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127-584: The Messerschmitt Me 262 , nicknamed Schwalbe (German: " Swallow ") in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel (German: " Storm Bird ") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt . It was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft and "the only jet fighter to see air-to-air combat in World War Two". The design of what would become

254-430: A 1988 study on house martins . Swallows are excellent flyers and use these skills to feed and attract mates. Some species, such as the mangrove swallow , are territorial , whereas others are not and simply defend their nesting sites. In general, the male selects a nest site, and then attracts a female using song and flight and (dependent on the species) guards his territory. The size of the territory varies depending on

381-623: A 35° swept wing ( Pfeilflügel II , literally "arrow wing II") to the Me 262, the same wing-sweep angle later used on both the North American F-86 Sabre and Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter jets. Though this was not implemented, he continued with the projected HG II and HG III ( Hochgeschwindigkeit , "high-speed") derivatives in 1944, designed with a 35° and 45° wing sweep, respectively. Interest in high-speed flight, which led him to initiate work on swept wings starting in 1940,

508-542: A B.6 gun detachment of 2809 Squadron RAF Regiment shot down another Me 262 over the airfield of Volkel . The final appearance of Me 262s over Volkel was in 1945 when yet another fell to 2809's guns. By January 1945, Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) had been formed as a pure jet fighter wing, partly based at Parchim , although it was several weeks before it was operational. In the meantime, a bomber unit—I Gruppe , Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG(J) 54)—redesignated as such on 1 October 1944 through being re-equipped with, and trained to use

635-737: A defensive interceptor. The configuration of a high-speed, light-payload Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") was intended to penetrate enemy airspace during the expected Allied invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. Hitler's interference helped to extend the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation; (other factors contributed too; in particular, there were engine vibration problems which needed attention). In his memoirs , Albert Speer , then Minister of Armaments and War Production, claimed Hitler originally had blocked mass production of

762-546: A distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used as the common name for Hirundo rustica in the UK and Ireland . Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 21 genera , with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants ; by contrast,

889-438: A feature shared with the first four Me 262 V-series airframes, caused its jet exhaust to deflect off the runway, with the wing's turbulence negating the effects of the elevators , and the first takeoff attempt was cut short. On the second attempt, Wendel solved the problem by tapping the aircraft's brakes at takeoff speed, lifting the horizontal tail out of the wing's turbulence. The first four prototypes (V1-V4) were built with

1016-422: A few days to begin to sprout, and the chicks are brooded by the parents until they are able to thermoregulate . On the whole, they develop slowly compared to other passerine birds. The parents do not usually feed the chicks individual insects, but instead feed a bolus of food comprising 10–100 insects. Regardless of whether the species has males that incubate or brood the chicks, the males of all hirundines help feed

1143-420: A mean body mass of 9.4 g (0.33 oz) while the purple martin and southern martin , which both weigh in excess of 50 g (1.8 oz) on average, rival one another as the heaviest swallows. The wings are long, pointed, and have nine primary feathers. The tail has 12 feathers and may be deeply forked, somewhat indented, or square-ended. A long tail increases maneuverability, and may also function as

1270-405: A moral lesson about greed and altruism through the mending of a swallow's broken leg. During the 19th century, Jean Desbouvrie attempted to tame swallows and train them for use as messenger birds, as an alternative to war pigeons . The swallows would have a light load of course, as a laden swallow could only travel about half as far as an unladen swallow in the same trip. He succeeded in curbing

1397-512: A nose-down trim that the pilot could not counter. The resulting steepening of the dive would lead to even higher speeds and the airframe would disintegrate from excessive negative g loads. Swallow 21, see text The swallows , martins , and saw-wings , or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica . Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have

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1524-482: A number of species occasionally consume fruits and other plant matter. Species in Africa have been recorded eating the seeds of Acacia trees, and these are even fed to the young of the greater striped swallow . The swallows generally forage for prey on the wing, but they on occasion snap prey off branches or on the ground. The flight may be fast and involve a rapid succession of turns and banks when actively chasing fast-moving prey; less agile prey may be caught with

1651-419: A prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar . Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär , who is credited with 16 enemy aircraft while flying Me 262s out of his total of 240 aircraft shot down. The Me 262 was so fast that German pilots needed new tactics to attack Allied bombers. In a head-on attack, the combined closing speed of about 320 m/s (720 mph)

