FEW DAYS AFTER issuing his reconnaissance aircraft, the Me he had lost control of his aircraft: AaovE This dramatic combat photograph from a P-51 Blitzbomber edicl, Hitler 262's main prey, were unarmed. "I pulied back on the stick with ali shows an Me 262 as it relented a little. He agreed to At that timo little was known about my strength, but the '262 refused to presses home an attack on A allow testing of the fighter the effects of com pressi b il ity on come out of its dive. Finally, in another Mustang. version of the Me 262 to continue, aircraft control. If Thierfelder had desperation, I jettisoned my canopy; BELOW Karl "Quax" provided that it did not delay the followed a reconnaissance aircraft this caused a change of trim, and the Schnorrer flew as Walter entry into service of the bomb- when it dived to escape, he couid aircraft came out of the dive by itself. Nowotny's wìngman. carrier. In mid-July 1944, Ekdo 262 have exceeded the Me 262's safe I landed without my canopy and with had commenced flying operational limiting Mach number of 0-83 and the skinning of the wings rippled; the tests of the Me 262 in the fighter lost control. At full throttle in a 20° '262 was a write-off." role. Initially the targets were the Ione descent from 26,000ft, an Me 262 Other Me 262 pilots reported Allied reconnaissance aircraft which couId reach its compressibility similar narrow escapes, but they overflew the unit's base. threshold before it descended were the lucky ones. Others plunged Within days of commencing through 7,000ft. It required a into the ground, seemingly for no operational test flights, Ekdo 262 lost considerable backward pressure on reason. The available evidence its commander in circumstances that the control column to prevent the suggests that Werner Thierfelder, the are far from ctear. Luttwaffe records dive from steepening uncontrollably. wodd's first jet fighter unit leader, state that Werner Cutting the throttles had no effect, for might have fallen to this cause. Thierfelder's Me 262 was "shot the clean-lined jet fighter conttnued Thierfelder's successor was down", and crashed near Landsberg to gain speed in the dive. a capable young with the pilot stili on board. But a Me 262 pilot Karl "Quax" credited with 255 search of Bhtish and American Schnòrrer experienced the victohes on the Eastern Front. records reveais no engagement phenomenon when he followed an On July 25, an RAF which links with this loss. enemy reconnaissance aircraft reconnaissance de Havilland Furthermore, the Allied long-range diving to escape, Suddenly he found Mosquito of 544 Sqn had an

70 Aeroplane. June 200^ mESSERSCHmin me 262 Database inconclusive brush with an Me 262 near . Flight Lieutenant A.E. Wall opened the throttles and pushed down the nose of the Mosquito to build up speed, curving sleeply to port as he did so. The jet fighter easily overhauied the reconnaissance aircraft, but Wall found little difficulty in out-turning his assailant. The '262 made three fihng runs on the Mosquito, without scoring hits, before Wali escaped into cloud. During the following month, Nowotny's pilots ciaimed five kills; a Mosquito on the 8th, a B-17 on the ABOVE Between a rock and a hard place — an Me 262 16th, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on committed to landìng made easy pickings for Allied fighters. the 24th, and a reconnaissance LEFT In August 1944 fighter ace Walter Nowotny took Spitfire and a reconnaissance command of Ekdo 262, renamed . Mosquito on the 26th. (13,000ft) during their attacks, to A Messerschmitt company "The attack on the airfield began Enter the Blitzbomber reduce the risk of losses and so help document dated August 10,1944, at 1 lOGhr with the dropping of anti- Towards the end of June 1944 the preserve the small force for the stated that by then ten prototype Me personnel bombs by a jet-propelied first Me 262 Blitzbomber unit, counter-invasion role. The Me 262 262s and 112 production aircraft aircraft flying at 3,000ft. In this