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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
by 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 agoAs 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 agoThanks, I appreciate the correction. I thought it used the rocket during combat, I didn't realise it was just to get altitude.
- JshWright 13y agoYeah... Even crazier, right?