One or two of these rockets could down even the famously rugged B Flying Fortress. Though this tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war, and only small numbers of Me s were equipped with the rocket packs.
Some nicknamed this tactic the Luftwaffe's Wolf Pack , as the fighters often made runs in groups of two or three, fired their rockets, then returned to base. On 1 September , USAAF General Carl Spaatz expressed the fear that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied bombing offensive by daylight.
The Me was difficult for its opponents to counter because its high speed and rate of climb made it extremely hard to intercept. As with all other early jets, the Me 's engines did not provide a lot of thrust at low air speeds a key criterion for good turn performance at low speeds , and throttle response was slow. Another disadvantage all early jet engines shared was a relatively high risk of flameout if the pilot used the throttle too aggressively as is common in a dogfight.
German engineers introduced an automatic throttle regulator later in the war but it only partly alleviated the problem. On the plus side, thrust at high speed was much greater than on propeller-driven aircraft. The plane had, by contemporary standards, quite a high wing loading This, coupled with the low thrust at slow speeds and high chance of a flameout if the throttle was worked too aggressively, resulted in Me pilots being told to avoid low speed dogfights with the Allied piston-engine fighters.
This problem faces any aircraft that approaches another from behind at much higher speed, as the slower aircraft in front can always pull a tighter turn, forcing the faster aircraft to overshoot.
The one above me went into a steep right-hand turn, his pale blue underside standing out against the purple sky. Another banked right in front of the Me's nose. Violent jolt as I flew through his airscrew eddies. Maybe a wing's length away.
That one in the gentle left-hand curve! Swing her round. I was coming from underneath, eye glued to the sight pull her tighter! A throbbing in the wings as my cannon pounded briefly. Missed him. Way behind his tail. It was exasperating. I would never be able to shoot one down like this.
They were like a sack of fleas. A prick of doubt: is this really such a good fighter? Could one in fact, successfully attack a group of erratically banking fighters with the Me ? Luftwaffe pilots eventually learned how to handle the Me 's higher speed, and the Me soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter, with pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down 12 enemy fighters in the Me , 10 of them American P Mustangs.
Other notable Me aces included Georg-Peter Eder , also with 12 enemy fighters to his credit including 9 Ps , Walther Dahl with 11 including three Lavochkin La-7s and six Ps and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with six including one Spitfire and two Ps amongst many others. Pilots soon learned that the Me was quite maneuverable, despite its high wing loading and lack of low-speed thrust, especially if attention was drawn to its effective maneuvering speeds.
The controls were light and effective right up to the maximum permissible speed and perfectly harmonized. Too fast to catch for the escorting Allied fighters, the Me s were almost impossible to head off. Combating the Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the U. Allied pilots soon found the only reliable way of dealing with the jets, as with the even faster Me Komet rocket fighters, was to attack them on the ground and during takeoff or landing.
Luftwaffe airfields identified as jet bases were frequently bombed by medium bombers , and Allied fighters patrolled over the fields to attack jets trying to land. The Luftwaffe countered by installing extensive flak alleys of anti-aircraft guns along the approach lines to protect the Me s from the ground—and by providing top cover during the jets' takeoff and landing with the most advanced Luftwaffe single-engined fighters, the Focke-Wulf Fw D and just becoming available in Focke-Wulf Ta H.
Hubert Lange, a Me pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest — extremely fast at low altitudes, highly-manoeuvrable and heavily-armed. They did not intercept the jet, but instead flew towards the Me and Ar base at Rheine-Hopsten. The German response was the construction of a "flak lane" of over quadruple 20 mm. Adolf Busemann had proposed swept wings as early as Messerschmitt researched the topic from Interest in high-speed flight, which led him to initiate work on swept wings starting in , is evident from the advanced developments Messerschmitt had on his drawing board in While the Me HG I actually flight tested in had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profile canopy tried as the Rennkabine literally "racing cabin" on the Me V9 prototype for a short time to reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical.
Messerschmitt also conducted a series of flight tests with the series production Me In dive tests, they determined that the Me went out of control in a dive at Mach 0. The resulting steepening of the dive would lead to even higher speeds and the airframe would disintegrate from excessive negative g loads.
The HG series of Me derivatives was believed capable of reaching transonic Mach numbers in level flight [ citation needed ] , with the top speed of the HG III being projected as Mach 0.
After the war, the Royal Aircraft Establishment , at that time one of the leading institutions in high-speed research, re-tested the Me to help with British attempts at exceeding Mach 1. The RAE achieved speeds of up to Mach 0. The Soviets ran similar tests. No one tried to exceed the Mach limit established by Messerschmitt. This claim is disputed because it is only based on Mutke's memory of the incident, which recalls effects other Me pilots observed below the speed of sound at high indicated airspeed, but with no altitude reading required to determine the actual speed.