raid, Erprobungskommando Schenk, carried no high-altitude bombsight, had been built. On that date six three pilots were injured and one formed at Lechfeld under the so accuracy was poor and the prototypes had either been lost or officer and six airmen suffered command of Major Wolfgang Schenk. attacks achieved little. In mid-August otherwise discarded from the test wounds of minor degree. At noon, the The conversion of pilots to fly the the German retreat out of was programmo. The raids on the second attack came and it was Wide new bomber took almost a month, in full swing and the fighter-bomber factories accounted for 21 Me 262s; of the mark. The third attack resulted and on July 20 the unit moved to unit, now redesignated Ist Gruppo of 11 more were wrecked in accidents in a number of deaths among Chàteaudun near Odéans in France. Kampfgeschwader 51, withdrew to or in action. The remaining 84 personnel of the RAF Wing on the With nine aircraft fitted with pre• Chièvres in Belgium, The aircraft were disposed as follows: other side of the airfield and some production engines, the unit was efforts to keep secret the deployment Dutch civilians living in the vicinity ready to mount the worid's first jet to France had been completely l,/KG51 (high-speed bombers) 33 suffered sehous injuries." bomber operations. The continuing successful. Allied Intelligence Ekdo 262 (fighters) 15 Three days later another Canadian regard for the Me 262 in the high- documents make no mention of Me Rechlin test centre 14 unit, 401 Squadron, exacted revenge. speed bomber role after the Allied 262 fighter-bombers taking pad; in Retained at Messerschmitt Sqn Ldr Rod Smith was leading a landings in Normandy had succeeded operations over France at that timo. for flight triais 11 patrol of Spitfire IXs in the Nijmegen might seem to run counter to Hitler's Only on August 28 did an Allied Retained at Junkers area, when he sighted an Me 262 stated aim to use the type duhng the fighter first make contact with one of for engine triais 1 approaching him head-on and about initial hours of an invasion. Allied the elusive jet fighter-bombers. That At Blohm und Voss 500ft below. The Spitfires piied after Intelligence ofticers, however, had afternoon Major Joseph Myers, flying for conversion to two-seaters 10 the Me 262 and the latter evaded successfully convinced their German a Republic P-47 of the 78th Fighter violently before it was finally shot counterparts that the Normandy Group, caught up with one of these With the stabilisation of the down, killing the I./KG51 pilot. landings were a feint, to draw forces aircraft and forced it down near battlefront in the West eady in From this and other encounters, away from the Pas de Calais where Brussels. The German pilot escaped September 1944, l,/KG51 Allied fighter pilots learned that ttie main invasion wouid come later. without injury. redeployed to airfieids at Rheine and although they couId not match the If the Allies did launch a second Dunng July 1944 there had been Hopsten just inside . With Me 262 in terms of maximum invasion operation, Erprobungs- heavy air attacks on the factohes the 13,000ft minimum-altitude hohzontal speed, if they had an kommando Schenk was to be ready producing Me 262 components; embargo now lifted, the unit mounted altitude advantage they couId convert Io meet it. Leipheim was hit on the 19th and pinpoint attacks against Allied this into sufficient speed to overhaul Schenk's high-speed bombers flew Regensburg on the 21 st. The number positions, Typical of these raids was the jets. A further advantage enjoyed spasmodic operations against Allied of Me 262s delivered to the Luftwaffe that on Grave airfield, home of 421 by Allied fighter pilots was the newly ground forces. The pilots had strict was 28 in June, rising to 59 in July (RCAF) Squadron with Spitfires, on introduced predictor gunsight (Gyro orders not to descend below 4,000m but falling to 20 in August. October 2. The unit reported: Gunsight II in the RAF, K-14 in the