1778-585: A real evolutionary separation. In the New World, "martin" is reserved for members of the genus Progne . (These two systems are responsible for the same species being called sand martin in the Old World and bank swallow in the New World.) The family Hirundinidae was introduced (as Hirundia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The Hirundinidae are morphologically unique within

1905-407: A sexual adornment, since the tail is frequently longer in males. In barn swallows, the tail of the male is 18% longer than those of the female, and females select mates on the basis of tail length. Their legs are short, and their feet are adapted for perching rather than walking, as the front toes are partially joined at the base. Swallows are capable of walking and even running, but they do so with

2032-417: A shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) astern and 450 m (1,480 ft) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce speed. On levelling off, they were one km (1,100 yd) astern and overtaking the bombers at about 150 km/h (90 mph) relative speed, well placed to attack them. Since

2159-400: A shuffling, waddling gait. The leg muscles of the river martins ( Pseudochelidon ) are stronger and more robust than those of other swallows. The river martins have other characteristics that separate them from the other swallows. The structure of the syrinx is substantially different between the two subfamilies; and in most swallows, the bill, legs, and feet are dark brown or black, but in

2286-407: A similar type, helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, greatly improving the aircraft's turn performance as well as its landing and takeoff characteristics. As many pilots soon found out, the Me 262's clean design also meant that it, like all jets, held its speed in tight turns much better than conventional propeller-driven fighters, which

2413-548: A slow pace; it was not until August 1944 that initial operational missions were flown against the Allies; the unit made claims for 19 Allied aircraft in exchange for six Me 262s lost. Despite orders to stay grounded, Nowotny chose to fly a mission against an enemy bomber formation flying some 9,100 m (30,000 ft) above, on 8 November 1944. He claimed two P-51Ds destroyed before suffering engine failure at high altitude. Then, while diving and trying to restart his engines, he

2540-408: A slower, more leisurely flight that includes flying in circles and bursts of flapping mixed with gliding. Where several species of swallows feed together, they separate into different niches based on height off the ground, some species feeding closer to the ground and others feeding at higher levels. Similar separation occurs where feeding overlaps with swifts . Niche separation may also occur with

2667-410: A state of torpor , or even that they withdrew for the winter under water. Aristotle ascribed hibernation not only to swallows, but also to storks and kites . Hibernation of swallows was considered a possibility even by as acute an observer as Rev. Gilbert White , in his The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789, based on decades of observations). This idea may have been supported by

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2794-435: A steep right-hand turn, his pale blue underside standing out against the purple sky. Another banked right in front of the Me's nose. Violent jolt as I flew through his airscrew eddies. Maybe a wing's length away. That one in the gentle left-hand curve! Swing her round. I was coming from underneath, eye glued to the sight (pull her tighter!). A throbbing in the wings as my cannon pounded briefly. Missed him. Way behind his tail. It

2921-522: A tactic known to the Tempest-equipped No. 135 Wing RAF as the "Rat Scramble": Tempests on immediate alert took off when an Me 262 was reported airborne. They did not intercept the jet, but instead flew towards the Me 262 and Ar 234 base at Hopsten air base . The aim was to attack jets on their landing approach, when they were at their most vulnerable, travelling slowly, with flaps down and incapable of rapid acceleration. The German response

3048-435: A test unit ( Jäger Erprobungskommando Thierfelder , commanded by Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder ) to introduce the Me 262 into service and train a corps of pilots to fly it. On 26 July 1944, Leutnant Alfred Schreiber , while flying over Munich, with the 262 A-1a W.Nr. 130 017, encountered a Mosquito PR Mark XVI reconnaissance aircraft, of No. 540 Squadron RAF , piloted by Fl. Lt. A.E. Wall. Schreiber attempted to shoot down

3175-434: A while after the breeding season. If a human being gets too close to their territory, swallows attack them within the perimeter of the nest. Colonial species may mob predators and humans that are too close to the colony. For the most part, swallows are insectivorous, taking flying insects on the wing. Across the whole family, a wide range of insects is taken from most insect groups, but the composition of any one prey type in

