132-443: (Redirected from S-92 ) S92 or S-92 may refer to: Aircraft [ edit ] Avia S-92 , a Czechoslovak fighter aircraft Blériot-SPAD S.92 , a French biplane trainer Sikorsky S-92 , an American helicopter SIPA S.92 , a French trainer Other uses [ edit ] S92 (Long Island bus) S92 (New York City bus) serving Staten Island Daihatsu Zebra (S92) ,
264-611: A 35° swept wing ( Pfeilflügel II , literally "arrow wing II") to the Me 262, the same wing-sweep angle later used on both the North American F-86 Sabre and Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter jets. Though this was not implemented, he continued with the projected HG II and HG III ( Hochgeschwindigkeit , "high-speed") derivatives in 1944, designed with a 35° and 45° wing sweep, respectively. Interest in high-speed flight, which led him to initiate work on swept wings starting in 1940,
396-545: A B.6 gun detachment of 2809 Squadron RAF Regiment shot down another Me 262 over the airfield of Volkel . The final appearance of Me 262s over Volkel was in 1945 when yet another fell to 2809's guns. By January 1945, Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) had been formed as a pure jet fighter wing, partly based at Parchim , although it was several weeks before it was operational. In the meantime, a bomber unit—I Gruppe , Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG(J) 54)—redesignated as such on 1 October 1944 through being re-equipped with, and trained to use
528-731: A defensive interceptor. The configuration of a high-speed, light-payload Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") was intended to penetrate enemy airspace during the expected Allied invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. Hitler's interference helped to extend the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation; (other factors contributed too; in particular, there were engine vibration problems which needed attention). In his memoirs , Albert Speer , then Minister of Armaments and War Production, claimed Hitler originally had blocked mass production of
660-440: A feature shared with the first four Me 262 V-series airframes, caused its jet exhaust to deflect off the runway, with the wing's turbulence negating the effects of the elevators , and the first takeoff attempt was cut short. On the second attempt, Wendel solved the problem by tapping the aircraft's brakes at takeoff speed, lifting the horizontal tail out of the wing's turbulence. The first four prototypes (V1-V4) were built with
792-457: A high number of kills in the type such as Oberleutnant Kurt Welter , who claimed a total of 25 Mosquitos downed during nighttime missions. Other forces did not have the pressing need to move to the jet engine; Britain and the US were facing enemies with aircraft of even lower performance than their existing night fighters. However, the need for new designs was evident, and some low-level work started in
924-520: A medium fighter-bomber. The need for close-in dogfighting spelled the end for the specialised Grumman F-111B , which was armed only with long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missiles for fleet defense against bombers. The Navy instead developed the Grumman F-14 Tomcat , which on top of the heavy Phoenix, retained the Phantom's versatility and improved agility for dogfighting. The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
1056-653: A nose-down trim that the pilot could not counter. The resulting steepening of the dive would lead to even higher speeds and the airframe would disintegrate from excessive negative g loads. Night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post- Second World War ) is a largely historical term for a fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during periods of adverse meteorological conditions, or in otherwise poor visibility . Such designs were in direct contrast to day fighters : fighters and interceptors designed primarily for use during
1188-699: A pickup truck and van HMS Talent (S92) , a submarine of the Royal Navy S92 Luoyang–Lushi Expressway , China [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as a letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=S92&oldid=1132747941 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1320-421: A prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar . Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär , who is credited with 16 enemy aircraft while flying Me 262s out of his total of 240 aircraft shot down. The Me 262 was so fast that German pilots needed new tactics to attack Allied bombers. In a head-on attack, the combined closing speed of about 320 m/s (720 mph)
1452-483: A radio receiver for land-based guidance for interception. One of the I-15s configured for night operations, fitted with tracer and explosive .30 rounds, scored a daylight double victory against Bf 109s in the closing stages of the war. Nevertheless, some new technologies appeared to offer potential ways to improve night-fighting capability. During the 1930s, considerable development of infrared detectors occurred among all of
SECTION 10
#17328450947491584-629: A retractable tricycle landing gear from its beginnings and flew on jet power alone as early as the end of March 1941. The V3 third prototype airframe , with the code PC+UC, became a true jet when it flew on 18 July 1942 in Leipheim near Günzburg , Germany, piloted by test pilot Fritz Wendel . This was almost nine months ahead of the British Gloster Meteor 's first flight on 5 March 1943. Its retracting conventional tail wheel gear (similar to other contemporary piston-powered propeller aircraft),
1716-418: A shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) astern and 450 m (1,480 ft) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce speed. On levelling off, they were one km (1,100 yd) astern and overtaking the bombers at about 150 km/h (90 mph) relative speed, well placed to attack them. Since
1848-408: A similar type, helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, greatly improving the aircraft's turn performance as well as its landing and takeoff characteristics. As many pilots soon found out, the Me 262's clean design also meant that it, like all jets, held its speed in tight turns much better than conventional propeller-driven fighters, which
1980-547: A slow pace; it was not until August 1944 that initial operational missions were flown against the Allies; the unit made claims for 19 Allied aircraft in exchange for six Me 262s lost. Despite orders to stay grounded, Nowotny chose to fly a mission against an enemy bomber formation flying some 9,100 m (30,000 ft) above, on 8 November 1944. He claimed two P-51Ds destroyed before suffering engine failure at high altitude. Then, while diving and trying to restart his engines, he
2112-462: A small number of Bristol Blenheim aircraft, having been selected for this role as its fuselage was sufficiently roomy to accommodate the additional crew member and radar apparatus; the first prototype system went into service in November 1939, long before the opening of major British operations. These early systems had significant practical problems, and while work was underway to correct these flaws, by
2244-435: 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