L Me 262A-1a fighters of the training unit Ergànzungsjagdgeschwader 2 operating from Lechfeld in October 1944. Note the Kettenkrad tractor used to move the aìrcraft, an ìmmaculate example of which is exhìbìted in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

kfopìane, lune 200^ 71 SERUICE HISTORV

USAAF) which automatically calculated the deflection angle needed to engagé a turning or a Crossing target. The device greatly increased the eftectiveness of Allied air-to-air gunnery, especially duhng fast manceuvring combats against German jets. First Fighter Gruppe Deployed In September 1944 the Fiihrer rescinded his order that ali new Me 262s shouid go only to Blitzbomber units. That month production Jumo 004 engines became available in quantity, and 91 Me 262s were delivered to the Luftwaffe. Kommando Nowotny [as Ekdo 262 was renamed) recelved 23 new aircraft with production engines. With a strength equivalent to a fighter Gruppe, it was declared operational on September 30. Four days later the unit moved to the fonfl/ard airfieids at ABOVE A B-17 returns from a Achmer and Hesepe in western mìssìon with heavy damage Germany to commence operations. to the port wing, probably inflicted by a single hit from In the event the Me 262's initial the Me 262*s 30mm cannon. combat deployment in the fighter role RIGHT In an attempt to near the battlefront proved a failure. increase the Me 262's Although the production Jumo 004 firepower even further, a B-4 engines were more reliable and Rheinmetall-Mauser MK214A less sensitive to rough treatment than SOmm cannon was faired into their predecessors, they were stili the nose, replacing the four short-lifed and gave considerable 30mm cannon. The gun was trouble. Also, like any other new unreliable and unwieldy and not adopted for service. aircraft type, the Me 262 airframe had its share of "bugs". One problem duhng the landing approach. Also, aircraft were airborne, then rolled his Then, for reasons that are unclear, stemmed from the use of synthetic numerous 20mm and 37mm light fighter on its back and went down in his Me 262 dived into the ground and reclaimed rubber in the aircraft's anti-aircraft guns were positioned a high-speed dive. With his wingman and the famous pilot was kilied, tyres, ali that was available at the along the climb-out and landing following, Drew rapidly caught up Generalmajor happened timo. The jet fighter touctied down at approach lanes, further to discourage with the Me 262s and shot down to be on an inspection visit to around 120 m.p.h., faster than any attacking Allied fighters. both before they reached fighting Achmer that day, to determine why previous German combat type. Heavy These measures made lite less speed. Another jet fighter was lost the Me 262s had not been more landings often resulted in a tyre dangerous for the Me 262s at low duhng a separate action. Thus the successful, Galland saw enough to blowout, followed by a high-speed altitude, but Allied standing patrols first multi-aircraft action by realise that Nowotny had been given departure from the runway causing over jet fighter airfieids remained a Kommando Nowotny cost it three Me an impossible task. The latter had damage to the undercarhage. Other sehous problem. An Me 262 caught 262s destroyed and one pilot kilied, been expected to introduce a new Me 262s were lost when the turbojet in the climb was somewhat slower in return for three bombers. and revolutionarv fighter into combat, exhaust note induced oscillations on than a piston-engined fighter diving In the course of its first full month in an area where the enemy held the resonant frequency of the on it from above. of operations on the Western Front, almost total air supehority. The tailplane, leading to catastrophic On October 7,1944, Kommando Kommando Nowotny ciaimed the training of many of the pilots had structural tailures in flight. Nowotny scrambied five Me 262s — destruction of four heavy bombers, been rushed, aircraft serviceability Allied fighter pilots quickly the largest number yet sent into 12 fighters and three reconnaissance was poor and rarely could the unit fiy discovered the jet fighter's Achilles' action simultaneously — to engagé aircraft. In achieving this, the unit lost more than five sorties in a day. HeeI; its vulnerability whiie flying at American bomber formations making six Me 262s in combat, A further Galland ordered Kommando low speed immediately after take-off for targets in centrai Germany. seven '262s were destroyed and nine Nowotny to withdraw to Lechfeld for or on the landing approach. To Cruising over Achmer at 15,000ft in damaged in accidents or following further training, and to have its prevent attacks on the slow-flying a P-51, Lt Urban Drew of the 361 st technical failures. aircraft modified to overcome jets, each airfield had a Staffel of Fighter Group watched as a pair of Worse followed. On November 8, defects. He saw that it had been a Focke-Wulf Fw 190D fighters to jet fighters commenced their take-off Walter Nowotny was caught up in a mistake to send the new fighter into cover the Me 262s after take-off and runs. He waited until the enemy low-levei dogfight with Mustangs. combat prematurely and in such