Furthermore, the pitot tube used to measure airspeed in aircraft can give falsely elevated readings as the pressure builds up inside the tube at high speeds. Finally, the Me wing had only a slight sweep, incorporated for trim center of gravity reasons and likely would have suffered structural failure due to divergence at high transonic speeds.
About 1, Me s were produced, but a maximum of were operational at the same time. They destroyed about enemy planes, but the Allies destroyed about Me s in the air. Through the end of February to the end of March , approximately 60 Me s were destroyed in attacks on Obertraubling and 30 at Leipheim ; [61] the Neuberg jet plant itself was bombed on 19 March Large, heavily protected underground factories were constructed to take up production of the Me , safe from bomb attacks, but the war ended before they could be completed.
Wings were produced in Germany's oldest motorway tunnel at Engelberg to the west of Stuttgart. Many Me s were found in readily-repairable condition and were confiscated. Both the Soviets and Americans desired the technology to serve as a basis for their own jet fighters.
During testing, the Me was found to have advantages over the early models of the Gloster Meteor. It was faster, had better cockpit visibility to the sides and rear mostly due to the canopy frame and the discoloration caused by the plastics used in the Meteor's construction , and was a superior gun platform, as the early Meteors had a tendency to snake at high speed and exhibited "weak" aileron response.
The USAAF compared the P Shooting Star and Me concluding, "Despite a difference in gross weight of nearly 2, lb kg , the Me was superior to the P in acceleration, speed and approximately the same in climb performance. The Me apparently has a higher critical Mach number , from a drag standpoint, than any current Army Air Force fighter. It was used for performance comparisons against the P During testing between May and August , the aircraft completed eight flights, lasting four hours and 40 minutes.
Testing was discontinued after four engine changes were required during the course of the tests, culminating in two single-engine landings. The F, designed by engineer Edgar Schmued , used a slat design based on the Me Avia S , Kbely museum. From August , a total of nine Ss and three two-seater CSs were completed and test flown. They were introduced in and in were supplied to the 5th Fighter Squadron, becoming the first jet fighters to serve in the Czechoslovak Air Force.
These were kept flying until , [4] when they were replaced in service by more advanced jet fighters of Soviet origin. Both versions are on display at the Prague Aviation museum in Kbely. In January , the American Me Project , based in Everett, Washington, completed flight testing to allow the delivery of near-exact reproductions of several versions of the Me including at least two B-1c two-seater variants, one A-1c single seater and two "convertibles" that could be switched between the A-1c and B-1c configurations.
All are powered by General Electric J85 engines and feature additional safety features, such as upgraded brakes and strengthened landing gear. The "c" suffix refers to the new J85 powerplant and has been informally assigned with the approval of the Messerschmitt Foundation in Germany [68] the Werk Number of the reproductions picked up where the last wartime produced Me left off — a continuous airframe serial number run with a 50 year production break.
Flight testing of the first newly manufactured Me A-1c single-seat variant Werk Number was completed in August The first of these machines Werk Number went to a private owner in the southwestern United States, while the second Werk Number was delivered to the Messerschmitt Foundation at Manching, Germany.
This aircraft conducted a private test flight in late April , and made its public debut in May at the ILA The new Me flew during the public flight demonstrations.
This aircraft will be offering ride-along flights starting in The Jumo was hampered by poor workmanship and a lack of high-temperature super alloys. Me A and its Junkers Jumo turbojet engine Yellow 5. Data from Quest for Performance [19] Original Messerschmitt documents [88]. Military Wiki Explore. Popular pages. Project maintenance. Register Don't have an account? Messerschmitt Me Edit source History Talk 0. At some point in the late spring the test unit flew one or more missions to help protect the chemical plant at Leuna.
During May Hitler believed that Luftwaffe bombers, including the Me fighter-bomber, could throw back the inevitable Allied invasion and directly support German ground forces should the Allies get a foothold on the Continent.
At some point in the early summer Luftwaffe General Karl Koller explained to Hitler that the Me was too fast to be used effectively for bombing. Koller pointed out that if it were used against Allied advancing columns in France, most of the bombs would fall at some distance from the roads and would be wasted. And the few Luftwaffe aircraft available to meet the Allied onslaught were quickly destroyed, so by June 21 the Luftwaffe had been swept off the sky in the West. Hitler still insisted that the Me be constructed and used as a bomber, thus depriving the Luftwaffe of a significant resource to fight the Allied bombers.
During June, 28 Me- s were produced as bombers and during July 59 Mes were produced as bombers; none during those two months produced as fighters. Also hampering the Luftwaffe Fighter Command was the continued insistence by Hitler and Goering during the early summer to maintain bomber output. There were two other officers also present to receive their decorations.
