GERMAN JET FIGHTER REPLICA HEADS OVERSEAS (US Gov. alarmed at "war weapon export")

AOPA Online | 1/13/06

[pabianice]

A replica of one of Germany's greatest technological triumphs late in World War II, the Messerschmitt Me.262 fighter jet, has left American soil and reached Germany after U.S. State Department officials delayed it 60 days because they saw it as a weapon of war.

The four 30 mm replica cannons aboard lack a firing mechanism and still wouldn't fire if they had one. The aircraft now has arrived in Germany where it will be reassembled by the Messerschmitt Foundation aircraft collection and flown once again.

The replica project has been taken over by a group of retired Boeing engineers operating in Everett, Washington, as Legend Flyers. The aircraft are for sale by Air Assets International/Warbird Recovery in Colorado. Messerschmitt granted five additional serial numbers. Two have been built, with three to go.

[farlander]

Aww, c'mon, this is the web site of "can", "will" and "do". Plenty airshows out there where you can get a ride for $100. Make it a birthday present.

:)

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

There a variant of the FW-190 which was heavily armoured in the front, and had a single 30mm cannon. It would saunter up behind a B-17, kill the rear ball gunner and then shoot out the engines one by one. Once the B-17's had fighter escort that tactic stopped. I saw some FW gun camera footage on the History Channel (I was already aware of the tactic) and as an American it was really sickening.

The ME-262 played havoc with B-17's when it encountered them, read, for instance, Adolf Galland's "The First and the Last". The U.S.A.A.F had fighters in orbit around fields which were known to have 262's and would jump them if they attempted to take off.

It's hard to say if the 262 could have been produced in sufficient numbers to turn the war around. One thing for sure, Normandy would have been impossible without nearly complete air surpremacy.

Most of Germany's best fighter pilots were killed early in the War and they did not have the time and resources to train more. In encounters with the U.S.A.A.F, many ME-262's were lost because their pilots were generally very raw and poorly trained.

[Sensei Ern]

Yeager had nothing but pains about the airaclunker. He said the gun was so heavy it made it difficult to maneuver. He also said the gun if fired a lot heated up and gave you a heat rear end.

Its saving grace was that when we gave it to the RUssians, they were able to use it effectively against tanks.

[Sensei Ern]

Besides, nobody was as menacing as Pappy in his Corsair.

[Sensei Ern]

Now, I remember why I didn't get that game. I only have a 32MB video card. I really did want it, though.

[El Gato]

This jet was definitely not small.>

Compared to what?

Mig 15 and even F-16 are pretty dinky.

Me 262

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 41 ft.
Length: 34 ft. 9 in.
Height: 11 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 15,600 lbs.
Armament: Four 30mm MK-108 cannons, plus 1,000 lbs. of bombs.
Engines: Two Junkers Jumo 004s of 1,980 lbs. thrust ea.
Crew: One
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 540 mph.
Cruising speed: 460 mph.
Range: 650 miles
Service Ceiling: 38,000 ft.

Mig-15

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 33 ft. 1 1/2 in.
Length: 33 ft. 3 5/8 in.
Height: 11 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 11,270 lbs. max.
Armament: Two 23mm cannons and one 37mm cannon, plus rockets or 2,000 lbs. of bombs
Engine: VK-1 of 6,000 lbs. thrust (copy of British Rolls-Royce "Nene" engine)

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 670 mph.
Cruising speed: 525 mph.
Range: 500 miles
Service Ceiling: 51,000 ft.

F-16C

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 32 ft. 10 in. with missiles mounted, 30 ft. without missiles or rails.
Length: 47 ft. 8 in., 49 ft. 3 in. with pitot boom.
Height: 16 ft. 8.5 in.
Weight: 42,500 lbs. max. takeoff
Armament: One 20mm M-61A1 Vulcan cannon and various combinations, up to 12,000 lbs., of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and bombs.
Engine: One Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200/220 turbofan of 25,000 lbs. static sea level thrust each with afterburner. (or General Electric F110-GE-100)
Crew: One

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 1,500 mph.
Cruising speed: 577
Range: 2,415 miles (with external fuel tanks)
Service Ceiling: 50,000 ft.