The lack of capable instructors, a high accident rate, poor serviceability, frequent spella of bad weather and regular attacks by enemy fighters greatly slowed the pace of Me 262 pilot training. These Me 262A-1a fighters await a training flight at Lechfeld in late 1944. messERSCHmin me 262 Database

instruments was essential. Karl and new aircraft. most of them "Quax" Schnòrrer explains the issues fighters, were leaving the assembSy as he saw them; lines at a rate of about 36 per week. "Galland and Gollob were not Yet the Luftwaffe Quartermaster friends. Of the two I preferred Gollob, General's records for January 10, he was the greater man, a clear 1945, show only 61 Me 262s thinker Galland was just a fighter serving with operational units: pilot. Gollob wanted to get the '262 into operation as rapidly as possible, I, and II./KG51 but with well-trained pilots. So he (fighter-bombers) 52 proposetì to convert bomber pilots 10./NJG11 with training in blind-flying on to the (night-fighters) approx 4 '262. And at the same time, some Kommando Braunegg ABOVE The Deichselschlepp fighter pilots were sent for training in (short;-range recce) 5 airborne trailer was tested as biind flying. In my view, ali '262 pilots a means of ìncreasìng the Me needed the full blind-flying training. On that date no Me 262 day 262'5 bomb Ioad. Deemed We [JG7] lost a lot of people because fighters were recorded as serving unsafe, it was abandoned. they descended into cloud, were Li M One Me 262A-2a/U2 was with operational units. This was four equìpped as a two-man unable to fly on instruments, became months after Hitler had released the bomber, but production was disohentated and entered high- Me 262 for service in the fighter role. swìtched to provìde fighters. speed dives from which they What had gone wrong'l' could not recover." Probably about 180 Me 262s were SELom An Me 262A-1a/U3 of the tactical reconnaissance unit Kommando Braunegg. Note the largo bulge on the top side of Much to Galland's chaghn, distributed amongst the units the nose, coverìng the film magazìne of the port camera. Goflob's proposai was accepted, Thus working-up to go into action or JG7 took pilots from the dayfighter training pilots; the three Gruppen of force, while KG(J}54 used 7, the bad weather expehenced pilots from the defunct fighter unit KG(J)54, the fighter conventional bomber force. conversion unit lll./Ergànzungs JG2, By the dose of 1944, Me 262s and the various test centres. Also by had appearetì in a couple of new then about 150 Me 262s had been roles. Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 destroyed in the air or on the ground recelved about four Me 262s by enemy action, or in accidents. fitted with radar for nightfighter For many reasons, the Me 262 operational thals. Initially single-seat pilot conversion programmo slipped Me 262s were used in this role, but badly. There were few competent handling the jet fighter and the radar instructors and the accident rate was at night proved too much for one appalling. The weather was often small numbers. To achieve the used initially as a fighter-bomber. man. Later nightfighter conversions bad, with spells of dense cloud that required impact on the enemy, a far The issues now were quite different, used the Me 262B two-seat trainer, limited flying, Whenever the skies did larger force was necessary. however, as KG(J)54 was to operate Based at Burg near Madgeburg, the clear, the USAAF launched major Once in the relative safety of the Me 262 in the fighter role, Me 262s' main prey was Mosquitoes attacks. Hundreds of USAAF fighters Bavaria, Kommando Nowotny was re• The issue of which pilots shouid fly making almost nightly attacks on the fanned out over Germany looking for designated as the lìlrd Gruppe of the Me 262 in the fighter role was a German capital. trouble, bringing Luftwaffe flying Jagdgeschwader?. under its new matter of fierce disagreement Also at this time a short-range training to a halt. When airfieids were commander Major Erich Hohagen. between Galland, the Inspector of reconnaissance unit, Kommando discovered to be operating jet It now formed the core unit of the Fighters, and Gordon Gollob Braunegg, was formed with five Me aircraft, they came under repeated first full jet fighter Geschwader, on the Fighter Staff, To shorten 262s. These carhed a single SOmm attack. Also, standing patrols of Allied established at 90 aircraft. The training time and save resources, cannon in the nose, and two Rb fighters hovered over these airfieids, Gruppe had now to share its Luftwaffe trainee dayfighter pilots 50/30 cameras in a split pair looking waiting to pounce on jets getting expehenced pilots with the other two had recelved only a partial training in vertically downwards, as well as a airborne. With so much harassment, Gruppen to spread the levei of instrument flying whereas heavy largo teardrop fairing on either side jet pilot conversion training took expertise in operating the jets. fighter, bomber and reconnaissance of the nose forward of the cockpit to much longer than expected. By the dose of 1944 the two pilots recelved full training in accommodate the film magazines. A /.eufnanf Walther Hagenah was Gmppen of Kampfgeschwader 51 instrument flying. By the autumn of window was set into the cockpit floor one of the pilots posted to III./JG7 to were operating about 50 jets in the 1944 most conventional bomber so the pilot could align the cameras. convert to the Me 262. He descnbed fighter-bomber role, mounting units had disbanded, leaving a the poor training he recelved: frequent attacks on Allied airfieids surplus of unemployed bomber pilots. Deployment Delays "Our 'ground school' lasted one and troop positions in France, The designated role of K6(JÌ54 was By the beginning of 1945 there was afternoon. We were told of the Holland and Belgium, Owing to the that of bad weather interception, no shortage of Me 262s in the peculiahties of the jet engine, the small tonnage of bombs carried and for which an ability to fly well on Luftwaffe. Delivehes exceeded 500 danger of flaming-out at high the poor accuracy of the bombing, ^Dwever, their raids achieved little. Me 262A-1a WNr 500491 wears the markìngs of 9 Staffel of , based at Parchim in early 1945. The JG7 Bomber Pilots, leaping greyhound ìnsìgnìa is visible on the nose. AEROSPACE PUBUSHING LTD - ,r the autumn of 1944 another •jDmber unit, Kampfgeschwader 54, segan converting to the Me 262. This unit was redesignated as KG (Jaeger) 54 and some accounts have lìiistakenly linked this move to Hitler's Tarlier insistence that the type be

