The Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world's first fully operational turbojet fighter and saw service in the later years of World War Two. The Me 262 had to potential to change the course of the air war in Europe but Hitler ordered that it be used in a capacity that undermined its whole value as a fighter plane. Hitler said that he had his first 'Wonder Weapon' that he could use to bomb Britain and ground targets. In late 1943, Hitler finally gave his agreement to the mass production of the Me 262. However, he insisted that the Me 262 was used primarily as a fighter-bomber - even though it had been built as a fighter. Hitler misunderstood the rational behind the jet engined aircraft. Flying at speed, it could have been devastating when it got amongst Allied bomber formations flying over Germany. However, this required a major redesign, delaying production by up to 6 months.
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Development
Known as Projekt 'P.1065', the aircraft that would become the world's first jet fighter received mixed support as many influential Luftwaffe officers felt that the approaching conflict could be won by piston-engine aircraft alone. In 1939 and 1940, Messerschmitt completed the initial design of the aircraft and began building prototypes to test the airframe. Originally possessing a conventional landing gear design, the prototype was produced with a piston engine in the nose until the jet engines could be made ready. This later was changed to a tricycle arrangement to improve control on the ground once jet engines were installed. On April 18, 1941, the prototype Me 262 V1 flew for the first time powered by a nose-mounted Junkers Jumo 210 engine turning a propeller. This use of a piston engine was the result of delays with the aircraft's intended twin BMW 003 turbojets. The Jumo 210 was retained on the prototype as a safety feature following the arrival of the BMW 003s. This proved fortuitous as both turbojets failed during their initial flight, forcing the pilot to land using the piston engine. Testing in this manner continued for over a year and it was not until July 18, 1942, that the Me 262 (Prototype V3) flew as "pure" jet. Once better engines became available, the system was then test flown by a variety of pilots including Adolph Galland, who voiced his suggestion that the fighter go into production as soon as possible - obviously realizing its potential. The Me 262 A-1a 'Schwalbe' (Swallow) was developed as a defensive interceptor while the Me 262 A-2a 'Sturmvogel' (Stormbird) was created as a fighter-bomber under the direct orders of Adolph Hitler. Test flights continued over the next year, but engine problems continued to plague the project, the Jumo 004 being only marginally more reliable than the BMW 003. 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. This delay in engine availability was in part due to the shortage of strategic materials, especially metals and alloys able to handle the extreme temperatures produced by the jet engine. Even when the engines were completed, they had an expected operational lifetime of approximately 50 continuous flight hours; most 004s lasted just 12 hours, even with adequate maintenance. A pilot familiar with the Me 262 and its engines could expect approximately 20-25 hours of life from the 004s. Changing a 004 engine was intended to require three hours, but this typically took eight to nine due to poorly made parts and inadequate training of ground crews.
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In Service
On 19 April 1944, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld just south of Augsburg, Bavaria as a test unit (Jäger Erprobungskommando Thierfelder, commanded by Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder to introduce the Me 262 into service and train a core of pilots to fly it. On 26 July 1944, Leutnant Alfred Schreiber with the 262 A-1a W.Nr. 130 017 damaged a Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft of No. 540 Squadron RAF PR Squadron, which was allegedly lost in a crash upon landing at an air base in Italy. Other sources state the aircraft was damaged during evasive manoeuvres and escaped. Either way, this claim was the first victory for a turbojet fighter aircraft in aviation history. Major Walter Nowotny(220 kills) 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 holds the distinction of having mounted the world's first jet fighter operations. Trials continued slowly, with initial operational missions against the Allies in August 1944 claiming 19 Allied aircraft for six Me 262s lost. By January 1945, Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) had been formed as a pure jet fighter wing, although it was several weeks before it was operational. In the meantime, a bomber unit - I Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) had re-equipped with the Me 262 A-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 Staffel (squadron) 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 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. They were known by various nicknames, including 'Der Galland-Zirkus'(The Galland Circus) and had high-scoring aces or 'Experten' with the unit's top five aces alone had more than 1,000 combined victories.
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New Tactics
Me 262 pilots developed several tactics for striking Allied bombers. The Me 262 was so fast that German pilots needed new tactics to attack American bombers. In the head-on attack, the closing speed, of about 320 m per second (350 yd), was too high for accurate shooting. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great to use the short-ranged 30 mm cannon to maximum effect. Therefore, a roller-coaster attack was devised. The 262s approached from astern and about 1,800 m higher (5,900 ft) than the bombers. From about 5 km behind (3.1 mi), they went into a shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1.5 km astern (0.93 mi) and 450 metres (1,480 ft) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce their excess speed. On levelling off, they were 1,000 m astern (1,100 yd) and overtaking the bombers at about 150 km/h (93 mph), well placed to attack them. During March 1945, Me 262 fighter units were able, for the first time, to mount large scale attacks on Allied bomber formations. On 18 March 1945, 37 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 the loss of three Me 262s. To cope with the new German threat, the Allies developed a variety of anti-jet tactics. P-51 'Mustang' pilots quickly learned that the Me 262 was not as maneuverable as their own planes and found that they could attack the jet as it turned. As a practice, escorting fighters began flying high over the bombers so that they could quickly dive on German jets. Also, as the Me 262 required concrete runways, so the most proven method for dealing with the Me 262 was to attack it as it was taking off or landing. This was largely due to the jet's poor performance at low speeds. To counter this, the Luftwaffe constructed large flak batteries along the approaches to their Me 262 bases. JV44 had a special staffel called 'Die Wurger Staffel' (The Wuger Squadron), a play on the common nickname for the BMW 801 radial-engined original A-version of the Fw 190A3, which was 'Würger or Butcher-bird'. The 'Platzschutzstaffel' (Airfield protection squadron) flew the long-nosed 'Dora', Fw 190 D-9, or Fw 190 D-11 variant of the well-known Fw 190. These aircraft were painted bright red on their wings' undersurfaces with contrasting white stripes so anti-aircraft batteries could distinguish them from Allied piston-engined aircraft, leading to their humorous postwar nickname of the 'Papagei' Staffel (Parrot squadron).
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The End of the War
By war's end, the Me 262 had accounted for 509 claimed Allied kills against approximately 100 losses. Faster than any Allied fighter, production of the Me 262 became a priority for the Luftwaffe. Due to Allied bombing, production was distributed to small factories in German territory, with around 1,400 ultimately being built. The Czechoslovak aircraft industry continued to produce single-seat (Avia S-92) and two-seat (Avia CS-92) variants of the Me 262 after World War II. From August 1946, a total of nine S-92s and three two-seater CS-92s were completed and test flown. They were introduced in 1947 and in 1950 were supplied to the 5th Fighter Squadron, becoming the first jet fighters to serve in the Czechoslovak Air Force until 1951.
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