Me 262 Case Study

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Dec 6, 2023

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Running head: ME 262 1 Me 262 Case Study Michael W. Griffin Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide

ME 262 2 Me 262 Case Study Background This paper will discuss the Me 262. The legacy and influence the first fighter jet have on modern aircraft is undeniable. From the jet propulsion engines to swept wing designs this aircraft has provided much needed insight into how a fighter jet should operate. A German legend named Adolf Galland was quoted saying the Me 262 was like an angel would push you through the sky (O’Leary & Larsen, 2003). The operational capabilities of the Me 262 were seen in WWII but one of the most influential aspects of the design was dealing with fundamentals of high-speed flow. The key to sustainable jet engine flight in modern day stemmed from test flights dealing with compressibility effects. Several aircraft were destroyed, and pilots killed learning about the development of jet propulsion and increasing flight altitude and flight speed (Boyne, 2012). History The Me 262 was the fastest aircraft in the sky during WWII. With the ability to outrun a P-51 Mustang by 100 mph, this aircraft stretched all aviation boundaries during its time. The development started back in 1939, back then the jet engine was barely even an idea much less a working one (Guttman, 2010). Flight testing commenced with the Me 262 V1 prototype on 18 April 1941. Kommando Nowotny was the first combat unit to receive the Me 262 for operation in war. Operationally speaking, the Me 262 saw its first true combat with the JG 7. The JG 7 formed after Major Nowotny was killed and consisted of pilots from the Kommand Nowotny (. JG 7 was able to deliver concentrated attacks on the Allied bombers due to the jet propulsion the Me 262 offered. The high speed of the Me 262 also had major operational drawbacks. Approaching bombers from the front was virtually impossible due to the incredibly small window of opportunity to shoot. This was because the Me 262 had such a fast closing speed on target. The Germans may have concocted an effective weapon in the sky by it was no match for the Allied air squadrons undeniable superiority (Guttman, 2010). The Messerschmitt project was first proposed in the Summer of 1938 to the air ministry as a research aircraft. The Luftwaffe anticipated this aircraft to be their interceptor of Allied bombers and fighters. The German jet fighter program proceeded in secrecy from the time of conception through most of WWII (Guttman, 2010). The Allied invasions of North Africa in November 1942, Sicily and Italy in July and September 1943, respectively, influenced Adolf Hitler to use the Me 262 design as a bomber. “Blitz bombers” were high-speed airplanes that could drop bombs anywhere the Allies invade a France beachhead. Hitler’s ego to make the Me 262 a fighter-bomber would prove to delay any fighter jets production to the war effort. On May 27, 1944 Hitler ordered the Me 262 to be used as a fighter-bomber and only allowed fighter testing under the watchful eye of Hermann Goering (Ziegler, 2004). The Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and the take down of Cotentin Peninsula on July 18 may have gone differently if the Me 262 was not ordered to be strictly a fighter-bomber. The first Me-262A-2as known as “Sturmvogel” became operational on July 20, 1944 (Guttman, 2010). Me-262As known as the “Schwalbe” were delayed by Hitler’s arrogance to use the design as a fighter-bomber and in large part because of the engines. BMW was commissioned to make a turbojet engine with thrust capability of 1,300 pounds. This proved to be an oversight and production slowed and ultimately BMW lost the contract all together. The Jumo 004, effectively testing at 2,200 pounds of thrust was affixed to the Me-262 V3 prototype (Ziegler, 2004). Germany lacked the materials such as chromium and nickel, which were essential in the production of the steel alloys needed to protect from high temperatures of the engine. Germany

ME 262 3 decided to use aluminum to protect it and aluminum was known to burn at high temperatures (Guttman, 2010). Design Goals There was a chronic shortage of aviation materials in Germany for aircraft construction in the WWI. Hermann Goering and his secretary of state, Erhard Milch, had to carry out specialized tasking of establishing aviation production for the Luftwaffe. On June 21, 1941 Hitler ordered a reduction in army and navy budgets to fuel the budget of the Luftwaffe (Ziegler, 2004). Me 262 design goal was to be the first jet propelled aircraft and allow the Luftwaffe to control the sky. The Luftwaffe was interested in fighter aircraft that would be operational quickly to counter the ever-growing Royal Air Force. Erhard Milch visited Messerschmitt at Augsburg to see how the production of the Me 109F fighter was coming along. The Me 109F fighter was what the Germans were most interested in and subsequentially halted the design of the first jet engine fighter (Ziegler, 2004). The Me-262 design was shown to Milch on August 7, 1941 but director Rakan Kokothaki became upset with Messerschmitt’s insubordination and ordered that the Me 109F was the only aircraft to be worked on. Milch ordered the Ministry of aircraft construction development to make are that work of the Me 262 was stopped immediately and all efforts focused on the production of the Me 109F fighter (Ziegler, 2004). Previous accounts of the Luftwaffe ordering aircraft manufacturing to speed up had proven fatal. Arguably the worst error in judgement in aircraft production was made by Messerschmitt. Messerschmitt was tasked with a contract to provide 2,000 light bombers in 1939. He was given until October 1942 and due to this fast timeline mistakes were made. The first test pilot raised questions and concerns about the Me 210 maiden voyage (Ziegler, 2004). The pilot named Hermann Wurster recalled that the plane was so unstable in flight that mass- production in its present configuration would prove fatal. Messerschmitt did not heed this warning and instead made minor changes (Ziegler, 2004). This led to five Me 210 test pilot’s deaths and with the overall failure of the Me 210 included 483 operationally useless airplanes. The financial loss was estimated to top 40 million Reichsmarks. Which at the time was a conversion of RM 2.50 to US 1. 40 million Reichsmarks equated to roughly 16 million US dollars back in 1942 (Ziegler, 2004). Willy Messerschmitt decided to disobey a direct order and continued his work on the Me 262. Understanding that the abrupt halt of a jet engine aircraft was not a good idea. Messerschmitt and his Senior Engineer Meyer tasked two dozen engineers to continue the work in secret. The first flight of the Me 262 took place on the 25 th of March in the year 1942 (Ziegler, 2004). Fritz Wendel was chosen as the test pilot. The Me 262 was fitted with a central piston engine with a spinner to safeguard against engine outs. Wendel pushed the two throttle levers to full power and experienced jet powered flight up to 150 feet before the engines abruptly failed. An engine survey was conducted and found that the compressor blades of both engines were fractured, torn, broken away from their sockets, bent, and glowing with heat. It was quickly deduced that the failure of flight was due to a failure of materials (Guttman, 2010). Final Design The prototypes of the Me 262 were built differently than the final design. The swept-back configuration for the prototypes began at the engine, meaning from the wing root to the engine nacelle the wing was actually 90 degrees with no swept integrated at all (Ziegler, 2004). The result of this was the prototype wings being exposed to high aerodynamic forces and the aircraft could not bank steeply with effective controls. Modifications over the span of a month allowed the wing to become completely swept from the wing root (Ziegler, 2004). These modifications