Aeroplane. June 200S 73 SERUICE HISTORV altitude, and ttieir poor acceleration LEFT A single-seat Me 262 fitted experìmentally with at low speeds. The vital importance Neptun airborne interception of handling the throttles carefully was radar and nose-mounted impressed on us, lest the engines aeriais, tested in action at caught tire, Yet we were not per- the end of 1944. mitted to look inside the cowling at 8ELOW A dìsconsolate Me the jet engine itself — we were told 262A sits among the rubble they were very secret and we did not at what had been a major need to know about them! suppiy station and jet fighter lair at Erding near Munich in "By the time I reached [the June 1945. This previously Gruppe] there were insufficient spare unpublished photograph is parts and insufficient spare engines; from the officiai pictorial there were even occasionai short- history of the USAAF 85th Air ages of J-2 fuel. I am sure ali of Depot Wing, who made the these items existed and production airfield its base after the war. was sufficient, but by that stage of the war the transport system was so chaotic that things often faiied to arhve at front-line units." Hagenah recelved one flight in an Me 262B two-seat trainer, and was then sent to fly solo in a single- seater. After that his further training was haphazard, as he could fly a jet fighter only if it was not required for a combat mission. Hagenah had a couple of years' experience as a fighter pilot and had recelved a full training in instrument flying, so he could cope with the Me 262's idiosyncrasies, uniike the less expehenced pilots sent to the unit: "In our unit, we had some pilots with only about 10Ohr total flying time. They were able to take off and land the aircraft, but 1 had the definite impression that they were little use in combat. It was almost a chme to send them into action with so little training. These Two weeks later, on February 25, Amehcan combat formation, tooking was impossible to catch or climb with young men did their best, but they both Gruppen of K6(J}54 suffered a like P-51S with drop tanks. Our Red them." The report illustrated well the had to pay a heavy price for their severe drubbing. Sixteen jets were Flight broke into jets but they crossed sod: of inconclusive action likely to lack of experience." scrambied to engagé an American in front of our flight up and away. A result when well-handied Me 262s Duhng February 1945, Me 262 formation, and, as they emerged second flight of four Me 262s flying confronted well-handied Mustangs. fighter-bombers went into action from cloud, Mustangs pounced on in Amehcan combat formation then Only in March 1945 did Me 262 several times against Allied troops them from above and shot down six, made a bounce from the rear, six dayfighter units start to mount large- advancing into Germany Their largest Later in the day USAAF fighters o'clock high. Our flight turned into scale attacks on American bomber attack took place on the 14th, when strafed their airfield at Giebelstadt this second Me 262 flight and the formations. On the 3rd of the month, KG51 flew a total of 55 jet fighter- and destroyed five more. Two Me Me 262s broke climbing up and III./JG7 flew 26 Me 262 sorties in bomber sort;ies to attack British 262s were destroyed in accidents, away. At this time, the first flight of responso to the USAAF attacks on troops advancing near Cleve. Yet bringing the day's total losses to 13 Me 262s came back on us again Magdeburg, Brunswick, Hannover even on that day, the greatest effort aircraft. Thereafter the two Gruppen from above and to the rear. We broke and Ohemnitz. The jet pilots daimed it ever mounted, the unit achieved withdrew from operations for further into this flight and this kept up for the destruction of seven bombers little. The total bomb Ioad carhed, training, and from then on played three or four breaks, neither our- and two fighters, in return for one about 27 tonnes, inflicted surprisingly little pad; in the conflict. selves nor Jerry being able to get set Me 262 lost. Amehcan records list little damage on military targets. RAF or dose in for a shot. Each time we nine bombers and eight fighters lost fighters shot down three jets, The Final Battles wouId break, they wouId climb on that day. On February 9, the first of the bad Only in the third week of February straight ahead, outdistancing us. The Me 262 fighters were next in weather fighter units, KG(J)54, went 1945 was III./JG7 ready to go into Within the Jerry flight the number 4 action on March 18, when a largo into action. Ten Me 262s from I action in strength. On the 21st 15 of man, while turning, wouId fall behind American force made for Bedin. A Gruppe scrambied to engagé a multi- its Me 262s fought an inconclusive and slightiy above, so that it was total of 37 jet fighters took off to pronged attack by USAAF bombers action near Bedin with Mustangs of necessary to take on this number 4 engagé the raiders, and 28 went into on targets in centrai Germany. The the 479th Fighter Group, These jets man or he wouId slice in on our tali action. The Me 262s ciaimed 12 pilots were poorly trained in fighter behaved differently from those if our Flight wouId take on the rest American bombers and one fighter operations, however, and the previously encountered, as the of the Jerry flight." destroyed, but Amehcan records interception was badly handled. The Amehcan report pointed out: The action ended without loss on state that only eight bombers fell to escorting Mustangs shot down six "Bounce was directed at Red either side. The American pilots noted the jets. Two Me 262s were lost. Me 262s in short order Five jet pilots Flight, as squadron was making a that their German counterparts were During each of the following seven were kilied, including the com• shallow turn to the loft from an "aggressive and expehenced. They days there were pitched battles mander Mprechl eastedy direction, and came from were not caught in a turn, and if they between Me 262s and American von Riedesel. The jets managed to three o'clock position at our levei by were caught in such a position wouId formations, with a similar ratio of shoot down only one B-17. four Me 262s flying the usuai roll out and climb up and away. It losses between the two sides.