2376-669: A success rate of only one out of 100 targets successfully hit. At the urging of the British, who were looking to purchase US-made aircraft, US day fighters were initially adapted to a night role, including the Douglas P-70 and later Lockheed P-38M "Night Lightning" . The only purpose-built night fighter design deployed during the war, the American Northrop P-61 Black Widow was introduced first in Europe and then saw action in
2508-516: A tactic known to the Tempest-equipped No. 135 Wing RAF as the "Rat Scramble": Tempests on immediate alert took off when an Me 262 was reported airborne. They did not intercept the jet, but instead flew towards the Me 262 and Ar 234 base at Hopsten air base . The aim was to attack jets on their landing approach, when they were at their most vulnerable, travelling slowly, with flaps down and incapable of rapid acceleration. The German response
2640-439: A test unit ( Jäger Erprobungskommando Thierfelder , commanded by Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder ) to introduce the Me 262 into service and train a corps of pilots to fly it. On 26 July 1944, Leutnant Alfred Schreiber , while flying over Munich, with the 262 A-1a W.Nr. 130 017, encountered a Mosquito PR Mark XVI reconnaissance aircraft, of No. 540 Squadron RAF , piloted by Fl. Lt. A.E. Wall. Schreiber attempted to shoot down
2772-466: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Avia S-92 The Messerschmitt Me 262 , nicknamed Schwalbe (German: " Swallow ") in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel (German: " Storm Bird ") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt . It
SECTION 20
#17328450947492904-547: Is evident from the advanced developments Messerschmitt had on his drawing board in 1944. While the Me 262 V9 Hochgeschwindigkeit I (HG I) flight-tested in 1944 had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profile canopy —tried as the Rennkabine (literally "racing cabin") on the ninth Me 262 prototype for a short time—to reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical. The projected HG II combined
3036-643: The Luftstreitkräfte began to introduce long-range heavy bombers , starting with the Gotha G.IV aircraft that gradually took over the offensive. While their early daylight raids in May 1917 were able to easily evade the weak defenses of London, the strengthening of the home defence fighter force led to the Germans switching to night raids from 3 September 1917. To counter night attacks, Sopwith Camel day fighters were deployed in
3168-554: The 357th Fighter Group was one of the first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban Drew of the 365th Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke , who had transferred to the Mustang equipped 479th Fighter Group , shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of
3300-559: The 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire Staffel of Me 262As at takeoff and destroyed six jets. The British Hawker Tempest scored several kills against the new German jets, including the Me 262. Hubert Lange, a Me 262 pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest—extremely fast at low altitudes, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed." Some were destroyed with
3432-476: The Battle of Leyte Gulf . Night fighter patrols effectively countered kamikaze attacks timed to arrive during twilight conditions at dawn or dusk . In several cases these USN aircraft were used on raids of their own. Even while the war raged, the jet engine so seriously upset aircraft design that the need for dedicated jet-powered night fighters became clear. Both the British and Germans spent some effort on
3564-515: The Lichtenstein radar , and in extremely limited numbers, using a 32- dipole element Matratze (mattress) antenna array. This late date, and slow introduction, combined with the capture of a Ju 88R-1 night fighter equipped with it in April 1943 when flown to RAF Dyce , Scotland, by a defecting Luftwaffe crew, allowed British radio engineers to develop jamming equipment to counter it. A race developed with
3696-543: The Luftwaffe ended their bombing efforts. Although night bombing never ended, its intensity was greatly decreased, giving the RAF time to introduce the AI Mk. VIII radar working in the microwave band, and the de Havilland Mosquito to mount it. This combination remained the premier night fighter until the end of the war. As the German effort wound down, the RAF's own bombing campaign
3828-652: The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was offered to the US Navy; at the time, the Vought F-8 Crusader had already been accepted as a "day" dogfighter, while the subsonic McDonnell F3H Demon was the Navy's all-weather fighter. The Phantom was developed as the Navy's first supersonic, all-weather, radar-equipped fighter armed with radar-guided missiles. However, compared to early air-superiority designs such as
3960-466: The North Sea in bad weather. The promising implications of the test were not lost on planners, who reorganised radar efforts and gave them increased priority. This led to efforts to develop an operational unit for aircraft interception (AI). The size of these early AI radars required a large aircraft to lift them, and their complex controls required a multiperson crew to operate them. This naturally led to
4092-579: The Pacific , but it was given such a low priority that the British had ample supplies of their own designs by the time it was ready for production. The first USAAF unit using the P-61 did not move to Britain until February 1944; operational use did not start until the summer, and was limited throughout the war. Colonel Winston Kratz, director of night-fighter training in the USAAF, considered the P-61 as adequate in its role, "It
S92 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4224-588: The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during 1952. Into the 1960s, night fighters still existed as a separate class of aircraft. However, as they continued to grow in capability, radar-equipped interceptors could take on the role of night fighters, thus the class went into decline. Examples of these latter-day interceptor/night-fighters include the Avro Arrow , Convair F-106 Delta Dart , and English Electric Lightning . During this transition period,
4356-494: The SL 11 , the first German airship to be shot down over Britain. This action won the pilot a Victoria Cross and cash prizes totaling £3,500 put up by a number of individuals. This downing was not an isolated victory; five more German airships were similarly destroyed between October and December 1916, and caused the airship campaign to gradually be diminished over the next year with fewer raids mounted. Because of airships' limitations,
4488-1261: The Solomon Islands . The Japanese Navy had long screened new recruits for exceptional night vision, using the best on their ships and aircraft instead of developing new equipment for this role. VF(N)-75 was established as the first USN night fighter squadron on 10 April 1943. Six pilots with six aircraft were sent to the South Pacific on 1 August 1943. A Night Fighter Training Unit (NFTU) was established at Charlestown, Rhode Island , on 25 August 1943 using radar-equipped Douglas SBD Dauntless training aircraft to allow instructors to accompany student pilots. USN carrier-launched fighter combat missions began in January 1944 with six-plane detachments of single-engined Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair fighters fitted with compact, microwave-band radar sets in wing-mounted pods. The specially trained night fighter and torpedo planes of Night Air Group 41 (NAG-41) began flying from USS Independence (CVL-22) in August 1944. NAG-41 achieved full night status on 1 October 1944 in time to participate in