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ME 262 4 gave the Me 262 a larger and more effective angle of attack, providing for both a better turn radius and slower landing speed. After the Me 262 fitted with jet engines roared down the runway with Heinrich Beauvais in the cockpit, only to crash off the end of the runway, the idea of a nose-wheel design became suddenly apparent. The nose-wheel design took time to develop and this delayed production as the war sped on (Ziegler, 2004). The final design included a fighter orientation and a bomber capable of speedy insertions. The fighter jet design had the ability to fly at 540 mph and dog fight with any Allied aircraft. Unfortunately, the speed of the jet also proved to be downfall in maneuverability. The ultimate demise of fighter pilots in the Me 262 came when they were taking off or landing because the jet took a long time to full power during takeoff and landing presented its own dangers. Allied aircraft were able to take out German aces by swooping down when they either took off or landed (Paukner, 2002). Effectiveness Evaluation Strengths. The airplane had a max speed of 540 mph which at the time was the fastest speed by over 100 mph to any fighter (Paukner, 2002). The Me 262 could stay up in the air from fifty to seventy minutes and it used a less costly diesel-type oil instead of the anti-knock kerosene which was highly refined and hard for Germany to obtain. The aircraft had an operational ceiling of 37,000 feet (Schollars, 2003). The armament included 30-millimeter MK 108 cannons and R4M rockets beneath its wings. The ability to outrun enemy fighters and allowed the Luftwaffe to dictate how combat would be fought in the sky (Ziegler, 2004). Weaknesses. If the Me 262 were to yaw in any direction at low engine revolutions, strong lateral airflow had the potential of stopping the compressor and failing one or both engines (Ziegler, 2004). When the engines did fail, the jet-propelled aircraft would not glide. This left the pilot with two three options all of which had severe consequences if performed in the wrong way. The pilot either ejected at a safe altitude, executed a crash landing, or attempted to reignite the engines. At low altitude the Me 262’s fuel consumption was increased to the point that no useful penetration over enemies would be possible. Another weakness of the jet was reliability. Test pilots kept dying and airplanes were lost at an increasing rate (Boyne, 2012). Any sudden movement of the throttle caused engine flameouts which would result in increased drag of the dead engine and a complex process to restart the engine. The high speeds of the aircraft made formation flight extremely difficult and this complicated tactical operations such as breaking up bomber formations (Paukner, 2002). The engines themselves proved difficult to maintain and only had a shelf life of about 15 to 25 hours. Operational costs and maintenance were two of the major weaknesses that delayed production of the fighter jet (Ziegler, 2004). Lessons Learned Next generation fighters that engaged in air war over Korea owe a debt to the Me 262 platform. The American F-86 Sabre and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 are two examples of lessons learned in fighter jet technology. The use of swept-back wings pushed modern jets to next level speeds and maneuverability. The materials the Me 262 used for the engine temperatures were also a big help to developing jet engines. The single most important lesson learned from the Me 262 design was the nose-wheel configuration. Nose-wheel landing gears were essential for jet propelled aircraft because there was no slip stream from the propeller to allow takeoff and this proved fatal in tail-wheel designs (Schollars, 2003).

ME 262 5 References O'Leary, M., & Larsen, J. (2003). Inside the Me 262 project. Air Classics, 39 (4), 32. Boyne, Walter J. (2012). The Me 262 Stormbird: From the Pilots Who Flew, Fought, and Survived It. Aviation History, 23 (2), 60. Guttman, Jon (2010). Harbinger of a new era. Aviation History, 20 (6), 24-31. Paukner, Ernst (2002). Former Luftwaffe pilot Ernst Paukner provides a firsthand account of flying the Messershmitt Me-262. Aviation History , 13 (1), 12. Schollars, T. J. (2003). German wonder weapons. Air Force Journal Logistics, 27 (3), 26-35,44- 45. Ziegler, Mano (2004). Hitler’s Jet Plane. South Yorkshire: Greenhill Books.

ME 262 6

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