3302-692: Is Miochelidon eschata from the Early Miocene of Siberia ; it is the only record of Hirundinidae from the Miocene . It is likely a basal member of the family. The Hirundinidae have an evolutionarily conservative body shape, which is similar across the clade , but is unlike that of other passerines . Swallows have adapted to hunting insects on the wing by developing a slender, streamlined body and long, pointed wings, which allow great maneuverability and endurance, as well as frequent periods of gliding. Their body shapes allow for very efficient flight ;

3429-557: Is evident from the advanced developments Messerschmitt had on his drawing board in 1944. While the Me 262 V9 Hochgeschwindigkeit I (HG I) flight-tested in 1944 had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profile canopy —tried as the Rennkabine (literally "racing cabin") on the ninth Me 262 prototype for a short time—to reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical. The projected HG II combined

3556-788: Is presumed to be the reason behind the decline of the critically endangered white-eyed river martin , a species that is only known from a few specimens collected in Thailand . The species presumably breeds in riverbanks, a much diminished habitat in Southeast Asia. As the species has not been reliably seen since 1980, it may already be extinct. Two insular species, the Bahama swallow and golden swallow , have declined due to forest loss and also competition with introduced species such as starlings and sparrows, which compete with these swallows for nesting sites. The golden swallow formerly bred on

3683-556: The 357th Fighter Group was one of the first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban Drew of the 365th Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke , who had transferred to the Mustang equipped 479th Fighter Group , shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of

3810-565: The 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire Staffel of Me 262As at takeoff and destroyed six jets. The British Hawker Tempest scored several kills against the new German jets, including the Me 262. Hubert Lange, a Me 262 pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest—extremely fast at low altitudes, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed." Some were destroyed with

3937-1050: The Indian Ocean , and a number of migratory species are common vagrants to other isolated islands and even to some sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica. Many species have enormous worldwide ranges, particularly the barn swallow, which breeds over most of the Northern Hemisphere and winters over most of the Southern Hemisphere. The family uses a wide range of habitats. They are dependent on flying insects, and as these are common over waterways and lakes, they frequently feed over these, but they can be found in any open habitat, including grasslands, open woodland, savanna, marshes, mangroves, and scrubland, from sea level to high alpine areas. Many species inhabit human-altered landscapes, including agricultural land and even urban areas. Land-use changes have also caused some species to expand their range, most impressively

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4064-1209: The International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Pseudochelidon – river martins (2 species) Psalidoprocne – saw-wings (5 species) Ptyonoprogne – crag martins (5 species) Hirundo – swallows (16 species) Atronanus – forest swallow Delichon – house martins (4 species) Petrochelidon – includes cliff swallows (10 species) Cecropis – swallows (9 species) Pseudhirundo – grey-rumped swallow Cheramoeca – white-backed swallow Phedina – Mascarene martin Neophedina – banded martin Phedinopsis – Brazza's martin Riparia – martins (6 species) Tachycineta – swallows (9 species) Progne – martins (9 species) Stelgidopteryx – rough-winged swallows (2 species) Atticora – swallows (3 species) Pygochelidon – swallows (2 species) Alopochelidon – tawny-headed swallow Orochelidon – swallows (3 species) The oldest known fossil swallow

4191-644: The Klemm and Heinkel companies, before joining the newly relaunched Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works) in 1933. There, he assisted Willy Messerschmitt with his design for a touring aircraft, the Messerschmitt M37. This was later put into production as the Messerschmitt Bf 108 , and formed the basis for the company's best known product, the Bf 109 fighter aircraft . By 1934, Lusser

4318-530: The Sukhoi Su-9 (1946) and Nakajima Kikka . Many captured Me 262s were studied and flight-tested by the major powers, and influenced the designs of production aircraft such as the North American F-86 Sabre , MiG-15 , and Boeing B-47 Stratojet . Several aircraft have survived on static display in museums. Some privately built flying reproductions have also been produced; these are usually powered by modern General Electric CJ610 engines. Before World War II,

4445-588: The V1 , ( Vergeltungswaffe - "revenge weapon"). It was a design competing with Wernher von Braun ' s "V2" vertical takeoff rocket. Despite initial demonstrations before Luftwaffe made the V2 look more reliable, it was decided both designs should proceed into production. Lusser and von Braun were rivals, and even later their relationship was never frictionless. Near Wolfsburg, Lusser found the main design flaw of his rocket, which turned out to be an underdimensioned main wing spar, as

