Me 262 flys again

stormbirds.com ^ | 5/27/05 | stormbirds.com

[yooling]

You've heard the rumors, perhaps even seen a magazine article or two -- several Me 262 jets are now under construction in the United States!!

This incredible project is the result of a decade of privately-administered effort to create flight worthy examples of the Messerschmitt 262 fighter, and is now entering its final stages. Formerly subcontracted to the Texas Airplane Factory and administered by Classic Fighter Industries, Inc. the WTMF owner's group has now assumed watch over the final, and most critical, phase of the project. Our Seattle-based team of expert designers, engineers and technicians recently completed the flight test program for the first of our five jets, while the second machine is rapidly approaching similar tests.

[F14 Pilot]

I got this before!

[mugs99]

He was flying bomber escort at the time. He'd never seen one or even heard of them at the time. It came out of the sun and streaked past his wing...was up and away by the time he turned. Said it brought him wide awake real quick!
...

[Jack Deth]

You've got to hand it to the Germans in WWII. When they set their minds to it. They did build 'em pretty!

I followed the rebuild of the Smithsonian's ME-262 at Silver Hill, MD.

Adolph Galland was present for its unveiling. He was so taken by the craftsmanship that he was soely tempted to climb in the cockpit and fire her up.

Jack.

[kms61]

My favorite plane of that era is the De Haviland Mosquito.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Mine would have to be the ugly duckling that never got a chance to take on the Germans, but tore through Japanese fighters like crap through a goose and later served in Korea: the F4U Corsair.

[kms61]

I posted this question on a naval science newsgroup one time: Did US Navy aircraft ever engage the Luftwaffe during WWII? Nobody could give a definite answer, but the consensus was that it likely happened somewhere, sometime. I do know there was an American carrier strike on Norway early in the war. I don't know if the Germans came up to play though.

[kms61]

A favorite tactic was to lurk around the 262's home airfields and jump them on takeoff or landing.

[U S Army EOD]

WBIII is open all over the world. The Germans actually have a squadron they call the Krauts and they are good. Try it out some time, it is under IEN.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

I'm sure it might have happened with some of the escort carriers, but the bulk of US naval power, and especially the strike carriers, were in the Pacific. If any US naval aircraft did take on a German, it was likely a Condor during a convoy escort. Using England as an unsinkable carrier, the AAF and RAF handled most of the airwork in Europe. On a sidenote, some naval fighters were given to the Royal Navy via Lend-Lease and did take on the Luftwaffe from Brit carriers.

[Southack]

"MOst people at the time weren't aware of just how far ahead of the Allies the Germans really were."

No. Most people aren't aware of how far the *Allies* were and are ahead of the Germans.

The Germans lost, so *everything* that they had became ours. Their secrets couldn't remain secret, so we know all of their advanced work. The same doesn't hold true for the Allies.

What we *do* know is that the Allies were ahead technologically in all of the areas that counted such as electronic computers (the Germans used *mechanical* relays and wheels for their calculating machines), digital logic (the Germans didn't even have it, it was invented entirely by the Allies...one man really - Turing), encryption (the U.S. proved mathematically way back in 1917 what made a code breakable or unbreakable...something that the Germans and Japanese found out the hard way by 1945), mass production, supply chain management, and atomic weapons.

That much of the Allies' secrets of success has been made public.

The German V-2 was made from stealing the patents of the American rocket scientist Dr. Robert Goddard, who examined one after the War and found *exact* copies of his gyroscopic control, fuel injection, and other rocketry breakthroughs.

The German V-3 super-cannon was a copy of an 1865 American civil war cannon, scaled up several times and using electronics instead chemical firing delays.

German submarines were no match for American radar, sonar, and depth charges, either.

To put this further into perspective, the U.S. landed a mere 6 divisions in France on D-Day...against 44 Wehrmacht divisions guarding Normandy. Guess who won the day?!

By 1945, the U.S. produced 50% of everything made on this planet, too.

That's the reality. Everything else is the myth.

