【Me-262】二戰中，德國空軍窮途末路的最後殺手鐗——梅塞施密特Me-262噴氣式戰鬥機|被希特勒一意孤行耽誤的噴氣式戰鬥機鼻祖梅塞施密特Me-262，生不逢時卻又意義重大

As World War II neared its end Germany was retreating on all fronts and had run out of options so it tried to develop some new weapons to turn the tide As a result many firsts in human history were born such as the first cruise missile to be used in combat the V1 and the first ballistic missile to be used in combat the V2 and so on The Allied forces in order to completely destroy Germany's combat power dispatched a large number of strategic bombers Bomb-laden greetings to German military enterprises Such as the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes that escorted them All of which performed exceptionally well The German forces could only achieve a 1:1 exchange ratio with the FW190 forcing Germany to accelerate the development and deployment of jet fighters The first jet fighter used in combat in human aviation history was born: the Messerschmitt Me 262 Its roaring jet engine and swept- back wings marked a new direction in fighter development and opened a new chapter in aerial combat history Although the ME262 was seen as the last desperate move by the desperate German forces its production capacity was far from meeting the needs to turn the tide of the war But the practical combat experience of less than a year proved that it was indeed a powerful combat aircraft Today let's talk about the one that was as famous as the British Meteor fighter in World War II The pioneer of jet fighters the Me 262 The development of German jet aircraft dates back to the 1930s At that time German aviation companies led by Messerschmitt and Heinkel became involved in a competition to achieve high speeds Engineers quickly identified the speed limitations of piston engines They began researching jet propulsion August 27 1939 The Heinkel company's HE178 completed its first flight becoming the world's first jet fighter aircraft However at this time the Luftwaffe's top fighter aircraft the Bf 109 had become Germany's main fighter aircraft and was relying on its excellent performance The Blitzkrieg against Poland was successfully launched The German forces intoxicated by victory further approved the Bf109 The development of the HE178 was strangled in its cradle Although the jet aircraft was rejected by the military Messerschmitt did not give up Continue with the secret development and assemble the dual- power MG262 with both a piston engine and a jet engine in 1941 The military finally listened to the opinions of the aircraft experts and believed that their enemies would eventually have this kind of plane so they agreed to continue developing the aircraft but during the first test flight The two jet engines of MG262 both failed simultaneously but in the end it was the backup piston engine that saved them from a fatal crash This was a severe blow to the MG262 Engineers had to change the engine They had to adjust the airframe structure July 18 1942 The piston engine was canceled the MG262 finally took to the sky and it set a speed record of 800 kilometers per hour after continuous improvements MG262 was officially commissioned into the German Air Force on June 30 1944 MG262 was a lightweight aircraft with a full-metal semi-monocoque structure The streamlined fuselage has a triangular cross-section The nose is equipped with four 30-millimeter machine guns and a camera gun The semi-submersible cockpit canopy is located in the middle of the fuselage and can be opened to the right with a 90 mm rear windshield and a 15 mm steel plate on the backrest All have bulletproof capabilities EZ-42 gyroscopic sight or Leupold 16B sight can be used for aiming cannons and rockets The near-triangular tail fin crosses at the rear Short nacelles of two axial-flow jet engines The main landing gear is directly mounted under the swept-back lower wing The tricycle landing gear can be retracted into the fuselage The Messerschmitt 262 has a fuselage length of 10.6 meters Wingspan of 12.5 meters Height of 3.5 meters Maximum takeoff weight of 7.13 tons Its maximum speed can reach 870 kilometers per hour The flight distance is 1050 kilometers As a new power unit The ME262 uses the Junkers Engine model 109004 Static thrust at sea level 850 kilograms Fuel consumption 1650 kilograms per hour Dry weight 720 kilograms Thrust to weight ratio 1.181 Overhaul life 50 hours Although the craftsmanship was rough and the failure rate was high it still remains one of the most successful early jet engine models in aviation history and as a fighter in the weapon system the ME262 served as an interceptor The main Allied strategic bombers were equipped with four 30- millimeter MK108 aircraft cannons which could easily destroy aircraft The B-17's wings were torn apart Additionally on other models of the Me 262 a 50- millimeter cannon was also installed The MK214 cannon version left a very deep impression on many Allied pilots due to Hitler's obsession It also gave rise to the ME262 single-seat bomber version The ME262 as a bomber could carry two 250-kilogram aerial bombs Although the ME262 was so powerful it could be said to have had a difficult fate On July 18 1942 Captain Wende was piloting it The spray-painted prototype successfully completed its test flight The