| Plane type & model |
Monoplane jet-fighter (Me 262A-1a) |
The Me-262 is remebered as the first jet-fighter employed in combat, a plane of some years ahead in respect of the Allied projects for that time and that will influenced much the American, English and Russian projects after the war. The project began in 1938 to develop the new jet engines in developing at the BMW factories. Initially the plane , with arrow-line wings and engines in sub-wing pods had a tricycle landing gear and, due to problems to new engines, made the first fly with a Jumo 004 Piston engine mounted on the nose. The third prototype flew with the definitive Jumo 004 engines on 18 July 1942. Even in face of the evident superiority of the plane against the best allied fighters of the time, the Me-262 entered service only in the Summer 1944 when the lack of raw materials, fuel, good pilots and engineers was too big. In combat the 262 was initially used as a fighter-bomber (as Hitler ´s personal wish) and then used in interception and recon roles. In the aerial defense role, thanks to weapons and speed, the plane could have created big problems to allied bombers, but at the end of 1944 it was already to late to change the outcome of the war even with this formidable weapon. And the jet plane demonstrated to be vulnerable in take-off and landing moments, so many of these fighters were lost before they decided to give an aerial cover during these operations with Bf-109 and Fw-190. |