4620-525: The Sukhoi Su-9 (1946) and Nakajima Kikka . Many captured Me 262s were studied and flight-tested by the major powers, and influenced the designs of production aircraft such as the North American F-86 Sabre , MiG-15 , and Boeing B-47 Stratojet . Several aircraft have survived on static display in museums. Some privately built flying reproductions have also been produced; these are usually powered by modern General Electric CJ610 engines. Before World War II,
4752-618: The 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. Intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. As the two-seat trainer was largely unavailable, many pilots made their first jet flight in a single-seater without an instructor. Despite its deficiencies, the Me 262 clearly marked the beginning of the end of piston-engined aircraft as effective fighting machines. Once airborne, it could accelerate to speeds over 850 km/h (530 mph), about 150 km/h (93 mph) faster than any Allied fighter operational in
4884-614: The 3-gigahertz band H2S emissions of RAF bombers – the April 1944 combat debut of the American-designed H2X bomb-aiming radar, operating at a higher 10 GHz frequency for both RAF Pathfinder Mosquitos and USAAF B-24 Liberators that premiered their use over Europe, deployed a bombing radar that could not be detected by the German Naxos equipment. The Bf 109G series aircraft fitted with the Naxos radar detectors also were fitted with
5016-756: The Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the U.S. fighters fought the more nimble, but slower, Japanese fighters in the Pacific. Allied pilots soon found that the only reliable way to destroy the jets, as with the even faster Me 163B Komet rocket fighters, was to attack them on the ground or during takeoff or landing. As the Me 262A's pioneering Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow jet engines needed careful nursing by their pilots, these jet aircraft were particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing. Luftwaffe airfields identified as jet bases were frequently bombed by medium bombers , and Allied fighters patrolled over
5148-504: The British. Unlike in Britain, where the major targets lay only a few minutes' flight time from the coast, targets in Germany after the occupation of France in 1940 were far from Allied airbases , which gave German air defenses long times to deal with intruding bombers. Instead of airborne radar, they relied on ground-based systems; the targets would first be picked up by radar assigned to a "cell",
5280-484: The European Theater of Operations. The Me 262's top ace was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills, including six four-engine bombers and ten P-51 Mustang fighters, although fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved by eye, even though Welter had tested
5412-648: The F-100 or F-8, the massive Phantom, nevertheless, had enough raw power from its twin J79 engines to prove adaptable as the preferred platform for tangling with agile MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters over the skies of Vietnam, as well as replacing the US Air Force Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and Convair F-106 Delta Dart for continental interception duties and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief as
S92 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5544-678: The German capital, the Wehrmacht's 9th Army (with elements from the 12 Army and 4th Panzer Army ) was assaulting the Red Army's 1st Ukrainian Front . To support this attack, on 24 April, JG 7 dispatched thirty-one Me 262s on a strafing mission in the Cottbus - Bautzen area. Luftwaffe pilots claimed six lorries and seven Soviet aircraft, but three German jets were lost. On the evening of 27 April, thirty-six Me 262s from JG 7, III.KG(J)6 and KJ(J)54 were sent against Soviet forces that were attacking German troops in
5676-733: The Germans attempting to introduce new sets and the British attempting to jam them. The early Lichtenstein B/C was replaced by the similar UHF-band Lichtenstein C-1, but when the German night fighter defected and landed in Scotland in April 1943, that radar was quickly jammed. The low VHF -band SN-2 unit that replaced the C-1 remained relatively secure until July 1944, but only at the cost of using huge, eight-dipole element Hirschgeweih (stag's antlers) antennae that slowed their fighters as much as 25 mph, making them easy prey for British night fighters that had turned to
5808-477: The Germans saw the potential for aircraft powered by the jet engine constructed by Hans von Ohain in 1936. After the successful test flights of the world's first jet aircraft—the Heinkel He 178 —within a week of the invasion of Poland which started the conflict, they adopted the jet engine for an advanced fighter aircraft. As a result, the Me 262 was already under development as Projekt 1065 (or P.1065) before
5940-516: The Jumo 004A engine had passed several 100-hour tests, with a time between overhauls of 50 hours being achieved. However, the Jumo 004A engine proved unsuitable for full-scale production because of its considerable weight and its high utilization of strategic materials (nickel, cobalt, molybdenum), which were in short supply. Consequently, the 004B engine was designed to use a minimum amount of strategic materials. All high heat-resistant metal parts, including
6072-529: The Luftwaffe and both the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service during World War II, with the first victories for the Luftwaffe and IJNAS each occurring in May 1943. This innovation allowed the night fighters to approach and attack bombers from below, where they were outside the bomber crew's field of view. Few bombers of that era carried defensive guns in
6204-502: The Me 262 V1 example, bearing its Stammkennzeichen radio code letters of PC+UA, but since its intended BMW 003 turbojets were not ready for fitting, a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine was mounted in the V1 prototype's nose, driving a propeller, to test the Me 262 V1 airframe. When the BMW 003 engines were installed, the Jumo was retained for safety, which proved wise as both 003s failed during
6336-528: The Me 262 operated as a light bomber , reconnaissance aircraft , and experimental night fighter . The Me 262 proved an effective dogfighter against Allied fighters; German pilots claimed 542 Allied aircraft were shot down, data also used by the US Navy although higher claims have sometimes been made. The aircraft had reliability problems because of strategic materials shortages and design compromises with its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines. Late-war Allied attacks on fuel supplies also reduced
6468-440: The Me 262 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 harmonised. The inclusion of full span automatic leading-edge slats , something of a "tradition" on Messerschmitt fighters dating back to the original Bf 109's outer wing slots of
