| Plane type & model |
Transport (Me 323E-2) |
Developed rapidly in face of the invasion of England, the transport glirder Me.321 Gigant flew on 25 February 1941 and was built in 150 exemplars. Employed operatively with good results, altought it wasn´t utilized for the planned England and Malta invasions, and even not arrived in time to save the german troops at Stalingrad. It was utliized to make a new transport plane with big capacity and more flexible in the operative tasks. Two prototypes of the Me.321 were transformed in Me.323V-1 ( with 4 engines ) and V-2 ( with 6 engines ). Only the second demonstrated the capabilities to operate effectively at the maximum capable weight and was built on series as Me-323D. The plane could transport 9750Kg ( or 120 equipped soldiers ) on distances of 1000Km, or up to 20 Tons but with a small autonomy. Too much vulnerable to enemy air fire on the Mediterranean front, the Me.323 was developed on the E and F versions with major autonomy and defensive weaponry and utilized on the oriental front. The production terminated on April 1944. |