[narby]

There was talk at Fighter Rebuilders several years ago of restoring the Chino Air Museum's 262.

They would have to change out the engines, as the originals had TBO's measured in 2 digits and there are no parts. The talk was of using learjet engines.

About the ME-163, check out these guys building replicas. here

I think they're the same folks who build the rocket engine in Dick Rutan's Varieasy. So it's not like they're completley bogus.

[sam_paine]

Cool! BTW, they made the Confederate Air Force change their name.....will they make these guys omit the period insignia for PC sake as well? Just wondering.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Me 163 was a death trap...

I understand the safety engineer found work in Wolfsburg immediatley after the war.

[rlmorel]

I know what you mean.

I live in Maynard, Massachusetts, and had a simlar experience. My wife sometimes thinks I am a whacko. I live in the flight path of Hanscom AFB, used to be a USN jet mechanic, and a certifiable aviation nut.

I am constantly running out of the house and looking in the sky, while she shakes her head. Of course, anyone who has worked for a while on planes knows that they ALL have a distinctive sound, and with a discriminating ear, you can tell them apart.

One day, I hear this sound...and I say to myself...those are radial engines...multiple engines. The list is fairly short....so I run outside and....

A B-17 is flying directly towards my house at about 250 feet!!! I couldn't effing believe it!!!! So I'm in my backyard, jumping up and down with my arms in the air going "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" at the top of my lungs...:)

I also saw a B-25 one day...but it is frustrating to try to follow that through the trees, but there was no mistake about it. It apparently landed at a small community airport with some kind of landing gear problem.

I am sure my neighbors bring their kids in when I am out now...

[DryProng]

The National Air and Space Museum at the National Mall has one on display. It may be moved to their new facility at Dull us whenever that opens.

[SandRat]

Oh yes! We must! This is needed to complete the de-Nazification progrome. That's required so that a party approved revisionist edition of history can be provided to the schools for the proper indoctrination of the children to be supporters of the state.

[SAMWolf]

It's still the COnfederate Air FOrce to me. I hope these guys use the correct markings, PC or not.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Krauts made some inpressive technological achievements. The Me-262 was the outstanding example.

When Hilter invaded Russia he took 3,200 tanks and 600,000 horses. Anyone brought up on Hollywood History would think it was the other way around. The horse was the principle means of transport for the Wehrmacht all during WW-II.

While inspecting captured American trucks in North Africa, Rommel was impressed by the fact that they had hydraulic brakes. Eisenhower said that the deuce and a half was one of the most decisive advantages that the American Army held in WW-II.

Most people are not aware of the fact that German forces in the West outnumbered Allied forces by almost two to one all during the War. (The Russians enjoyed overwhelming numerical superiority in the East.) The Americans had a seven to one advantage in artillery and five to one in tanks and flat-out air supremacy. The best German tanks outmatched the Sherman when employed in a defensive role, but they were slow and difficult to use on offense and extremely maintainance prone. And vulnerable to air attack.

R.V. Jones in his memoir, "The Wizard War", recounts that the question asked by British scientists and engineers after the War about the V2 was not "Why didn't we think of that?", but rather, "Why did they do it?" The V2 was terrifying and impressive (in words of one CPL Schickelgrubber, "Es war, doch, ehrfürchtig.". Point was, in military terms, it was an ineffective and expensive weapon.

[yooling]

I live next door to Travis AFB. Even though I've lived here for most of my life, I still look up, even at the C-5's. Once in a while I'll hear a hollow roar and I still run outside to see one of the little guys fly by, usually it turns out to be a T-38 but sometimes it's an F-16 or F-15.

Shortly after 9-11 I was out BBQing on the back patio and two fully strapped F-16's passed right overhead headed west toward the bay. That gave me warm fuzzies.

[yooling]

I've been to the NASM on the mall a couple of times. It's been a dozen years or so. I can't wait to go back and see the new facility at the airport. I want to see the Enola Gay, the last time I was there it was in about a million pieces undergoing restoration.