B turbine engines) 18 July 1942 with jet engines[1] |
| Introduction | April 1944[2][3] |
| Retired | 1945, Germany 1951, Czechoslovakia[4] |
| Primary users | Luftwaffe Czechoslovak Air Force (S-92) |
| Number built | 1,430 |
The Me 262 was a German fighter aircraft flown during late World War II. It was the first jet to be used in war. It began test flights in 1942, but was not used in combat by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, until 1944. Very few were built because Germany's enemies were bombing factories. It saw little action because the war was nearly over. The jet engines of the new machine often caused problems, that's why a lot of machines had deathly accidents.
Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmidt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 kph (120 mph) per hour, the Schwalbe restored to the faltering German Luftwaffe. The Me-262 has two ʽJumo 004 B turbine enginesʼ with a top speed of 869.4 kph (540 mph). It's armament includes two ʽMK 103 30 mm cannonsʼ, two ʽ108 30 mm cannonsʼ, and a pair of ʽMG 151/20 20 mm cannonsʼ.
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ Radinger & Schick 1996, p. 23.
- ↑ Price 2007, pp. 36–37.
- ↑ Radinger & Schick 1996, p. 49.
- ↑ Balous et al. 1995, p. 53.