Hitler said he wanted to know from them how things really were. He asked if the Messerschmitts and Folke-Wulfs were inferior to the American planes. One of the Lieutenants answered affirmatively, stating they were between fifty and seventy kilometers an hour faster.
They could fly higher and they were more maneuverable. Hitler said he thought the German planes had methanol-injection engines making them extremely powerful. The Lieutenant said even so, the Americans were faster. Steinhoff jumped in stating they need a new and better aircraft, adding he was thinking of the jet fighter. I had evidently broken a taboo because a flush came to his cheeks.
Steinhoff wrote:. Fate hands me this one chance of wreaking a terrible vengeance-and here are you people trying to deprive me of it with short-sighted squabbles between bomber and fighter pilots. My decision is made. This aircraft is a bomber, a Blitz bomber-my instrument of revenge! It is not a fighter and it never can be a fighter. Steinhoff wanted to put in another protest but Hitler cut him short.
After talking about how the Me was really not suitable as a fighter, Hitler launched into another lecture about how the German people showed greatness in adversity; he expected a historical turning-point laying just ahead, and expressed his confidence in victory in the end as long as the brave fighting men did their duty. I shall astonish the world by mobilizing the entire nation in a way the world has never seen before.
I shall repay terror with terror. Hitler, in the meantime, in early July at the insistence of the Luftwaffe and the aircraft industry, agreed to cut down bomber output in favor of the manufacture of fighters. This reduction of types permitted the industry to concentrate on mass production of fighter aircraft. It did so, attacking Allied planes intent on bombing the airfields at Lechfeld and Leipheim. Claims were made that the Mes successfully dispersed bomber formations and Royal Air Force Mosquitoes.
During one of the first operational sorties Thierfelder was killed when his aircraft crashed in flames. During August, 15 Mes were produced as bombers, while only five were produced as fighter planes. AP photo. This theory is shortsighted. The real culprit would be none other than Hermann W. Exactly how much damage Hitler did to the Me remains a source of controversy.
His selection of Albert Speer as Reich minister for armaments and munitions did much to overcome the inherent faults in the chaotic German management systems. In February , long before France was defeated, Goering decreed that the development of jet engines be stopped—because the war would be over by His words had immediate effect—only about 35 engineers were left on the jet engine program. The first large order for jet engines 80 did not occur until If Goering or one of his subordinates had possessed the vision to give research in metallurgy and jet engines the very highest priority in February , it is possible that German jet fighters could have been introduced in , when they could have been used to much more deadly effect.
The first prototype, the Messerschmitt Me V1, flew on April 18, , powered not by jets but by a workhorse Junkers Jumo cylinder liquid-cooled piston engine used on aircraft such as the famous Ju 87 Stuka. The piston engine was fortuitously retained on the next major test flight, when two BMW engines were fitted to the prototype. His skills—and the pounding piston engine—allowed him to drag the airplane around the pattern for a quick landing. Two were installed in the Me V3 prototype.
The intrepid Wendel attempted a takeoff early on the morning of July 18, The tail-down attitude of the aircraft caused the jet exhaust bouncing off the tarmac to blank out the elevators, forcing him to abort on the short hard-surface runway at Leipheim. More Bad Decisions. Analysis suggested a risky fix. He did just that at a. Wilhelm E. Messerschmitt himself was more concerned about maintaining the current high profits from the Bf and the projected Me production lines than about allocating sufficient resources to Me development.
Incalculable damage was also done by Gen. Ernst Udet, head of the technical department. A great aerobatic pilot, he was also a totally incompetent manager and an alcoholic. Reichsmarschall Goering had selected him for the post, partly because of their World War I association, and partly because his very incompetence rendered him less of a threat.
Udet committed suicide on Nov. Milch had both industrial and command responsibilities in World War II. This made him conservative, and he did not embrace the introduction of the Me at a time when he was struggling to increase German aircraft production. Into , Milch sided with his longtime enemy, Messerschmitt, in preferring the Me His position was supported at the time by the general of the fighter arm, Maj.
Adolf Galland. Things began to change on April 22, , when Galland finally got to fly the airplane. A victory ace, Galland saw the Me as a solution to the current Allied aerial strength and to their imminent aerial superiority. Milch soon committed himself to mass production of the Me at the expense of the Me Their initial Jumo A design was built in small numbers, and could thus obtain the necessary high-grade steel that the temperatures generated by a jet engine required.
Unfortunately for the engine, Germany was in desperate straits for such materials as chromium, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, and tungsten. The new advanced submarine construction program had a higher priority than jet engines.
The production engine was therefore built with only about one-third of the vital high-grade steel. The primitive turbine blade design, rigidly mounted, imposed such stress that the inferior metal used in the compressor blades failed often and early. The first Me V1 prototype, seen here, was outfitted with a Junkers Jumo cylinder liquid-cooled piston engine and propeller. Photo from Eddie Creek collection.
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