74 Aeroplane, June 2003 messERSCHmin me 262 Database

"Euen on this most successful of days, the losses the me 262s Inflicted amounted to less than one per cent of the huge flllied raiding force. The effect was no more than a pinprick" I The USAAF bombers were the Elite Fighter Unit JG7 (fighters) 76 Combat Summary main targets for the Me 262 attacks, Early in Aprii Jagdverband 44, JV44 (fighters) about 30 By the end of Aprii 1945, more than but tliey were not the only ones. By commanded by Generalmajor Adolf KG{J)54 (fighters) 37 1,200 Me 262s had been delivered this stage ot the war, the RAF also Galland in person, became oper• KG51 (fighter-bombers) 21 to the Luftwaffe. Of those, only a mounted frequent daylight attacks on ational from Munich/Reim. Many NJG11 (nightfighters) 9 small proportion saw action, A few Germany. On March 31, a force of conventional dayfighter units were Nahaufklàmngsgruppe 6. figures will illustrate what the 460 Avrò Lancasters and Handley confined to the ground for want of (tactical reconnaissance) 7 Luftwaffe achieved from that Page Halifaxes set out for the U-boat fuel, so Galland drew in several "big huge industhal effort: assembly yards at . Near name" fighter aces — Johannes The final large-scale air action to the target, Me 262s delivered a Steinhoff, Gùnther Lùtzow, Gerhard involve Me 262 fighters was on Aprii Greatest number of Me 262 Sharp attack, shooting down three Barkhorn and Willi Herget. 10,1945, when 55 jets took off to fighter-bomber sorties in a Halifaxes and four Lancasters before On Aphl5,JV44 flew its first engagé more than 2,000 USAAF single day (Feb 14,1945) 55 the escorts drove off the assailants. interception mission, when five heavy bombers and escorts attacking Greatest number of Me 262 Also on that day, jet fighters engaged fighters took off and ciaimed the targets in the Bedin area. The Me fighter sort:ies in a more than a thousand USAAF heavy destruction of two enemy bombers. 262s ciaimed the destruction of ten single day (March 31,1945) 58 bombers attacking Zeitz, Branden- Allied ground forces were deep inside B-17s and seven escorts and these Greatest number of Me 262 burg, Brunswick and Halle. Germany and had overrun much of find support in Amehcan records. In aerial victories in a Me 262 fighters flew 58 sorties the Luftwaffe fighter control achieving this unimpressive score single day (March 31,1945) 16 ttiat day, the greatest number ever organisation. Harassed from take-off some 27 Me 262s were shot down Greatest number of Me 262s flown by the type. On the available to landing, even the talented pilots of with 19 pilots kilied and five serving with front-line units evidence, it appears they shot down JV44 were able to achieve little. wounded. Many were caught as they (Aphl 9,1945) about 180 14 bombers and two fighters, for a Rarely could the unit fly more than returned to their airfieids short of loss of four. That victory score ten sorties in a day, or shoot down fuel. after they had slowed for the None of those figures is mari^ed the high-watermari< of more than five Allied aircraft. The landing approach, impressive, yet in each case these achievement for the Me 262 fighter entry of JV44 into action at the very By now Allied troops were were the best days in the Me 262's units; it wouId never be surpassed. end of the war passed pretty much advancing rapidly through Germany. combat career The rest of the time, Yet, even on this most successful of unnoticed by the Allies. and one by one the jet fighter bases the figures were lower, Cerlainly the days, the losses they inflicted On Aphl 9, the last date for which had to be abandoned. Me 262 type displayed superb performance, amounted to less than one per cent details are available, Luftwaffe operations underwent a rapìd but that alone could not enable it to of the huge Allied raiding force. The operational units had about 180 Me decline, and by the end of Aprii they overcome the overwhelming effect was no more than a pinprick. 262s on strength as follows: had virtually ceased altogether numerical odds it faced.

Me 262A-2A WNr 11237 gìven the RAF serial VK893 for evatuation, takes off from Farnborough -on October 29, 1945.

Shortly after the HAD ARRIVED with the RAE team left and the engine gauges on the exceeded, but once 6,000 rp.m. from Farnborough at Schleswig right. The left console carhed the were reached the governor cut in and mar, the Rie 262 airfield just after the capitulation throttles, fuel cocks, trimmers, throttle movement could be I and saw for the first time ancillary controis and their accelerated. The view from the uias extensluely Messerschmitt's much-discussed emergencies, while the hght had cockpit was excellent and every tested hy the Royal fighter — actually an Me 262B- the electronics, starters and radio upper part of the aircraft was within la/UI (WNr 111980) —an equipment. AH this compared closely the pilot's field of vision. The nircraft Establish• adaptation for night-fighting of the with British practice. The fuel was mainwheei brakes were operated, as tandem two-seat training version. 87-octane petrol with a five per cent on ali German aircraft, by loe action, ment. CnPT ERIC m. I was immediately struck by its mix of lubhcating oH. and the Me 262 embodied the BROUin flew the beautiful yet sinister lines which Once the rather complicated somewhat odd feature of a hand- reminded me vividly of a shark. rigmarole of engine starting had been operated nosewheef brake. type In the triais My first cursory glance around the completed, the process of taxying The take-off preparations were and recounts what cockpit of the Me 262 reveaied what could begin, This calied for very simple enough. The etevator had to was, by 1945 standards, a complex restrained movement of the throttles be thmmed nose-heavy, and the it mas like to fly but neat layout. The dashboard to ensure that the limiting jetpipe flaps set at 20°, this angle being carried the flight instnjments on the temperature of 650° was not indicated on each flap upper surface.