German Air Force designated it as Flame Wing in August But the dictator Hitler after watching the flight demonstration arbitrarily issued an order First put the Me 262 into production as a high-speed bomber because he believed that at the time only offense was needed and no defense was necessary little did he know that this decision would have consequences The development of the Me 262 was greatly delayed and almost led to the demise of this advanced aircraft On July 25 1944 the ME262 had an unexpected encounter with a Vickers aircraft a Vickers reconnaissance plane over Munich 9000 meters altitude flight British pilots are not afraid of German fighters at all Usually when they climb to this altitude they are already exhausted so when they turn around and find ou When an enemy plane appeared 400 meters behind them they were somewhat surprised but even more so when they realized the plane had no propeller Although the former dived away at 663 kilometers per hour it still attracted the attention and admiration of the Allies Augus The 51st Bombardment Aviation Group commanded by Major Ulan first deployed the bombing version of the Me 262A-2A to the Northern Front But because the speed dropped to 670 kilometers per hour after dropping the bomb it often became a target for Allied propeller fighters Adding to prevent aircraft disintegration caused by diving the aircraft was only allowed to drop bombs in level flight resulting in a hit deviation of 1 to 2000 meters It has been proven The Me 262 was never suitable for use as a bomber True fighter variants Two months after the young commander of the experimental flight squadron Major Novotny shot down a Allied reconnaissance aircraft Hitler only allowed limited production of this fighter plane variant wasting nearly two years of time which caused him to miss the most glorious period of World War II The power of the ME262 was recognized and production began to increase until the end of the war with a total of 1433 ME262s of all types produced This fighter type shot down approximately 509 enemy aircraft while losing 100 of its own German pilots usually used the ME262 Carry a large number of R4M rockets Approach from the side of the bomber formation and outside the range of the bomber's 0.5-inch machine guns Rockets fired while riding The power of one or two rockets was enough to bring down the well-known sturdy B-17 bomber Because they attacked in groups of two to three ME262s each time they were given the nickname "German Air Force Wolf Pack " which undoubtedly deeply impressed the Allied forces The Allied propeller planes seemed to have lost their fur in the air immediately falling into the shadow of being slaughtered compared to the Me 262 which was like an arrow The Allies responded quickly to this development They developed a tactic to counter the Me 262 which had a significant speed advantage as a bomber escort It flies above the bomber formation dives to gain extra speed and closes the speed gap with the ME262 The Me 262's maneuverability is somewhat inferior to the P-51 Mustang Trained Allied pilots could easily catch a Me 262 in a turn But the most reliable method is to attack the Me 262 on the ground or to shoot it down when it is taking off or landing Therefore the Allied forces would bomb the German jet bases and also send fighter planes to patrol over the jet bases attacking jets that were preparing to land The German countermeasure was to set up anti- aircraft guns along the landing routes and to send fighter planes to escort the Me 262 during takeoff or landing Another experimental tactic Adding a nitrous oxide container to the P-51 allows the pilot to press a button during the pursuit of the ME262 to inject nitrous oxide into the engine To gain extra power it can be said that Germany's skies have never been separated from the Messerschmitt name but the ME262's service time was too late At this point Germany was in a desperate situation no matter how good the weapons were they could not change the outcome without the initiative Germany had to suffer the US attack on jet aircraft The factory was heavily bombed Thousands of tons of explosives Rained down on the factory and base The takeoff runway was covered with craters of all sizes Nearly a thousand Me 262s were turned to ashes in the bombing before they could reach the battlefield although the Me 262 was in World War II It had no glorious combat record like that of numerous piston-engine aircraft but it was the first practical jet fighter marking a revolutionary milestone The development of the ME262 was full of difficulties Its combat performance was quite immature After World War II ended Germany due to its defeat The production lines of Messerschmitt were forced to close The US and the USSR raced to seize experts from Germany as well as data parts and even entire aircraft enabling them to quickly develop their own aviation industries The introduction of the mature jet aircraft One could say the Me 262 brought about a new era of vigorous development for jet aircraft through its tragic fate This video is now complete Please continue to follow us You can watch the latest videos and browse previous highlights Welcome to leave a comment in the comments section See you in the next episode