Messerschmitt Me262B-1a/U1 Nachtjager by Dragon

1/48 scale
Kit No. 5519
Cost: $30.00
Decals: Three versions, all for the same Luftwaffe nightfighter squadron — by Cartograf
Comments: Injection molded plastic; engraved panel lines; photo-etch details

History

The Messerschmitt Me 262 was a twin-engine, single seat, turbojet fighter that is widely recognized as the first operational jet fighter in the world. Unleashed against Allied bomber streams during the Summer of 1944, it struck fear into the heart of many an Allied aircrewman. With a top speed of 535 mph, it was about 120 mph faster at combat speeds than the P-51 Mustang — too fast for gunners to hit except through dumb luck. Although the British Gloster Meteor is also a contender for the world’s first jet fighter, having its operational debut on July 27, 1944, records as to the Me 262’s first day of operations are less precise, but it is known to have also seen combat for the first time during the month of July 1944. Another key difference: the Meteor was deliberately withheld from combat operations outside the British Isles, while the Me 262 was immediately put into the thick of the fight against Allied bombers. Of the two, it was the Me 262, and not the Meteor, that signalled a new era in air combat.

Development of the Me 262 began in the Fall of 1938, when Messerschmitt AG was awarded a contract to design a fighter around the new BMW 003 turbojet. The original design called for engines mounted in the wing roots, but this was soon dropped in favor of nacelles slung beneath each wing. Messerschmitt’s resulting design was outstanding, with relatively thin, swept wings capable of (at the time) as yet unachieved speeds. The Me 262’s exceptional aerodynamics are driven home by the fact that it was not until 1950 that the first American jet, the Republic F-84, could reach the same speed – with an engine capable of double the thrust.  Exceptional though it was, the Me 262 had its share of early teething difficulties. BMW’s first turbojets were unreliable, prone to both flame-outs and catching fire, but also offered unsatisfactory performance with too little thrust.

This forced Messerschmitt to fit a piston engine to the airframe in 1941 (for safety reasons, in addition to its turbojets) in order to probe its airworthiness in the first powered test flight. The Me 262’s first purely jet-powered flight took place on July 18, 1942 — but it was not the first jet fighter to fly. That honor went to the Heinkel He 280, a competitor that was, intially at least, the superior jet fighter design.

Ultimately, production models were powered by the more reliable Junkers Jumo 004. But even then, the shortage of strategic metals remained a factor. The indispensable compressor blades required for jet engines had to operate under such extreme thermal and mechanical loads that only special heat-resistant alloys could be used to achieve reliability, and the deposits for these rare metals were entirely in British hands. Junkers was therefore compelled to make the engines (including the compressor blades) out of steel, which meant the Me 262 had rigorous maintenance requirements. The Jumo 004 engines had to be dismanted and completely refitted after every 10 hours of service — otherwise the compressor blades could crack or even break loose in flight, with catastrophic results.

Initially the Me 262 had a conventional landing gear featuring a tail wheel, causing the engines to slant downward and directing their jet exhaust into the ground. This resulted in inadequate thrust to acheive take-off — until pilots realized that by braking at about 112 mph, they could make the tail lift and have the required thrust to get airborne. Messerschmitt devised a permanent solution in the form of a tricycle landing gear, which had the side effect of improving visibility for the pilot.

Political Meddling

General Adolf Galland, head of the German fighter force, flew the Me 262 for the first time in May 1943. His reaction was euphoric. Galland urged that the design be put into production immediately. But in a fateful meeting between Messerschmitt and Adolf Hitler in November 1943, when the jet was first presented to him, Hitler, obsessed with offensive weapons, asked Messerschmitt if it could be deployed as a bomber. Messerschmitt said Yes. Thereafter Hitler directed that the Me 262 be produced only as a bomber — any discussion of it as a fighter was forbidden.

As a bomber, the Me 262 A-2Aa could carry up to 2,200 lbs. (1000 kg) of explosives, and predictably, its performance was disappointing. The decision to deploy the Me 262 as a bomber not only delayed its debut in the role for which it was purpose-built, that of air superiority fighter; in part because Messerschmitt’s fighter used the same powerplant, it also hampered development and deployment of a true jet bomber, the revolutionary Arado Ar 234. It was not until September 1944, after ten precious months had been wasted, that the Me 262 was formally reclassified as a fighter.

The Me 262 first saw combat in July 1944 with Luftwaffe test unit Erprobungskommando 262 in Rechlin. In September 1944 the unit morphed into “Kommando Nowotny” commanded by Major Walter Nowotny (283 aerial victories, killed in action November 8, 1944).  The theme of “too little too late” is often linked to the Me 262, but it was not the fault of Germany’s aeronautical engineers. Hitler did not relent and order the formation of the world’s first jet fighter wing, Jagdgeschwader 7, until November 1944, largely because prior to that time he had refused to acknowledge Allied air superiority. In January 1945, Galland himself was ordered to form the second jet fighter wing, Jagdverband 44, which became an elite unit including aces such as Johannes Steinhoff, Heinrich Bar, Gerhard Barkhorn, and Walter Krupinski — all recipients of the Knight’s Cross.