--yoplane. June 2003 75 PILOrS PERSPECTIUC

There was an elevator trimmer geahng lever mounted on the control column, and this had a coarse setting for take-off and landing, and a fine setting for high-speed flight, After lining up the aircraft on the runway, the engines were opened up to 8,500 rp.m. on the brakes, and a check was made that the Zwiebel (Onion), as the exhaust cene was dubbed, was protruding from each orifice. Full power of 8,700 r.p.m. was then applied and a quick check was made on jetpipe temperature, burner pressure and fuel pressure. A five per cent drop in fuel pressure meant an aborted take-off, At full ABOVE The varìant Capt Brown power fumes or smoke invariably flew for his report on the type penetrated the cockpit, and as the The Luftwaffe point of uiew was an Me 262B two-seat canopy had to be closed for take-off nightfighter. This example is A NUMBER OF FORMER Me 262 pilots spoke to Dr Alfred Price the sensation was, lo say the least, seen at Freeman Field in the about their impressions of the type after their initial flights: disturbing. The nosewheei was raised USA after the war where it at 100 m.p.h., and the aircraft pulied was used by Col Harold Gùnther Wegmann, Erprobungskommando 262, gently off at 124 m.p.h. Once Watson and his team for Kommando Nowotny, JG7: airborne, it was necessary to raise USAAF evaiuatìon. "The Me 262 v^^as a fine aircraft to fly. I had no difficulty in handling it. the undercarhage and reduce flap BELOW The "complex but neat" The difficulties were technical, with the unreliabilily of the engines cockpit of the Me 262. deflection by 10°, immediately and so on. Adolf Galland has said 'I had the feeling that angels were pushing'. Not only Galland said that — ali the pilots did. easing the stick forward until "After take-off, things happened fast. As soon as the flaps and momentum built up to that all- undercarriage were up one was aiready at 300km/h (187 m.p.h.). important single-engine safety Navigation was a problem, because before one had collected one's speed of 180 m.p.h. ideas after take-off, one w/as already several kilometres away from The take-off run was long, and the the airfield." aircraft gave one the feeling that it was underpowered. If one throttle Leutnant Karl "Quax" Schnòrrer, Erprobungskommando 262, was cut atieo m.p.h. the Me 262 Kommando Nowotny, JG7 "There was a wonderful feeling of effortless speed and power At first went into a violent diving turn. Full mm the engines flev*' for only about 12 hours, then the turbines had to be rudder was required to counteract changed. One had to be very careful in handling the throttles, had to the swing and roll, and backward advance them very, very slowly or there was a risk of an engine fire. stick pressure had to be applied to At high altitude one had to be careful not to throttle back too far. or keep the nose up. Initial climbing the engines wouId flame out. speed was 286 m.p.h. and from "Beforehand other pilots told me that the Me 262 is not difficult to 185 m.p.h, upward, the Me 262 fly. But do everything in the climb. not the descent. If you let the really took the bit between its teeth aircraft get into a dive and the speed rose over I.OOOkm/h (620 and became a thoroughiy exciting m.p.h.), you might not get it out of the dive. "Initially the most sehous single cause of [Me 262] accidents aeroplane to fly. The Jumo turbojets could be lowered at 310 m.p.h., but was pilots misjudging their landing approach and trying to throttle up tended towards the temperamental it was preferable to reduce speed to or down, with the result that the engines cut altogether That was above 4,000m (13,000ft), at which 250 m.p.h. and throttle back to the cause of many aircraft losses in Kommando Nowotny. Every altitude the fuel pumps had to be 5,000 rp.m., thus counteracting the landing had to be a 'spot' landing. My technique was to come in at switched on to sustain combustion, nose-up thm change as the wheels 800m (about 2,600ft) going downwind, put the undercarhage and and above 9,000m {29,500ft) it was came down. I found it best, after flaps down, turn in on the base leg and throttle back, then turn in considered inadvisable to reduce revs lowehng the undercarhage, to open and land." below 6,000 per minute as to do so up to 6,000-7,000 rp.m. and lower was to ensure a flame-out, and the flaps 20° at about 225 m.p.h., Leutnant Walter Hagenah, JG7, pictured below restarting could not be attempted turning in at 185 m.p.h. When on "I was greatly impressed by the '262. The take-off was easy, the visibility from the cockpit was marvellous after the Bf 109 and the Fw above 4,000m. finais it was advisable to apply full 190. There was no torque during take-off. The normal rango of flight flap at 155 m.p.h., reducing speed to "The only real problem I found was that 125 m.p.h. for crossing the airfield characterisitics from aerobatic when I came in to land I came in with the manceuvres to the stali reveaied the boundary. The Me 262's landing run normal speed, expecting the speed to fall Me 262 as a very responsive and was long and was always away rapidly when the throttle was closed. docile aeroplano, leaving one with a accompanied by that unpieasant But the '262 was such a clean machine. confident impression of a first-class suspicion of fading brakes that The important thing was to make up one's combat aircraft for both fighter and one had with ali German aircraft mind in good time whether one was going ground-attack roles. Harmony of of that pehod. to land or throw away the approach and try another. Once one had throttied back and control was pleasant, with a stick In my view, the Me 262 was the engine revolutions fell too low, the force per g of 6lb at mid-c.g. position unquestionably the foremosl engines wouId not accelerate quickly and a roll rate of 360° in 3-8sec at warplane of its day, a hard bitter enough if one Iried to open the throttle and 400 m.p.h, at5,000ft. Maximum which outperformed anything that we go round again." speed atlainable In levei flight on one had immediately available, and which engine was about 310 m.p.h., and — fortunateiy — was not available • See also Hugh Morgan's two-part series on the post-war USAAF this calied for application of about to the Luftwaffe in sufficient numbers testing of the Me 262, lVa(son's Whizzers, in the December 1994 and one-third full rudder to aftect the course of events January 1995 issues of Aeroplane For landing the undercarhage in the air over . EU 76 Aeroplane, June 2003 I STORmBIRD SURUIUORS messeRSCHmin me 262 Database lììuseum 6 replica llìe 262s