4572-466: The welcome swallow , which began to colonise New Zealand in the 1920s, started breeding in the 1950s, and is now a common landbird there. Species breeding in temperate regions migrate during the winter when their insect prey populations collapse. Species breeding in more tropical areas are often more sedentary, although several tropical species are partial migrants or make shorter migrations. In antiquity , swallows were thought to have hibernated in

4699-616: The 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. Intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. As the two-seat trainer was largely unavailable, many pilots made their first jet flight in a single-seater without an instructor. Despite its deficiencies, the Me 262 clearly marked the beginning of the end of piston-engined aircraft as effective fighting machines. Once airborne, it could accelerate to speeds over 850 km/h (530 mph), about 150 km/h (93 mph) faster than any Allied fighter operational in

4826-763: The Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the U.S. fighters fought the more nimble, but slower, Japanese fighters in the Pacific. Allied pilots soon found that the only reliable way to destroy the jets, as with the even faster Me 163B Komet rocket fighters, was to attack them on the ground or during takeoff or landing. As the Me 262A's pioneering Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow jet engines needed careful nursing by their pilots, these jet aircraft were particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing. Luftwaffe airfields identified as jet bases were frequently bombed by medium bombers , and Allied fighters patrolled over

4953-490: The European Theater of Operations. The Me 262's top ace was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills, including six four-engine bombers and ten P-51 Mustang fighters, although fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved by eye, even though Welter had tested

5080-693: The German capital, the Wehrmacht's 9th Army (with elements from the 12 Army and 4th Panzer Army ) was assaulting the Red Army's 1st Ukrainian Front . To support this attack, on 24 April, JG 7 dispatched thirty-one Me 262s on a strafing mission in the Cottbus - Bautzen area. Luftwaffe pilots claimed six lorries and seven Soviet aircraft, but three German jets were lost. On the evening of 27 April, thirty-six Me 262s from JG 7, III.KG(J)6 and KJ(J)54 were sent against Soviet forces that were attacking German troops in

5207-536: The Germans saw the potential for aircraft powered by the jet engine constructed by Hans von Ohain in 1936. After the successful test flights of the world's first jet aircraft—the Heinkel He 178 —within a week of the invasion of Poland which started the conflict, they adopted the jet engine for an advanced fighter aircraft. As a result, the Me 262 was already under development as Projekt 1065 (or P.1065) before

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5334-519: The Jumo 004A engine had passed several 100-hour tests, with a time between overhauls of 50 hours being achieved. However, the Jumo 004A engine proved unsuitable for full-scale production because of its considerable weight and its high utilization of strategic materials (nickel, cobalt, molybdenum), which were in short supply. Consequently, the 004B engine was designed to use a minimum amount of strategic materials. All high heat-resistant metal parts, including

5461-649: The Luftwaffe in mid-1944. The Me 262 was faster and more heavily armed than any Allied fighter, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor . The Allies countered by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing. One of the most advanced WWII combat aircraft, the Me 262 operated as a light bomber , reconnaissance aircraft , and experimental night fighter . The Me 262 proved an effective dogfighter against Allied fighters; German pilots claimed 542 Allied aircraft were shot down, data also used by

5588-506: The Me 262 V1 example, bearing its Stammkennzeichen radio code letters of PC+UA, but since its intended BMW 003 turbojets were not ready for fitting, a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine was mounted in the V1 prototype's nose, driving a propeller, to test the Me 262 V1 airframe. When the BMW 003 engines were installed, the Jumo was retained for safety, which proved wise as both 003s failed during

5715-561: The Me 262 had little effect on the war because of its late introduction and the small numbers that entered service. Although German use of the Me 262 ended with World War II, the Czechoslovak Air Force operated a small number until 1951. Also, Israel may have used between two and eight Me 262s. These were supposedly built by Avia and supplied covertly, and there has been no official confirmations of their use. The aircraft heavily influenced several prototype designs, such as

5842-536: The Me 262 started in April 1939, before World War II . It made its maiden flight on 18 April 1941 with a piston engine , and its first jet-powered flight on 18 July 1942. Progress was delayed by problems with engines, metallurgy , and interference from Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler . The German leader demanded that the Me 262, conceived as a defensive interceptor, be redesigned as ground-attack / bomber aircraft. The aircraft became operational with

