Hitler's Jet Plane Read Online Free

had a thousand fewer aircraft than the Luftwaffe.
    The lightning victories over Poland and then France played their part in strengthening German confidence in the invincibility of the Wehrmacht and there were relatively few people, even among those in the know about certain adverse trends in Luftwaffe development, who took a less sanguine view. But even having disposed of the French, the German Luftwaffe was simply not strong enough for an air-war across the western European continent, particularly if pitted against the consequential and technically well-armed opponent which Great Britain was becoming. After an initial superiority the balance shifted to a parity between the fighter pilots of both sides during the Battle of Britain, but Germany lacked a modern heavy bomber able to penetrate far enough inland with a worthwhile payload even from airfields in northern France. And had such a bomber been available, no fighter existed with the range to provide aerial protection to, say, Liverpool or the Tyne and back. Early on, all hopes resided in the He 177 bomber. This machine was to prove itself a problem child of the first order. The trio of twin-engined bombers which formed the backbone of the German offensive against southern England were short-ranged and either troublesome mechanically, such as the Ju 88, or obsolete, as were the He 111 and Do 17: the Bf 110 ‘destroyer’ was too slow and had little value as a bomber. The mediocrity of the Bf 110 had been recognised by the Reich Air Ministry in 1939. Udet himself had asked Messerschmitt if he would be able to supply the Luftwaffe with 2,000 improved Bf 110s by October 1942. Messerschmitt said yes and got the contract. This meant that he was now turning out Germany’s principal fighter, and soon would be responsible for producing Germany’s principal light bomber, and after that the world’s first jet fighter.
    By the beginning of 1941 – still without the jet turbines – the airframes of Me 262 prototypes V1, V2 and V3 were reported to the Ministry as ready for aerial testing. Since the manufacturers could not confirm a delivery date for the new turbines, Messerschmitt decided to fit a 750 hp Jumo 210G piston engine in the fuselage nose for the first test flights. Being portly, it was certainly a departure from the aerodynamic elegance of the shark-like hull, but it would serve its purpose and save time.
    On the evening of 18 April 1941, Fritz Wendel, who had discharged himself from hospital against medical advice, climbed into the cockpit of Me 262 V1 and took off at 19:35 hrs. With its relatively weak engine, it was a close call to get the 2,660 kilos of machine into the air before arriving at the end of the 1,000-yard runway. In its first ascent and at altitude the new aircraft showed good flying qualities although the maximum 420 kph in level flight was only half its designed top speed. To see how the hull behaved at higher speeds, the aircraft had to be dived at a steep incline at full throttle repeatedly over the series of trials. On the first test, wing vibrations were observed at 540 kph. Twice previously flying other aircraft types Wendel had had to evacuate by parachute perilously close to the ground, but that was the risk a test pilot ran in the endeavour to find a new aircraft’s defects if it was to be recommended for series production. As the angle of dive became ever steeper, the starting altitude became progressively higher to allow the pilot more time to bale out in case of disaster. Wendel established that the dangerous vibrations fell away at higher speeds. This brought him a certain relief, but he was sure that later when the jet powerplants were fitted and provided much higher speeds, more unpleasant surprises would be bound to lie in wait. The flight characteristics of the new hull were not merely good, however; stability, the effectiveness of flaps, ailerons and rudder and performance at slow speed in particular were outstanding. Test flying the