6600-522: The Me 262, before agreeing in early 1944. Similar criticisms were voiced by Lieutenant General Adolf Galland. Hitler rejected arguments that the aircraft would be more effective as a fighter against the Allied bombers destroying large parts of Germany and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer, Hitler felt its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant it could not be attacked, and so preferred it for high altitude straight flying. Test flights began on 18 April 1941, with
6732-432: The Me 262, conceived as a defensive interceptor, be redesigned as ground-attack / bomber aircraft. The aircraft became operational with the Luftwaffe in mid-1944. The Me 262 was faster and more heavily armed than any Allied fighter, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor . The Allies countered by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing. One of the most advanced WWII combat aircraft,
SECTION 50
#17328450947496864-485: The Me 262, ten of them American North American P-51 Mustangs . Me 262 aces included Georg-Peter Eder , with twelve enemy fighters (including nine P-51s) to his credit , Erich Rudorffer also with twelve enemy fighters to his credit, Walther Dahl with eleven (including three Lavochkin La-7s and six P-51s) and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with six (including one Spitfire and two P-51s) amongst many others. Pilots soon learned that
6996-515: The Me ;262A-2a fighter-bomber for use in a ground-attack role. However, the unit lost 12 jets in action in two weeks for minimal returns. Jagdverband 44 (JV 44) was another Me 262 fighter unit, of squadron ( Staffel ) size given the low numbers of available personnel, formed in February 1945 by Lieutenant General Adolf Galland , who had recently been dismissed as Inspector of Fighters . Galland
7128-554: The Meteor and Vampire conversions were rapidly followed by a more capable night fighter in the form of the de Havilland Venom , the first model of which having been introduced during 1953. More advanced night fighter models of the Venom would follow, as well as of the navalised de Havilland Sea Venom , which served with the Royal Navy along with other operators. An advanced night-fighter design
7260-608: The Mosquitos during the early 1950s. A similar conversion of the de Havilland Vampire was also introduced; this was originally developed by the company as a private venture and initially ordered by Egypt, instead the RAF took over the order to serve an interim measure between the retirement of the Mosquito night fighter and the Meteor night fighter's introduction. These types were also widely exported; Meteor night fighters were acquired by France, Syria, Egypt and Israel amongst others. Both
7392-602: The RAF launched studies into new fighter designs, but gave these projects relatively low priority. By the time of the Soviet bomb test, the night-fighter design was still strictly a paper project, and the existing Mosquito fleet was generally unable to successfully intercept the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber it was expected to face. This led to rushed programs to introduce new, interim night-fighter designs; these efforts led to several night-fighter versions of ubiquitous Gloster Meteor to replace
7524-457: The World War II era shared, was the high risk of compressor stall and if throttle movements were too rapid, the engine(s) could suffer a flameout. The coarse opening of the throttle would cause fuel surging and lead to excessive jet pipe temperatures. Pilots were instructed to operate the throttle gently and avoid quick changes. German engineers introduced an automatic throttle regulator later in
7656-710: The aircraft's readiness for combat and training sorties. Armament production within Germany was focused on more easily manufactured aircraft. Ultimately, the Me 262 had little effect on the war because of its late introduction and the small numbers that entered service. Although German use of the Me 262 ended with World War II, the Czechoslovak Air Force operated a small number until 1951. Also, Israel may have used between two and eight Me 262s. These were supposedly built by Avia and supplied covertly, and there has been no official confirmations of their use. The aircraft heavily influenced several prototype designs, such as
7788-445: The altitude, with much greater bomb loads. They flew fast enough that the time between detecting them and the bombers reaching their targets left little time to launch interceptors to shoot them down. Higher altitude bombers also required extremely large and heavy antiaircraft guns to attack them, badly limiting the number of guns available. At night, or with limited visibility, these problems were compounded. The widespread conclusion
7920-496: The arrival of the Beaufighter , which offered significantly higher performance than the pre-war Blenheims; it was the highest performance aircraft capable of carrying the bulky early aircraft interception radars used for night fighter operations, and quickly became invaluable as a night fighter. Over the next few months, more and more Beaufighters arrived and the success of the night fighters roughly doubled every month until May, when
8052-425: The bombers over a cell in a short period, the vast majority of the bombers flew right over them without ever having been plotted, let alone attacked. German success against the RAF plummeted, reaching a nadir on 30/31 May 1942, when the first 1,000-bomber raid attacked Cologne , losing only four aircraft to German night fighters. In 1942, the Germans first started deploying the initial B/C low UHF -band version of
SECTION 60
#17328450947498184-478: The change in the centre of gravity and to position the centre of lift properly relative to the centre of mass. (The original 35° sweep, proposed by Adolf Busemann , was not adopted.) Initially the inboard leading edge retained the straight profile as did the trailing edge of the midsection of the wing. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and wind tunnel results, the inboard section's leading edge (between
8316-608: The closing stages of the war, including the US contract for the Northrop F-89 Scorpion . When the Soviet plans to build an atomic bomb became known in the west in 1948, this project was still long from being ready to produce even a prototype, and in March 1949, they started development of both the North American F-86D Sabre and Lockheed F-94 Starfire as stop-gap measures. All of these fighters entered service during
8448-407: The cockpit; and a 200-litre (44-imperial-gallon; 53-US-gallon) ventral fuselage tank beneath, the Me 262 would have a total flight endurance of 60 to 90 minutes. Fuel was usually J2 ( derived from brown coal ), with the option of diesel or a mixture of oil and high octane B4 aviation petrol . Fuel consumption was double the rate of typical twin-engine fighter aircraft of the era, which led to
8580-401: The combustion chamber, were changed to mild steel (SAE 1010) and were protected only against oxidation by aluminum coating. The engine represented a design compromise to minimize the use of strategic materials and to simplify manufacture. With the lower-quality steels used in the 004B, the engine required overhaul after just 25 hours for a metallurgical test on the turbine. If it passed the test,