5969-439: The Me 262 was quite maneuverable despite its high wing loading and lack of low-speed thrust, especially if attention was drawn to its effective maneuvering speeds. The controls were light and effective right up to the maximum permissible speed and perfectly harmonised. The inclusion of full span automatic leading-edge slats , something of a "tradition" on Messerschmitt fighters dating back to the original Bf 109's outer wing slots of

6096-519: The Me 262, before agreeing in early 1944. Similar criticisms were voiced by Lieutenant General Adolf Galland. Hitler rejected arguments that the aircraft would be more effective as a fighter against the Allied bombers destroying large parts of Germany and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer, Hitler felt its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant it could not be attacked, and so preferred it for high altitude straight flying. Test flights began on 18 April 1941, with

6223-488: The Me 262, ten of them American North American P-51 Mustangs . Me 262 aces included Georg-Peter Eder , with twelve enemy fighters (including nine P-51s) to his credit , Erich Rudorffer also with twelve enemy fighters to his credit, Walther Dahl with eleven (including three Lavochkin La-7s and six P-51s) and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with six (including one Spitfire and two P-51s) amongst many others. Pilots soon learned that

6350-524: The Me ;262A-2a fighter-bomber for use in a ground-attack role. However, the unit lost 12 jets in action in two weeks for minimal returns. Jagdverband 44 (JV 44) was another Me 262 fighter unit, of squadron ( Staffel ) size given the low numbers of available personnel, formed in February 1945 by Lieutenant General Adolf Galland , who had recently been dismissed as Inspector of Fighters . Galland

6477-447: The Old World members) and cavity adoption (in New World members) as strategies, and the genus Hirundo and its allies use mud nests. The genus level cladogram shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Drew Schield and collaborators that was published in 2024. The choice of genera and the number of species is taken from the list of birds maintained by Frank Gill , Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of

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6604-435: The Old World, particularly Africa, whereas cavity-nesters are more common in the New World. Mud-nesting species in particular are limited in areas of high humidity, which causes the mud nests to crumble. Many cave-, bank-, and cliff-dwelling species of swallows nest in large colonies. Mud nests are constructed by both males and females, and amongst the tunnel diggers, the excavation duties are shared, as well. In historical times,

6731-597: The Pseudochelidoninae, which are composed of the two species of river martins, and the Hirundininae, into which the remaining species are placed. The division of the Hirundininae has been the source of much discussion, with various taxonomists variously splitting them into as many as 24 genera and lumping them into just 12. Some agreement exists that three core groups occur within the Hirundininae:

6858-545: The US Navy although higher claims have sometimes been made. The aircraft had reliability problems because of strategic materials shortages and design compromises with its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines. Late-war Allied attacks on fuel supplies also reduced the aircraft's readiness for combat and training sorties. Armament production within Germany was focused on more easily manufactured aircraft. Ultimately,

6985-472: The West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus Pseudochelidon ) and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork-tailed species; however, this distinction does not represent

7112-463: The World War II era shared, was the high risk of compressor stall and if throttle movements were too rapid, the engine(s) could suffer a flameout. The coarse opening of the throttle would cause fuel surging and lead to excessive jet pipe temperatures. Pilots were instructed to operate the throttle gently and avoid quick changes. German engineers introduced an automatic throttle regulator later in

7239-470: The adaptations that the company was making to the F-104 Starfighter that it was building under licence turned out to be tragically correct. In 1961 he ruptured his Achilles tendon while testing his ski's cable bindings in his hotel room at Saas-Fee . He decided to attack the binding problem, developing the first bindings that gripped the toe of the boot, rather than the flange projecting from

7366-626: The adult male probably being the most common distinction. The chicks hatch naked and with closed eyes. Fledged juveniles usually appear as duller versions of the adult. The family has a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution , breeding on every continent except Antarctica. One species, the Pacific swallow , occurs as a breeding bird on a number of oceanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Mascarene martin breeds on Reunion and Mauritius in

