The Spain Forums

C. BLASTER

The Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter was well ahead of its time when it took to the skies above Germany in 1945. It came too late to make any difference to the outcome of WWII, and its BMW motors had a very short service life and were prone to failure. That said, this plane was certainly the grandfather of the awesome fighter aircraft we have seen since, just as the V2 rocket provided humanity's first steps toward the moon.

A group in the United States have built a number of Messerschmitt 262 fighters to the exact specifications as the original and one of these aircraft has been flown over Berlin, Germany (2006) for the first time since 1945. This flight can be viewed [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

The project website can be viewed [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

I must say, to see the grandfather of the modern jet fighter streak across the skies once more is quite and awesome sight. I never ever thought I'd ever see one of these aircraft fly. Leaving aside for now the grim history of those days, it is certainly true to say that necessity is the mother of some awesome inventions.

Lee

If my memory serves me right. They said at the time, if this plane had come sooner in the way, that allied air supremacy would have been defeated and the outcome of war would have been totally different
And again I might be a bit muddled on this, but was there not a version the japs had in production that launched off a submarine

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C. BLASTER

Yes, the ME 262 was in its infancy towards the end of the war. If they'd had more time to get the engines right, who knows what might have happened? They were also not produced in sufficient numbers to constitute an effective force. I believe that, at that stage of the war, the top brass were reluctant to divert desperately needed resources into what was unproven technology at the time. They therefore opted for more ME109's and FW190's instead. By this time, it probably didn't make much difference, such were the dire straits the axis forces were in.