8712-451: The conventional gear configuration. Changing to a tricycle arrangement—a permanently fixed undercarriage on the fifth prototype (V5, code PC+UE), with the definitive fully retractable nosewheel gear on the V6 (with Stammkennzeichen code VI+AA, from a new code block) and subsequent aircraft corrected this problem. Test flights continued over the next year, but engine problems continued to plague
8844-636: The day or during good weather. The concept of the night fighter was developed and experimented with during the First World War but would not see widespread use until WWII. The term would be supplanted by “all-weather fighter/interceptor” post-WWII, with advancements in various technologies permitting the use of such aircraft in virtually all conditions. During the Second World War, night fighters were either purpose-built night fighter designs, or more commonly, heavy fighters or light bombers adapted for
8976-562: The early 1950s. In the Korean War, after the Starfire proved to be ineffective against the latest Soviet-supplied aircraft, Marine Corps Douglas F3D Skyknights shot down six aircraft, including five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s without loss, as the MiG-15s lacked radar to shoot down individual fighters, though they were effective against bomber formations at night. During the immediate postwar era,
9108-475: The end of the war. And on 8 May, at around 4:00 p.m. Oblt. Fritz Stehle of 2./JG 7, while flying a Me 262 on the Ore Mountains , attacked a formation of Soviet aircraft. He claimed a Yakovlev Yak-9 , but the aircraft shot down was probably a P-39 Airacobra . Soviet records show that they lost two Airacobras, one of them probably downed by Stehle, who would thus have scored the last Luftwaffe air victory of
9240-501: The engine nacelles—approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns, fired a salvo of rockets. One or two hits with these rockets could shoot down even the famously rugged Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , from the "metal-shattering" brisant effect of the fast-flying rocket's 520 g (18 oz) explosive warhead. The much bigger BR 21 large-calibre rockets, fired from their tubular launchers under
9372-489: The engine was refitted for a further 10 hours of usage, but 35 hours marked the absolute limit for the turbine wheel. Frank Whittle concludes in his final assessment over the two engines: "it was in the quality of high temperature materials that the difference between German and British engines was most marked" Operationally, carrying 2,000 litres (440 imperial gallons; 530 US gallons) of fuel in two 900-litre (200-imperial-gallon; 240-US-gallon) tanks, one each fore and aft of
9504-474: The engines, Messerschmitt moved the engines from the wing roots to underwing pods, allowing them to be changed more readily if needed. That turned out to be important, both for availability and maintenance. When it became apparent that the BMW 003 jets would be significantly heavier than anticipated, on 1 March 1940, it was decided that instead of moving the wing backward on its mount, the outer wing would be swept slightly rearwards to 18.5 degrees, to accommodate
9636-658: 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 262s 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 190 D and (just becoming available in 1945) Focke-Wulf Ta 152 H. Nevertheless, in March–April 1945, Allied fighter patrol patterns over Me 262 airfields resulted in numerous jet losses. Lt. Chuck Yeager of
9768-508: The fighters, typically Focke-Wulf Fw 190s , were equipped only with a direction finder and landing lights to allow them to return to base at night. For the fighter to find their targets, other aircraft, which were guided from the ground, would drop strings of flares in front of the bombers. In other cases, the burning cities below provided enough light to see their targets. Messerschmitt Bf 109G variants had G6N and similar models fitted with FuG 350 Naxos "Z" radar receivers for homing in on
9900-611: The first aircraft ever that was explicitly designed from the outset to function as a night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow . Avionics systems were greatly miniaturised over time, allowing the addition of radar altimeter , terrain-following radar , improved instrument landing system , microwave landing system , Doppler weather radar , LORAN receivers, GEE , TACAN , inertial navigation system , GPS , and GNSS in aircraft. The addition of greatly improved landing and navigation equipment combined with radar led to
10032-399: The first flight and the pilot had to land using the nose-mounted engine alone. The V1 through V4 prototype airframes all possessed what would become an uncharacteristic feature for most later jet aircraft designs, a fully retracting conventional gear setup with a retracting tailwheel—indeed, the very first prospective German "jet fighter" airframe design ever flown, the Heinkel He 280 , used
10164-508: The first kill by a 262, of a reconnaissance Mosquito, PR.IX LR433, of 540 squadron, over Munich, killing the pilot, Fl. Lt. Desmond Laurence Mattewman and navigator Flight Sergeant William Stopford. Major Walter Nowotny was assigned as commander after the death of Thierfelder in July 1944, and the unit redesignated Kommando Nowotny . Essentially a trials and development unit, it mounted the world's first jet fighter operations. Trials progressed at
10296-519: The first night fighters. After lack of success while using darts and small incendiary bombs to attack Zeppelins from above, ultimately a Lewis gun loaded with novel incendiary ammunition , was mounted at an angle of 45° to fire upwards, to attack the enemy from below. This technique proved to be very effective. After over a year of night Zeppelin raids, on the night of 2–3 September 1916, a BE2c flown by Captain William Leefe Robinson downed
10428-399: The first radar-equipped, single-seat night fighter in the world. It served with 245 and 247 Squadrons briefly and unsuccessfully before being sent to India to 176 Squadron, with which it served until the end of 1943. A similarly radar-equipped Hawker Typhoon was also developed, but no production followed. German aircraft interception radar efforts at this point were about two years behind
10560-433: The first time. Initially, these systems were unwieldy, and development of IR systems continued. Realizing that radar was a far more practical solution to the problem, Robert Watson-Watt handed the task of developing a radar suitable for aircraft use to 'Taffy' Bowen in the mid-1930s. In September 1937, he gave a working demonstration of the concept when a test aircraft was able to detect three Home Fleet capital ships in
10692-431: The forests north-east of Baruth . They succeeded in strafing 65 Soviet lorries, after which the Me 262s intercepted low flying Il-2 Sturmoviks searching for German tanks. The jet pilots claimed six Sturmoviks for the loss of three Messerschmitts. During operations between 28 April and 1 May Soviet fighters and ground fire downed at least ten more Me 262s from JG 7. However, JG 7 managed to keep its jets operational until
10824-449: The high-speed convergence allowing Me 262 pilots little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropriate amount of deflection . 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. I passed one that looked as if it was hanging motionless in the air (I am too fast!). The one above me went into