7493-400: The body condition of the bird and are presumably used by females to judge the physical condition and suitability for mating of males. Begging calls are used by the young when soliciting food from their parents. The typical song of swallows is a simple, sometimes musical twittering. Species of hirundine that are threatened with extinction are generally endangered due to habitat loss . This

7620-482: The change in the centre of gravity and to position the centre of lift properly relative to the centre of mass. (The original 35° sweep, proposed by Adolf Busemann , was not adopted.) Initially the inboard leading edge retained the straight profile as did the trailing edge of the midsection of the wing. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and wind tunnel results, the inboard section's leading edge (between

7747-433: The chicks. When the young fledge is difficult to determine, as they are enticed out of the nest after three weeks by parents, but frequently return to the nest afterwards to roost. Swallows are able to produce many different calls or songs, which are used to express excitement, to communicate with others of the same species, during courtship, or as an alarm when a predator is in the area. The songs of males are related to

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7874-405: The cockpit; and a 200-litre (44-imperial-gallon; 53-US-gallon) ventral fuselage tank beneath, the Me 262 would have a total flight endurance of 60 to 90 minutes. Fuel was usually J2 ( derived from brown coal ), with the option of diesel or a mixture of oil and high octane B4 aviation petrol . Fuel consumption was double the rate of typical twin-engine fighter aircraft of the era, which led to

8001-400: The combustion chamber, were changed to mild steel (SAE 1010) and were protected only against oxidation by aluminum coating. The engine represented a design compromise to minimize the use of strategic materials and to simplify manufacture. With the lower-quality steels used in the 004B, the engine required overhaul after just 25 hours for a metallurgical test on the turbine. If it passed the test,

8128-577: The company's efforts to produce a pilotless aircraft, initially designated the Fi 103. This was a collaborative effort between the company and engine manufacturer Argus , who were developing a pulsejet . Lusser worked with Argus engineer Fritz Gosslau to refine the design. The project was an initiative of the two companies, begun by Argus as early as 1934, and received little official interest until Erhard Milch recognised its potential in 1942 and assigned it high priority. Nazi propaganda dubbed this flying bomb

8255-417: The contribution of male swallows towards parental care is the highest of any passerine bird. The eggs of swallows tend to be white, although those of some mud-nesters are speckled. The typical clutch size is around four to five eggs in temperate areas and two to three eggs in the tropics. The incubation duties are shared in some species, and in others the eggs are incubated solely by the females. Amongst

8382-553: The contribution that the reliability of each part makes to the reliability of an overall system. This is now known as Lusser's Law . Based on these calculations, he pronounced that von Braun's ambitions of reaching the Moon and Mars were doomed to failure because of the complexity of the spacecraft required. He returned to Germany, and to the Messerschmitt company, by then, Messerschmitt-Bölkow. His alarming reliability study of

8509-452: The conventional gear configuration. Changing to a tricycle arrangement—a permanently fixed undercarriage on the fifth prototype (V5, code PC+UE), with the definitive fully retractable nosewheel gear on the V6 (with Stammkennzeichen code VI+AA, from a new code block) and subsequent aircraft corrected this problem. Test flights continued over the next year, but engine problems continued to plague

8636-469: The diet varies by species and with the time of year. Individual species may be selective; they do not scoop up every insect around them, but instead select larger prey items than would be expected by random sampling. In addition, the ease of capture of different insect types affects their rate of predation by swallows. They also avoid certain prey types; in particular, stinging insects such as bees and wasps are generally avoided. In addition to insect prey,

8763-732: The drawing board, but which the RLM ( Reichsluftfahrtministerium - "Reich Aviation Ministry") passed over in favour of the Messerschmitt Me 262 . The He 219 was an advanced night-fighter design that was rejected by the RLM in August 1941 as being too complex to order into production because of its many innovations. Ernst Heinkel immediately dismissed Lusser and resubmitted a simplified design that eventually saw limited production. From Heinkel, Lusser went to Fieseler , and there became involved with

8890-544: The end of March 1941. The V3 third prototype airframe , with the code PC+UC, became a true jet when it flew on 18 July 1942 in Leipheim near Günzburg , Germany, piloted by test pilot Fritz Wendel . This was almost nine months ahead of the British Gloster Meteor 's first flight on 5 March 1943. Its retracting conventional tail wheel gear (similar to other contemporary piston-powered propeller aircraft),

