Messerschmitt Me.262 can without exaggeration be called the most famous turbojet aircraft of the Second World War, which also had a very strong influence on the development of aviation in the postwar years. Suffice it to say that the first Soviet jets were designed taking into account the experience of Messerschmitt Me.262 and under the trophy German aircraft engines Jumo-004B and BMW-003, which were copied and released in limited series in the USSR.
Development of the Me-262 began in 1938, by the end of 1941 the glider of the future fighter-interceptor was ready. The first flight with a jet engine took place on July 18, 1942. About a year was spent on refining the model, and in April 1944 Me-262 was launched into series production. A total of 1430 copies of various modifications were released.
The design of Me-262 is all-metal. Two Jumo-004 turbojet engines were installed under the wings, on the outside of the chassis struts. The new aircraft had excellent characteristics at that time: speed up to 900 km / h and lift speed up to 1200 m / min. However, for all its advantages, the Me-262 had serious drawbacks. First, the small engine life of the engines, only 9-10 hours of operation, after which the engine had to be completely disassembled and replace the turbine blades. Second, the large takeoff of the Me-262 made it vulnerable during takeoff and landing.
The first battles of the new machine took place in the fall of 1944. Later, Me-262 jets took part in air battles until the end of April 1945.
Technical characteristics Messerschmitt Me.262
Engine: 2x Junkers Jumo 004 B-1, thrust: 8.8 kN
Wings area, sq. m: 12.6
Weight, empty aircraft, kg: 3795
Take-off weight: 6473
Maximum speed, km / h: 900
Speed of gain of height, m / min: 1200
Practical ceiling, m: 11450
Practical flight range, km: 1050