10956-442: The installation of a low-fuel warning indicator in the cockpit that notified pilots when remaining fuel fell below 250 L (55 imp gal; 66 US gal). Unit cost for an Me 262 airframe, less engines, armament, and electronics, was 87,400 ℛ︁ℳ︁ . To build one airframe took around 6,400-man-hours. On 19 April 1944, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld just south of Augsburg , as
11088-565: The jets. Aiming was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile, which proved more effective. A prominent Royal Navy test pilot, Captain Eric Brown , chief naval test pilot and commanding officer of the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight Royal Aircraft Establishment , who tested the Me 262 noted that: This
11220-461: The loss of three Me 262s. Although a 4:1 ratio was exactly what the Luftwaffe would have needed to make an impact on the war, the absolute scale of their success was minor, as it represented only 1% of the attacking force. In the last days of the conflict, Me 262s from JG 7 and other units were committed in ground assault missions, in an attempt to support German troops fighting Red Army forces. Just south of Berlin, halfway between Spremberg and
11352-447: The low- to mid-VHF band FuG 217/218 Neptun active search radars, as were Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6/R11 aircraft: these served as radar-equipped night-fighters with NJGr 10 and NJG 11 . A sole Fw 190 A-6 Wk.Nr.550214 fitted with FuG 217 is a rare survivor. The effective Schräge Musik offensive armament fitment was the German name given to installations of upward-firing autocannon mounted in large, twin-engined night fighters by
11484-401: The low-drag canopy with a 35° wing sweep and a V-tail (butterfly tail). The HG III had a conventional tail, but a 45° wing sweep and turbines embedded in the wing roots . Messerschmitt also conducted a series of flight tests with the series production Me 262. Dive tests determined that the Me 262 went out of control in a dive at Mach 0.86, and that higher Mach numbers would cause
11616-527: The major forces, but in practice, these proved almost unusable. The only such system to see any sort of widespread operational use was the Spanner Anlage system used on the Dornier Do 17 Z night fighters of the Luftwaffe . These were often also fitted with a large IR searchlight to improve the amount of light being returned. Immediately prior to the opening of the war, radar was introduced operationally for
11748-497: The mission, often employing radar or other systems for providing some sort of detection capability in low visibility. Many night fighters of the conflict also included instrument landing systems for landing at night, as turning on the runway lights made runways into an easy target for opposing intruders . Some experiments tested the use of day fighters on night missions, but these tended to work only under very favourable circumstances and were not widely successful. The war would see
11880-526: The nacelle and wing root) was later swept to the same angle as the outer panels, from the "V6" sixth prototype onward throughout volume production. The shallow leading edge sweep of 18.5° may have inadvertently provided an advantage by slightly increasing the critical Mach number however, its Tactical (useable) Mach number remained a relatively modest at Mach 0.82 and both German and British test pilots found that it suffered severe controllability problems as it approached Mach 0.86. The jet engine program
12012-496: The night fighter role. The Camels' Vickers guns were replaced by Lewis guns mounted over the wings, as the flash from the Vickers tended to dazzle the pilot when they were fired, and synchronised guns were considered unsafe for firing incendiary ammunition. Further modification led to the cockpit being moved rearwards. The modified aircraft were nicknamed the "Sopwith Comic". To provide suitable equipment for Home Defence squadrons in
12144-591: The north of the UK, Avro 504 K trainers were converted to night fighters by removing the front cockpit and mounting a Lewis gun on the top wing. With little money to spend on development, especially during the Great Depression , night-fighting techniques changed little until just prior to World War II . In the meantime, aircraft performance had improved tremendously; compared to their First World War counterparts, modern bombers could fly about twice as fast, at over twice
12276-436: The nose of the Me 262A (one either side of the nosewheel well) were only as fast as MK 108 rounds. Though this broadside-attack tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war and only small numbers of Me 262s were equipped with the rocket packs; most were Me 262A-1a models, of Jagdgeschwader 7 . This method of attacking bombers became the standard and mass deployment of Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles
12408-546: The offensive role. The capture in July 1944 of a Ju 88G-1 night fighter of NJG 2 equipped with an SN-2 Lichtenstein set, flown by mistake into RAF Woodbridge , revealed the secrets of the later, longer-wavelength replacement for the earlier B/C and C-1 sets. The Luftwaffe also used single-engined aircraft in the night-fighter role, starting in 1939 with the Arado Ar 68 and early Messerschmitt Bf 109 models, which they later referred to as Wilde Sau (wild boar). In this case,
12540-421: The original design was very different from the aircraft that eventually entered service. Specifically, it featured wing-root-mounted engines, rather than podded ones. The progression of the original design was delayed greatly by technical problems with the new jet engine. Originally designed with straight wings, problems arose when the long delayed engines proved heavier than originally promised. While waiting for
12672-456: The piston-powered, 1935-origin Bf 109 and the projected Me 209 . Major General Adolf Galland had supported Messerschmitt through the early development years, flying the Me 262 himself on 22 April 1943. By that time, the problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably. One particularly acute problem was the lack of an alloy with a melting point high enough to endure
12804-501: The project, the Jumo 004 being only marginally more reliable than the lower-thrust (7.83 kN/1,760 lbf) BMW 003. Early engines were so short-lived that they frequently needed replacement after only a single flight. Airframe modifications were complete by 1942 but, hampered by the lack of engines, serial production did not begin until 1944, and deliveries were low, with 28 Me 262s in June, 59 in July, but only 20 in August. By mid-1943,
12936-455: The radar would then direct a searchlight to "paint" the target, allowing the fighters to attack them without on-board aids. The searchlights were later supplanted with short-range radars that tracked both the fighters and bombers, allowing ground operators to direct the fighters to their targets. By July 1940, this system was well developed as the Kammhuber Line , and proved able to deal with
13068-432: The root to 1 mm (0.039 in) at the tip. To expedite construction, save weight, and use fewer strategic materials late in the war, the wing interiors were not painted. The wings were fastened to the fuselage at four points, using a pair of 20 mm (0.79 in) and forty-two 8 mm (0.31 in) bolts. During mid-1943, Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as a ground-attack / bomber aircraft rather than