All these units had a huge advantage in terms of speed, but it could sometimes be a drawback. Johannes Steinhoff, who would later be Chief of Staff of the West German Air Force, recounted that while flying the Me 262, enemy aircraft seemed to hang motionless in the sky.  So rapid was the Me 262’s approach speed that lining up Allied bombers in the crosshairs was a task that had to be performed in seconds, or not at all. Pilots who slowed for a run at the bombers took a chance on being shot down by their fighter escorts, as sometimes happened.

But as pilots learned how to handle the Me 262, it became much more lethal. With a main armament of four Mk 108 30mm cannon (Galland said one hit from a Mk 108 would seriously damage any bomber, and three would send it down for certain) and launch rails for twelve 2.16 in. R4M rockets under each wing, it had devastating firepower. The R4M rockets were fired in salvos of six at intervals of 0.07 seconds, and could inflict serious damage. They were often employed against bombers as far out as 5,000 feet (nearly one mile) and followed up with cannon fire when the Me 262’s got in closer.

Superior, But with an Achilles Heel

The Me 262 had a huge advantage in firepower and speed, allowing it to engage or break off combat at will. But if a 262 pilot were lured into a fight with an Allied fighter, he could find himself outmaneuvered and on the defensive. The Me 262 was so blindingly fast that it could not possibly turn inside Allied fighters of the day, and an unattentive pilot could be tricked into overshooting his prey and — momentarily — find himself in the enemy’s gunsights.

In addition, the Me 262’s Junkers Jumo 004 powerplant had a tendency to flame out if the throttle was accelerated or cut back too quickly, and its pilots had to be gentle with it on take-offs and landings, accelerating and decelerating at a leisurely rate. Once the Allies realized this, they placed standing fighter patrols near Me 262 airfields, and a number of the jets were shot down on take-off or landing, when they were most vulnerable.

Of the 1,430 Me 262’s that left Messerschmitt’s factory, only about 360, or 25 percent, saw combat. This was due to a variety of factors, from political meddling, to technical difficulties, to a lack of raw materials and fuel. Nonetheless, these jets inflicted losses out of all proportion to their numbers, accounting for 700 Allied aircraft destroyed during the ten months that they were in service. This figure gives one pause to think what Allied losses would have been, but for Hitler’s interference, and had the type entered service a year earlier — as Adolf Galland and others had urged.

The Nightfighter Version

Messerschmitt’s U1 Nachtjager version of the Me 262 was developed from the Me 262 B-1a trainer, which had an enlarged fuselage compared to the day fighter to accomodate the student pilot as well as the instructor, and a pair of external fuel tanks. After the spectacular, if limited success of the day fighter, the Luftwaffe went ahead to develop the nightfighter version, since by the latter half of 1944 British bombers were frequently pounding Germany by night to complement the American daylight raids in a campaign to systematically destroy the infrastructure and cities of the Third Reich. The two-seat trainer was converted for night-time combat operations by simply adding an FuG218 Neptun radar array with an FuG 350 Naxos radar detector for homing in on British H2S radar emissions from RAF Bomber Command aircraft. Only one nightfighter unit, 10./NJG 11, operated Me 262 nightfighters in limited numbers.

The Kit

Released in 1993, Dragon’s Me 262 Nightfighter is derived from the Trimaster Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Nachtjager
first released in 1990. The Trimaster Nachtjager was based on their Me 262 day fighter first released a year earlier, in 1989. Dragon’s Me262B-1a/U1, a two-seater nightfighter, has special parts for the enlarged, somewhat elongated fuselage, a correspondingly larger canopy, a radar array, and two auxiliary fuel tanks fitted to the nose to extend its loiter capability.

Dragon’s Me 262B-1a/U1 is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 128 parts, with two photo-etch frets bearing an additional 38 parts for cockpit and landing gear details. There are another 7 clear plastic parts forming the canopy, windshield, and gunsight.

The cockpit is well appointed with raised detail on the main and side instrument panels (with a corresponding paint guide for each) and detailed seats for the pilot and radar operator featuring photo-etched seat straps, and at least one PE part offering a measure of sidewall detail. The landing gear are expertly molded and also feature photo-etch detail for the boxed-in wheel wells. Each engine nacelle is a nine-piece assembly with good intake fan detail. Finally, a mix of plastic and photo-etch parts combine to make up a realistic radar array.

Markings

The kit decals are by Cartograf and are of the high quality modelers expect from this manufacturer, fully in register with realistic color. They provide markings for one of three aircraft (Red 8, Red 10, and Red 12) of the only German nightfighter unit to fly the Me 262, 10./NJG 11, which received at most a dozen of the Me 262B-1a/U1 by war’s end.

Conclusion

A highly detailed kit of the Me 262 nightfighter. Highly recommended.

References

• Profile Publications Number 130: The Messerschmitt Me 262; Copyright Profile Publications Ltd., Surrey, England; Copyright date unknown
• www.military.wikia.com
• Fighter by Ralf Leinburger; Copyright Parragon Books Limited 2008; Bath, United Kingdom
• www.luft46.com