F-15C

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 42 ft. 9 3/4 in.
Length: 63 ft. 9 in.
Height: 18 ft. 5 1/2 in.
Weight: 68,000 lbs. max.
Armament: One 20mm M-61A1 Vulcan cannon, 4 AIM-7 Sparrow, and 4 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, plus 15,000 lbs. mixed ordnance carried externally.
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100 turbofans of 25,000 lbs. thrust each.
Crew: One

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: Plus 1,600 mph. (Mach 2.5) at 45,000 ft.
Range: 2,500 miles with external fuel tanks.
Service Ceiling: 65,000 ft.
PERFORMANCE Maximum speed: 540 mph. Cruising speed: 460 mph. Range: 650 miles Service Ceiling: 38,000 ft.

Information from USAF Museum

[Sensei Ern]

The f$ didn't even get an honorable mention? The V-W wings gave it that beautiful like a bulldog look.

[kilowhskey]

"State Department...

another govt agency that needs an enema."

Truer words were never spoken.

[kilowhskey]

Hijack away! I love airplane porn.

[Gamera977]

IMHO the Supermarine Spitfire.
The only thing wrong with the spit is the airfoil. The wing planform is beautiful, but the airfoil is a flat bottomed joke.

Don't ask me about the engineering aspects, I'm just judging her on looks. ;)

Course even if the 262 was able to stop the B-17s, B-24s, and Lancasters Germany wouldn't have had a chance against about a zillion T-34s and revenge crazed Soviets. WWII would have still ended with Germany defeated, only the Soviets would have owned pretty much the whole continent rather than just half. Though to look at how socialized Europe is today I'm not sure it would be that big a difference...

[Fred Hayek]

It also looks like one of the early Saab jet fighters. It was called the Tunnan, translated to Barrel.

[Sensei Ern]

F-4

[ericthecurdog]

The f$...

Which aircraft again?

[section9]

Boeing built the greatest plane in history with the 17......

You'd find some argument with the B-24 crowd. It was harder to fly but apparently better able to defend itself

Uh, sorry, but get in line. The greatest bombers in history were the B-29 Stratofortresses. Longer range, higher ceiling, bigger bombloads, and the SILVERPLATE B-29's were stripped down and highly maneuverable (they had to be to drop the atomic bomb and escape the itinerant Zero or two...).

Their biggest drawback? Hard to get out of if you had an accident on takeoff: filled with incendiaries, they made a huge fireball and didn't have convenient escape hatches.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Leatherneck_MT]

True but I'm always working lol

[Leatherneck_MT]

Amen to that :)

[ericthecurdog]

OH! The F-4. It was one of my childhood favorites. I think it's a nice looking aircraft. It gets a very bad rap. However, it laid down a slick of black smoke that a blind man could see. Gotta love those sixties era powerplants. Later variants were fitted with the smokeless General Electric J79-GE-10B. Much better.

Here's my favorite, a 'G' model:

In my humble opinion... THIS is the aircraft that should STILL be flying 'Iron Hand' for our military.

[xarmydog]

My brother in law is a retired Capt.from the U.S.A.F.He was a squadron commander for this bird for 7 years.He is 72 years old and still holds his commission.You can get more info off the net than you can from him.To him,top secret means just that!

[ABN 505]

Hottest-looking plane. Ever. Umm excuse me... the ME262 is a cool looking aircraft but comes nowhere near being the hottest-looking plane Ever. Below you will find a photo of a plane that holds that title. In fact it's not only the Hottest Looking, but litterally the hottest plane ever built. Better calm down dude, you know what happened to that Navy Lt. that got excited about his new Destroyer.