13200-494: The short barrels of the MK 108 cannon and low muzzle velocity - 540 m/s (1,800 ft/s) - rendered it inaccurate beyond 600 m (660 yd), coupled with the jet's velocity, which required breaking off at 200 m (220 yd) to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots normally commenced firing at 500 m (550 yd). Gunners of Allied bomber aircraft found their electrically powered gun turrets had problems tracking
13332-422: The small raids by isolated bombers the RAF was carrying out at the time. At the urging of R.V. Jones , the RAF changed their raid tactics to gather all of their bombers into a single " stream ". This meant that the ground-based portion of the system was overwhelmed ; with only one or two searchlights or radars available per "cell", the system was able to handle perhaps six interceptions per hour. By flying all of
13464-526: The start of the war. The project had originated with a request by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM, Ministry of Aviation) for a jet aircraft capable of one hour's endurance and a speed of at least 850 km/h (530 mph; 460 kn). Woldemar Voigt headed the design team, with Messerschmitt's chief of development, Robert Lusser , overseeing. During April 1939, initial plans were drawn up and, following their submission in June 1939,
13596-491: The targets and illuminate them with the searchlight, allowing Hurricanes adapted for night flying to shoot them down visually. This proved almost impossible to arrange in practice, and the Cat Eye fighters had little luck during the closing months of 1940. The Turbinlite squadrons were disbanded in early 1943. By early 1941, the first examples of a production-quality radar, AI Mk. IV, were beginning to arrive. This coincided with
13728-421: The temperatures involved, a problem that had not been adequately resolved by the end of the war. After a November 1941 flight (with BMW 003s) ended in a double flameout , the aircraft made its first successful flight entirely on jet power on 18 July 1942, propelled by a pair of Jumo 004 engines. Ludwig Bölkow was the principal aerodynamicist assigned to work on the design of the Me 262. He initially designed
13860-489: The time the Blitz opened in August 1940, the night fighter fleet was still in its infancy. Through this period, the RAF experimented with many other aircraft and interception methods in an effort to get a working night fighter force. One attempt to make up for the small number of working radars was to fit an AI to a Douglas Havoc bomber which also carried a searchlight in its nose. These Turbinlite aircraft were intended to find
13992-616: The time. The general assumption of a quick war meant no need existed for strategic attacks. Things changed on 22 September and 8 October 1914, when the Royal Naval Air Service bombed the production line and hangars of the Zeppelin facilities in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Although defences had been set up, all of them proved woefully inadequate. As early as 1915, a number of B.E.2c aircraft (the infamous "Fokker Fodder") were modified into
14124-483: The topic, but as the Germans were on the defensive, their work was given a much higher priority. The Messerschmitt Me 262 , the first operational jet fighter in the world, was adapted to the role, such as the installation of on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar and Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae; intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. Several Me 262 pilots were able to attain
14256-476: The unarmed Mosquito, though Wall evaded Schreiber's three attack runs, to land safely at Fermo, Italy, after the first air-to-air use of a jet fighter. Sources state the Mosquito had a hatch fall out, during the evasive manoeuvres, though the aircraft returned to RAF Benson on 27 July 1944, and remained in service till it was lost in a landing in October 1950. On 8 August 1944, Lt. Joachim Weber of EKdo 262 claimed
14388-430: The use of light bombers as the preferred platform for aircraft interception radars, and in May 1939, the first experimental flight took place, on a Fairey Battle . The war opened on 1 September 1939, and by this time, the RAF were well advanced with plans to build a radar – then called 'RDF' in Britain – equipped night-fighter fleet. The Aircraft Interception Mk. II radar (AI Mk. II) was being fitted experimentally to
14520-527: The use of the term all-weather fighter or all-weather fighter attack, depending on the aircraft capabilities. The use of the term night fighter gradually faded away as a result of these improvements making the vast majority of fighters capable of night operation. At the start of the First World War , most combatants had little capability of flying at night, and little need to do so. The only targets that could be attacked with any possibility of being hit in limited visibility would be cities, an unthinkable target at
14652-624: The ventral position. An attack by a Schräge Musik -equipped fighter was typically a complete surprise to the bomber crew, who would only realise that a fighter was close by when they came under fire. Particularly in the initial stage of operational use until early 1944, the sudden fire from below was often attributed to ground fire rather than a fighter. Rather than nighttime raids, the US Army Air Forces were dedicated to daytime bombing over Germany and Axis allies, that statistically were much more effective. The British night-bombing raids showed
14784-421: The war but it only partly alleviated the problem. The aircraft had, by contemporary standards, a high wing loading (294.0 kg/m , 60.2 lbs/ft ) that required higher takeoff and landing speeds. Due to poor throttle response, the engines' tendency for airflow disruption that could cause the compressor to stall was ubiquitous. The high speed of the Me 262 also presented problems when engaging enemy aircraft,
14916-699: The war. Several two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a, had been adapted through the Umrüst-Bausatz 1 factory refit package as night fighters , complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar, using Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae with a set of dipole elements shorter than the Lichtenstein SN-2 had used, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10. Staffel Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 , near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of
15048-534: The wing using NACA airfoils modified with an elliptical nose section. Later in the design process, these were changed to AVL derivatives of NACA airfoils, the NACA 00011-0.825-35 being used at the root and the NACA 00009-1.1-40 at the tip. The elliptical nose derivatives of the NACA airfoils were used on the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces . Wings were of single-spar cantilever construction, with stressed skins , varying from 3 mm (0.12 in) skin thickness at
15180-490: Was a Blitzkrieg aircraft. You whack in at your bomber. It was never meant to be a dogfighter , it was meant to be a destroyer of bombers ... The great problem with it was it did not have dive brakes . For example, if you want to fight and destroy a B-17, you come in on a dive. The 30mm cannon were not so accurate beyond 600 metres [660 yd; 2,000 ft]. So you normally came in at 600 yards [550 m; 1,800 ft] and would open fire on your B-17. And your closing speed
