HISTORY OF THE AIRCRAFT IN THIS PACKAGE
Me-262B-1a/U1 Two-seat night fighter
Five two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a were adapted as night fighters, complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun radar and Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antenna, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10 Staffel, Nachtjagdgeschwader 11, near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of the 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. However, actual intercepts were generally or entirely made using standard German nightfighter "Wilde Sau" methods, rather than radar-controlled interception.
'Red 12', wk/nr 111980, was surrendered to Allied forces in 1945. This particular aircraft does not appear to have had any equipment installed in the upper part of the canopy, unlike some of the others of its type. The aircraft was destroyed in a gale at RAF Brize Norton in the UK, in 1947.
Extensive research was undertaken to portray this extraordinary aircraft's front and rear cockpits as authentically as possible.
Me-262A-1a/U4 'Pulkzerstörer'
Only 2 prototypes of this model were constructed and flown, featuring the 50 mm Rheinmetall-Borsig Mk 214 cannon, with the overall package being designed by Mauser.
This large weapon took up the entire nose section, requiring that the design of the nose gear be modified to rotate 90° during retraction, which enabled the wheel to lie flat as opposed to the usual configuration. A revised wheel well door arrangement was also created to deal with the new layout.
The fitting of the Mk214 to the Me 262 was an effort to create an effective bomber-killer that could attack enemy formations from long range without being subjected to the bomber's defensive fire. The gun fired 1.5-kg shells at a muzzle velocity of 1100 meters/second, with the 2400kg recoil of the weapon being absorbed by a hydraulic damper. It was estimated that a single hit would be sufficient to cripple an Allied bomber. This development was designated the Me262A-1/U4 and was known as the "Pulkzerstörer" (formation or pack destroyer).
During testing the cannon operated without problem, but during the only 2 operational flights made by the aircraft on the 16 April, 1945, the cannon jammed.
Me-262A-4a/U3 Reconnaissance
This was the reconnaissance version of the Me-262, being standard fighters modified in small numbers, with Reihenbilder RB 20/30 cameras mounted in the nose (sometimes one RB 20/20 and one RB 75/30). Some retained one 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon, but most were unarmed.
GENERAL AIRCRAFT HISTORY
The Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe ('Swallow') saw action from late summer of 1944 until the end of the war, sharing the title of first operational jet fighter with the British Gloster Meteor.
The Me-262 began life in 1938, when Willy Messerschmitt was called upon to design a new fighter to be powered by two gas turbine engines. The configuration eventually chosen featured a sleek streamlined fuselage with the two podded engines carried beneath a low-mounted wing. Although the first airframe was ready to fly by 1941, the B.M.W. engines were suffering prolonged development delays, which slowed the project significantly.
Developed steadily over the next two years, and using the famously unreliable Jumo 004 engines, the Luftwaffe began committing the Me 262A-1a to combat in mid-1944 when they were pitted against the streams of heavy bombers making daily raids on German cities and military targets. Despite being well-armed with highly effective 30-mm cannons and air-to-air rockets, the remarkable Me-262 was simply too little, too late, to turn the tide of war in Germany's favor. Maintaining production was difficult due to Allied attacks on industrial centers, many aircraft being destroyed on the ground before they could ever fly.
Some 1,430 total aircraft were built, though only about 300 ever saw combat. Some 120 two-seat trainers were built, made by modifying the single seat airframe. The Me-262, although a spectacular aircraft for its time, had a negligible impact on the course of the war, shooting down an estimated 150 Allied aircraft for the loss of 100 Me 262s, the majority of aircraft being grounded too often for lack of fuel.
NOTES
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The night fighter does not have an operational radar. We would have liked to have had one, but no such gauge exists presently, and it was outside our capacities to create something so sophisticated. However, there is a gauge poly there, so that should anyone find a suitable gauge, it can be easily installed (contact Flight Replicas if help is needed).
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The night fighter has a visible pilot head (only) in the front VC, to enhance realism when the user is sitting in the rear seat. If you would like to fly the night fighter from the front seat, the pilot head can be removed with a simple click on one of the canopy bolts (see illustration in the Manual).