Messerschmitt me 262: 50 фото

Around 100 Me 262s were claimed by Allied fighter pilots. There are no original Me 262s flying in the world today, but five reproduction 262s were built in the USA in the 1990s and early 2000s, of which four are currently airworthy.

542 Allied. The Me 262 proved an effective dogfighter against Allied fighters; German pilots claimed 542 Allied aircraft shot down, although higher claims have sometimes been made.

Me 262. On July 25, 1944, an Me 262 became the first jet airplane used in combat when it attacked a British photo-reconnaissance Mosquito flying over Munich. As a fighter, the German jet scored heavily against Allied bomber formations. U.S. Army Air Forces bombers, however, destroyed hundreds of Me 262s on the ground.

According to the numbers I remember, a lot of the 262s (around 300) were destroyed before they ever flew or were even handed over to the Luftwaffe. 230 or so were shot down, and about twice that were lost without the help of enemy aircraft, for the following reasons… So: 230 plus/minus a few.

Even the world's first jet fighter, the Me262, was first shot down by a Spitfire. Much like how a serrated knife increases the effective cutting surface of a blade, the Spitfire's iconic elliptical wing enabled the wings to be thinner without increasing the wingspan; this in turn increased aerodynamic performance.