Me-262

[Another Ahab]

My old man told me about seeing one of these toward the very end of WWII.

He was forward observer for a battery of 8" Howitzers, and by that time his unit was well within Germany (they entered through Aachen).

He said it was flying low, alone, by itself, and no particular threat to him at the time. But he said it was a sight to see. A jet-powered aircraft was something never before seen in the world. I believe it flew a good 100 MPH faster than anything else in the air at the time.

Check out the vid, it's fairly short:


https://youtu.be/7S88FsFE5EE

 

[02smokemaker]

Man love the sound of that starting up!

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[someoldmoose]

Amazing level of technology for the time period. Many shortcomings, mainly in materials of the time, but still amazing. The Horten 209 is another example. Years ahead of Northrop and jet powered from the start.

 

[Another Ahab]

Man love the sound of that starting up!

Yeah, that's sweet "ain't" it?!

 

[02smokemaker]

My grandfather told me some crazy stories from when he flew b-52's
He did extreme high altitude testing.
He told me they wanted to see how far they could push the pratt engines! He told me they kept climbing and climbing leaning it out continuously till they had no more oxygen to run and died! They had to fall a lot until they were able to get them fired up again. Talk about some balls on these guys! They had an open can of beans that "boiled" the higher they got as the air was squeezed out of them.

 

[Another Ahab]

My old man told me about seeing one of these toward the very end of WWII.

He was the forward observer for a battery of 8" Howitzers, and by that time his unit was well within Germany, entered through Aachen.

He said it was flying low, alone, by itself, and no particular threat to him at the time. But he said it was something to see. I believe it flew a good 100 MPH faster than anything else in the air at the time.

Another story he told me from around this same time during the war, was how he was on a field phone about to call in HE rounds on a German 88.

He said that while he was glassing the gun that he watched as the gun crew pivoted the piece 180 degrees from where it had been firing, and promptly began firing in the direct opposite direction. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were trapped with nowhere to run.

He told me right then, right at that moment, seeing that gun crew take that action said to him that the war essentially was over. That sight by itself said it all wasn't going to last very much longer.

And it didn't. He came back alive, and I'm here to relate the story because he did. The End.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

S C H V E E T - (with a German Accent)

 

[M813rc]

That is cool! Original engines? I wonder, because they were very prone to catching fire from fuel pooling in the nacelles.

After that, I had to watch the Airpower 2016 video that popped up at the end. Lots of "in the cockpit" video. Interesting two-hands-on-stick flying technique.

Cheers

 

[Another Ahab]

That is cool! Original engines? I wonder, because they were very prone to catching fire from fuel pooling in the nacelles.

After that, I had to watch the Airpower 2016 video that popped up at the end. Lots of "in the cockpit" video. Interesting two-hands-on-stick flying technique.

Cheers

You got a good question there. I don't know the answer.

But I did check out the flight speed, and saw somewhere that it did indeed have about 100 mph over the P-51 (which I'm guessing was about the fastest airframe out there at the time).

 

[Another Ahab]

You got a good question there. I don't know the answer.

But I did check out the flight speed, and saw somewhere that it did indeed have about 100 mph over the P-51 (which I'm guessing was about the fastest airframe out there at the time).

I ran into this where a small crowd goes into the details pretty deep (I gave up after the first "page"):

https://forum.axishistory.com//viewtopic.php?t=95567
​

 

[Flyingvan911]

The 262 was an amazing design despite the hiccups of the early jet technology. There's a good book called Project 262. It's about the reproduction of several 262's in Oregon.

 

[Another Ahab]

The 262 was an amazing design despite the hiccups of the early jet technology. There's a good book called Project 262. It's about the reproduction of several 262's in Oregon.

There's another book I might need to read. I'm NOT going to get to all of them.

Check this out:

http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/wartime-jet-pilot-said-he-flew-faster-than-sound/
​

 

[Tracer]

This is a new ME-262 built by the ME-262 Project Group at Paine Field, Everett Washington. This ME-262 uses GE CJ610 engines mounted in the Junkers Jumo engine nacelles.

 

[18operator]

There's another book I might need to read. I'm NOT going to get to all of them.

Another book you should look into, A Higher Call. About a Luftwaffe Ace and B-17 crew, and what they went through to survive the war. I just finished reading it and my 15 year old is about to start it. Awesome book!

​

 

[Another Ahab]

There's another book I might need to read. I'm NOT going to get to all of them.

Another book you should look into, A Higher Call. About a Luftwaffe Ace and B-17 crew, and what they went through to survive the war. I just finished reading it and my 15 year old is about to start it. Awesome book!

​

Is that the story of the Luftwaffe pilot who escorted a battered B-17 out of Germany?

 

[M813rc]

This is a new ME-262 built by the ME-262 Project Group at Paine Field, Everett Washington. This ME-262 uses GE CJ610 engines mounted in the Junkers Jumo engine nacelles.

Ah...thank you. My question was based on the video title "original sound" part, which would suggest the original engines, in an original aircraft. I thought it rather high a risk to fly it with engines that were fire prone, and not highly reliable. Such factors are acceptable in a war, but not on a rare old bird.
While it is wonderful to see these planes fly, there is always the chance of losing it. Building replicas is the best of both worlds there.

Cheers

 

[Guyfang]

The video is I think, made showing one of the proposed 5 replicas, of the ME-262. I think about 15-20 years ago, there was a plan to make from scratch, plans, and measurements of existing Schwalbe, (the german name for the 262 fighter and Sturmvogel, for the bomber) I followed it for a while, and think that only 3 of them were acutely made.
If you google stormbirds project, stormbirds.com or ME-262 replica, you can read the whole story. I am sure at least 2 of the birds have flown. There are about 10-11 original 262's still in various museums. I have seen the ones in the Smithsonian, and the museum in Munich.

 

[Another Ahab]

The video is I think, made showing one of the proposed 5 replicas, of the ME-262. I think about 15-20 years ago, there was a plan to make from scratch, plans, and measurements of existing Schwalbe, (the german name for the 262 fighter and Sturmvogel, for the bomber) I followed it for a while, and think that only 3 of them were acutely made.
If you google stormbirds project, stormbirds.com or ME-262 replica, you can read the whole story. I am sure at least 2 of the birds have flown. There are about 10-11 original 262's still in various museums. I have seen the ones in the Smithsonian, and the museum in Munich.

Is it in the museum downtown, or is it out at Udvar-Hazy in VA (Dulles International Airport), do you recall?

 

[Tinstar]

The government has more than a few originals tucked away.
Along with other German aircraft that were cutting edge during the war.
Nice big hanger packed full.

No
I haven't any pics and never will and cannot say location.
But they do exist

 

[Another Ahab]

The government has more than a few originals tucked away.
Along with other German aircraft that were cutting edge during the war.
Nice big hanger packed full.

No
I haven't any pics and never will and cannot say location.
But they do exist

That's likely over in Maryland where they kept it all before opening Udar-Hazy.

But do you know where the Me-262 on public display is?

I got to figure it's Udvar-Hazy, but it's a while since i went out there (they hit you for like $25 parking, even though they say the museum is "free", nice trick).