Remember the end of Dragon when Al, realising that Pitt is "lost", decides to restore the Me262 jet fighter they recovered from the secret caverns in Germany? In subsequent descriptions of Pitt's hangar, the 262 is often mentioned.

Well, over the past few years, a project has been underway to recreate several 262s and the first ones are now flying. I'm aware of one in the US and one in Germany so far.

Check out this site about the US one. Cussler's foresight again!

Also on this page, look to the left at the static aircraft listed. Anything read familiar?!

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/ma_me262program.htm

Cheers beer:

Andy

:lol: The Vin Fiz!!! This Pirate cackles!!! p: A toast to those who appreciate history and help preserve it!!!! beer:

Check this out Andy! :o

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Awesomely cool!!! w: p:

Wow! Great find Tony! I think that's the one based in Germany.

Cheers beer:

Andy

...And I thought it was beautiful sitting in museums! WOW!
Thanks Andy and Tony!

Awesome video, Tony! Thanks!

I love life's little ironies. Not two hours ago I watched part of a PBS special on the ME262. It could fly 100mph faster than the allied planes, and it's four 30mm cannons could tear apart a B-52 with one short burst. Unfortunately (well, fortunately!) the German war machine was running on empty so the planes were built with shoddy equipment. They'd have to replace the engines every few flights because the crappy metal was catching on fire. That is, if the plane survived that long. The Germans ran out of qualified pilots so they were putting newbies fresh out of flight school up there. Sometimes, a "pilot" would get in, someone would tell them how to work the controls, what the take-off speed was, what the landing approach speed was, and say "ok, go get 'em." They tried using bomber and freighter pilots but they got shot down in droves too.

It's a great piece of history, especially since it was the first jet-powered plane.

And beautiful too! I was sitting here mesmerized while watching Tony's video. Everything but the landing gear, how ungainly! :lol:

In a dogfight situation the 262 could turn and run and the Allied fighters escorting the bombers, mainly P-38s, '51s and '47s would succeed in shooting them down if they got in a lucky shot. The 262 approach speed to the bombers was, obviously, very high, so there was less time to line the target up and hit it.

The 262 was most vulnerable in flight when taking off and landing, particularly the latter. With Allied air superiority and a lack of German pilots as Os said, the 262 didn't make the impact it could have. Hitler initially insisted it be used for ground attack, against the wishes of his fighter leaders. We can be thankful that the Allies had a bit of extra time to destroy more of the Nazi industry before too many 262s were made and became readily available for interception work.

The RAF operated the Gloster Meteor in the closing stages of the war and then in the Korean War but I'm not sure how it would have stacked up against the 262 (don't think they met).

RAF Spitfires, Typhoons etc were often used to intercept the V1 "Doodlebugs" launched against England however the Tempest was probably most successful. Although piston engined, it was bloody fast and, not being jet-powered, more manoeverable so it would have been interesting to compare to the 262, perhaps this did happen.

Crikey, dribbled on a bit, probably a bit boring so will sign off!

Cheers beer:

Andy

That is amazing...good thing the Germans didnt get them in the air sooner. :o