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Lovely plane, shame about the article. The Germans already had the fastest plane, the rocket powered Messerschmitt Me 163. It was so fast that it was completel

Lovely plane, shame about the article. The Germans already had the fastest plane, the rocket powered Messerschmitt Me 163. It was so fast that it was completely impractical in dogfights against slower planes that had tighter turning circles. Also, it kept blowing up on landing. And take off. And any time anyone looked at it funny.

JshWright 13y ago
The Me 163 didn't fly terribly fast during combat. In fact, it was a glider during the combat stage of flight. It took off using its rocket motor, climbed very quickly above the flight level of the bombers it was attacking, then switched the motor off and made one or more attack passes while gliding, before finally gliding in for a landing. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a dogfighter. It was designed purely as an anti-bomber platform. Think of it as a piloted SAM (with guns and rockets, rather than a warhead). The jet powered Me 262, on the other hand, was a reasonably capable dogfighter, and did suffer from the issue you describe (being out turned by just about everything...)
- JanezStupar 13y ago
  As a somewhat of an air combat simulation enthusiast I have experience that trying to dogfight me262 in anything that is not jet powered is an exercise in futility. If Messerschmitt pilot can fight vertically instead of horizontally. 262 was the best aircraft of the theatre in terms of potential. However its fragility and reliability did make it a dangerous machine for the pilot and the opponent.
- lotsofmangos 13y ago
  Thanks, I appreciate the correction. I thought it used the rocket during combat, I didn't realise it was just to get altitude.
  - JshWright 13y ago
    Yeah... Even crazier, right?
ahelwer 13y ago
The ME 262 and 163 weren't available until the late war period, long after the Battle of Britain. In 1940 Germany had the ME BF 109, which was outclassed by Britain's Spitfire. The more capable Focke-Wulf 190 entered service in 1941.

JshWright 13y ago

The Me 163 didn't fly terribly fast during combat. In fact, it was a glider during the combat stage of flight. It took off using its rocket motor, climbed very quickly above the flight level of the bombers it was attacking, then switched the motor off and made one or more attack passes while gliding, before finally gliding in for a landing. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a dogfighter. It was designed purely as an anti-bomber platform. Think of it as a piloted SAM (with guns and rockets, rather than a warhead). The jet powered Me 262, on the other hand, was a reasonably capable dogfighter, and did suffer from the issue you describe (being out turned by just about everything...)

JanezStupar 13y ago
As a somewhat of an air combat simulation enthusiast I have experience that trying to dogfight me262 in anything that is not jet powered is an exercise in futility. If Messerschmitt pilot can fight vertically instead of horizontally. 262 was the best aircraft of the theatre in terms of potential. However its fragility and reliability did make it a dangerous machine for the pilot and the opponent.
lotsofmangos 13y ago
Thanks, I appreciate the correction. I thought it used the rocket during combat, I didn't realise it was just to get altitude.
- JshWright 13y ago
  Yeah... Even crazier, right?

ahelwer 13y ago

The ME 262 and 163 weren't available until the late war period, long after the Battle of Britain. In 1940 Germany had the ME BF 109, which was outclassed by Britain's Spitfire. The more capable Focke-Wulf 190 entered service in 1941.