15312-487: Was a good night fighter. It did not have enough speed". The United States Navy (USN) Project Affirm was established at Naval Air Station Quonset Point on 18 April 1942 to develop night fighting equipment and tactics. Aircraft selection was limited to single-engine, single-seat planes by the requirement to be capable of operating from aircraft carriers . Urgency for the night-fighting role increased when Japanese aircraft successfully harassed naval forces on night raids in
15444-419: Was a great potential advantage in a dogfight as it meant better energy retention in manoeuvres. Too fast to catch for the escorting Allied fighters, the Me 262s were almost impossible to head off. As a result, Me 262 pilots were relatively safe from the Allied fighters, as long as they did not allow themselves to get drawn into low-speed turning contests and saved their maneuvering for higher speeds. Combating
15576-427: Was able to draw into the unit many of the most experienced and decorated Luftwaffe fighter pilots from other units grounded by lack of fuel. During March, Me 262 fighter units were able, for the first time, to mount large-scale attacks on Allied bomber formations. On 18 March 1945, thirty-seven Me 262s of JG 7 intercepted a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters. They shot down 12 bombers and one fighter for
15708-647: Was also an interceptor with enhanced agility, but did not carry the Phoenix in preference to the role of an air-superiority fighter. The reduced size and costs of avionics have allowed even smaller modern fighters to have night-interception capability. In the US Air Force's lightweight fighter program, the F-16 was originally envisaged as inexpensive day fighter , but quickly converted to an all-weather role. The similar McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in its CF-18 variant for
15840-414: Was attacked by other Mustangs, forced to bail out, and died. The Kommando was then withdrawn for further flight training and a revision of combat tactics to optimise the Me 262's strengths. On 26 November 1944, a Me 262A-2a Sturmvogel of III. Gruppe / KG 51 'Edelweiß' based at Rheine-Hopsten Air Base near Osnabrück was the first confirmed ground-to-air kill of a jet combat aircraft. The Me 262
15972-463: Was cancelled. 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 1944, 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 262
16104-404: Was difficult to counter because its high speed and rate of climb made it hard to intercept. However, as with other turbojet engines at the time, the Me 262's engines did not provide sufficient thrust at low airspeeds and throttle response was slow, so that in certain circumstances such as takeoff and landing the aircraft became a vulnerable target. Another disadvantage that pioneering jet aircraft of
16236-608: Was eventually introduced to RAF service in 1956 in the form of the Gloster Javelin , a delta wing aircraft capable of performing rapid ascents and attaining an altitude of 45,000 feet. However, due to rapid advances in aircraft capabilities, the Javelin quickly became considered to be outdated and the type was retired during 1968. In Canada , Avro Canada developed its own night fighter, the CF-100 Canuck , which entered service with
16368-476: 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 262? Luftwaffe pilots eventually learned how to handle the Me 262's higher speed and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter, with pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down seventeen enemy fighters in
16500-513: Was growing. The Mosquitos had little to do over the UK, so a number of squadrons were formed within No. 100 Group RAF and fitted with special systems, such as Perfectos and Serrate , for homing-in on German night fighters. The British also experimented with mounting pilot-operated AI Mark 6 radar sets in single-seat fighters, and the Hurricane II C(NF), a dozen of which were produced in 1942, became
16632-422: Was shot down by a Bofors gun of B.11 Detachment of 2875 Squadron RAF Regiment at the RAF forward airfield of Helmond, near Eindhoven . Others were lost to ground fire on 17 and 18 December when the same airfield was attacked at intervals by a total of 18 Me 262s and the guns of 2873 and 2875 Squadrons RAF Regiment damaged several, causing at least two to crash within a few miles of the airfield. In February 1945,
16764-591: Was still high and since you had to break away at 200 metres [220 yd; 660 ft] to avoid a collision, you only had two seconds firing time. Now, in two seconds, you can't sight. You can fire randomly and hope for the best. If you want to sight and fire, you need to double that time to four seconds. And with dive brakes, you could have done that. Eventually, German pilots developed new tactics to counter Allied bombers. Me 262s, equipped with up to 24 unguided folding-fin R4M rockets —12 in each of two underwing racks, outboard of
16896-543: Was that " the bomber will always get through ", and the Royal Air Force invested almost all of their efforts in developing a night bomber force, with the Central Flying School responsible for one of the most important developments in the period by introducing " blind flying " training. The Spanish Republican Air Force used some Polikarpov I-15s as night fighters. Pilot José Falcó had equipped his fighter with
17028-425: Was the construction of a "flak lane" of over 150 emplacements of the 20 mm Flakvierling quadruple autocannon batteries at Rheine-Hopsten to protect the approaches. After seven Tempests were lost to flak at Hopsten in a week, the "Rat Scramble" was discontinued. Adolf Busemann had proposed swept wings as early as 1935; Messerschmitt researched the topic from 1940. In April 1941, Busemann proposed fitting
17160-574: Was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft and "the only jet fighter to see air-to-air combat in World War Two". The design of what would become the Me 262 started in April 1939, before World War II . It made its maiden flight on 18 April 1941 with a piston engine , and its first jet-powered flight on 18 July 1942. Progress was delayed by problems with engines, metallurgy , and interference from Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler . The German leader demanded that
17292-470: Was too high for accurate shooting with the relatively slow firing 30mm MK 108 cannon - at about 650 rounds/min this gave around 44 rounds per second from all four guns. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great to use the short-ranged cannon to maximum effect. A roller-coaster attack was devised, the Me 262s approached from astern and about 1,800 m higher (5,900 ft) than the bombers. From about five km (3.1 mi) behind, they went into
17424-463: Was waylaid by a lack of funding, which was primarily due to a prevailing attitude amongst high-ranking officials that the conflict could be won easily with conventional aircraft. Among these was Hermann Göring , head of the Luftwaffe, who cut the engine development program to just 35 engineers in February 1940 (the month before the first wooden mock-up was completed). The aeronautical engineer Willy Messerschmitt sought to maintain mass production of
#748251