WNr 110305 An Me 262B-1a/U1 which flew as "Red 8" while in WNr 500071 Piloted by Hans-Guido Mutke of 9./JG7, this Me service with 10./NJG11 based at Magdeburg. Taken on charge by the 262A-1b landed at Dùbendorf airfield in neutra! on Aphl 25, Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Schleswig and flown to 1945. The Swiss authohties conducted a thorough examination of the Farnborough on May 9, 1945, it was given Air Ministry number 50 and aircraft and prepared a technical report, but declined to place the jet in flown on radar and tactical thals at the Central Fighter Establishment Allied hands. In August 1957 the Swiss government donated the aircraft (CFE) at Tangmere. Moved to RNAS Ford on July 6, 1945, then on to to the Deutsches Museum in Munich, where it rs stili on display 71 Maintenance Unit (MU) at Slough the following year The aircraft was sent to South Africa in March 1947, where il is currently on display at WNr 500200 Delivered to 4./KG51 in Aprii 1945, this Me 262A-2a was the National Museum of Military History at Johannesburg in its originai handed over lo Bhtish Forces at Prague on May 7 of thal year Probably colours, with black undersurfaces and black nacelles given the Air Ministry number 79, it was flown to the RAE from RAF Manston on September 6, 1945. where it was kept until August 1946. It WNr 110639 This Me 2628-1 a two-seater was marked as "White 35" was then placed on strenglh with 47 MU at Sealand. Three months later when it was earmarked for evaluation in the USA following the it was presented as a gift to the Australian War Museum in Sydney, capitulation in May 1945. After a landing accident it was repaired and where it was displayed until 1970, when it moved to the RAAF Central Iransported in HMS Reaperto America in July 1945, where it was Flying School at Point Cook. Il is currently under restoration at the evaluated by the Navy Armament Test Division at NAS Willow Greve, Treloar Centre in Canberra Pennsylvania. It was moved in 1993 to Herb Tischler's Texas Airplane Factory operation at Fort Worth, Texas, for use as a "pattern aircraft" for WNr 500491 Luftwaffe ace Heinz Arnold of II./JG7 scored nine the company's Staffel of replicas, For the full story of the Texas replica victories in the Me 262. in addition to 42 kills in piston-engined aircraft. Me 262s and the Me 262 Project, see Michael O'Leary's article The This Me 262A-1a was his personal aircraft until his death in another Me Project in the Aprii 2003 issue of Aeroplarìe 262 in Aphl 1945. This aircraft was being flown by Leutnant Mùlier, also of JG7, when it was captured on May 8. 1945. After its Journey to the WNr 111617 A photo-reconnaissance Me 262A-1a/U3, this aircraft USA in July 1945 il was used for flight research at Wright Field, Ohio, was presented to Hughes Aircraft after being shipped to the USA in where it was preserved. It was subsequently donated to the National Air August 1945. Howard Hughes was determined to race the early jet in and Space Museum in Washington DC, where il stili resides national air races, but was unable to obtain the necessary clearances from the authohties. The aircraft then moved on to the Glendale • Two other Me 262s are known to have survived, the Werknummers of Aeronautical School in California, subsequently becoming part of the which are uncerlain. The first, an Me 262A-1a, was given the US Navy Planes of Fame Museum, In 2002 it returned to Europe to be restored Bu No 121442 and was the personal mount of Lt Robert Slrobell, the in the UK on behalf of the Seattle-based Flying Hentage Collection officer given charge of the transportation of the Me 262s from Germany lo the USA. Il was evaluated by the US Navy al NAS Paluxenl River, WNr 112372 This Me 262A-2a wore a "Red X" and the markings of Maryland, in early 1946 and placed on a dump somelime in 1947. 2./KG51 when it was captured at Fassberg in northern Germany in The aircraft was repheved. however, and is now an exhibit at the USAF 1945. Allocated Air Ministry number 51 and the RAF serial VK893. it Museum in Dayton, Ohio. was extensively tested by the RAE at Farnborough, after which it was The other possible survivor is an unidentified Me 262A known lo have placed in Storage. Subsequently the single-seat fighter was statically been al the Victory Air Museum in Mundelein, Illinois, during the 1970s. displayed at a number of RAF stations, before becoming a permanent The aircraft's last known location was Abilene, Texas, where it is exhibit at the RAF Museum, Cosford. The aircraft is due to be moved to believed to have been undergoing restoration since the mid-1980s. ttie Milestones of Flight Hall at the RAF Museum, Hendon, to coincide lt is hoped the recently-airworthy Me 262 Project replica will return to with its opening in December 2003 the skies after repairs following a landing mishap in January 2003

ABOVE The Me 262 Project's two-seat replica, N262AZ, is ABOVE Seen here displayed at the RAF Museum, Hendon, in painted in the colours of JG7 and has been given the Aprii 1976, Me 262A-2a WNr 112372 is planned to become part spurìous WNr "501241". lt is seen here on its first full flight. of the museum's exciting new Milestones of Flight exhibition.

ABOVE Me 262A-1b WNr 500071 landed in Switzerland in Aprii ABOVE Me 262A-1 a/U3 WNr 111617 stands on the ramp at 1945 after a battio with Martin B-26 Marauders and is Ontario Airport, California, in February 1968. After many years currently on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. at the Planes of Fame Museum, it is now back in Europe.

Aeroplane, June 2003 77