9017-482: The end of the war. And on 8 May, at around 4:00 p.m. Oblt. Fritz Stehle of 2./JG 7, while flying a Me 262 on the Ore Mountains , attacked a formation of Soviet aircraft. He claimed a Yakovlev Yak-9 , but the aircraft shot down was probably a P-39 Airacobra . Soviet records show that they lost two Airacobras, one of them probably downed by Stehle, who would thus have scored the last Luftwaffe air victory of

9144-500: The engine nacelles—approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns, fired a salvo of rockets. One or two hits with these rockets could shoot down even the famously rugged Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , from the "metal-shattering" brisant effect of the fast-flying rocket's 520 g (18 oz) explosive warhead. The much bigger BR 21 large-calibre rockets, fired from their tubular launchers under

9271-487: The engine was refitted for a further 10 hours of usage, but 35 hours marked the absolute limit for the turbine wheel. Frank Whittle concludes in his final assessment over the two engines: "it was in the quality of high temperature materials that the difference between German and British engines was most marked" Operationally, carrying 2,000 litres (440 imperial gallons; 530 US gallons) of fuel in two 900-litre (200-imperial-gallon; 240-US-gallon) tanks, one each fore and aft of

9398-472: The engines, Messerschmitt moved the engines from the wing roots to underwing pods, allowing them to be changed more readily if needed. That turned out to be important, both for availability and maintenance. When it became apparent that the BMW 003 jets would be significantly heavier than anticipated, on 1 March 1940, it was decided that instead of moving the wing backward on its mount, the outer wing would be swept slightly rearwards to 18.5 degrees, to accommodate

9525-473: The female is away to reduce heat loss (this is different from incubation as that involves warming the eggs, not just stopping heat loss). Incubation stints last for 5–15 minutes and are followed by bursts of feeding activity. From laying, swallow eggs take 10–21 days to hatch, with 14–18 days being more typical. The chicks of swallows hatch naked, generally with only a few tufts of down. The eyes are closed and do not fully open for up to 10 days. The feathers take

9652-661: The fields to attack jets trying to land. The Luftwaffe countered by installing extensive " Flak alleys" of anti-aircraft guns along the approach lines to protect the Me 262s from the ground—and by providing top cover during the jets' takeoff and landing with the most advanced Luftwaffe single-engined fighters, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D and (just becoming available in 1945) Focke-Wulf Ta 152 H. Nevertheless, in March–April 1945, Allied fighter patrol patterns over Me 262 airfields resulted in numerous jet losses. Lt. Chuck Yeager of

9779-494: The first flight and the pilot had to land using the nose-mounted engine alone. The V1 through V4 prototype airframes all possessed what would become an uncharacteristic feature for most later jet aircraft designs, a fully retracting conventional gear setup with a retracting tailwheel—indeed, the very first prospective German "jet fighter" airframe design ever flown, the Heinkel He 280 , used a retractable tricycle landing gear from its beginnings and flew on jet power alone as early as

9906-511: The first kill by a 262, of a reconnaissance Mosquito, PR.IX LR433, of 540 squadron, over Munich, killing the pilot, Fl. Lt. Desmond Laurence Mattewman and navigator Flight Sergeant William Stopford. Major Walter Nowotny was assigned as commander after the death of Thierfelder in July 1944, and the unit redesignated Kommando Nowotny . Essentially a trials and development unit, it mounted the world's first jet fighter operations. Trials progressed at

10033-430: The forests north-east of Baruth . They succeeded in strafing 65 Soviet lorries, after which the Me 262s intercepted low flying Il-2 Sturmoviks searching for German tanks. The jet pilots claimed six Sturmoviks for the loss of three Messerschmitts. During operations between 28 April and 1 May Soviet fighters and ground fire downed at least ten more Me 262s from JG 7. However, JG 7 managed to keep its jets operational until

10160-458: The habit of some species to roost in some numbers in dovecotes, nests and other forms of shelter during harsh weather, and some species even entering torpor. There were several reports of suspected torpor in swallows from 1947, such as a 1970 report that white-backed swallows in Australia may conserve energy this way, but the first confirmed study that they or any passerine entered torpor was

10287-455: The head. The morphology of the eye in swallows is similar to that of a raptor. Like the unrelated swifts and nightjars , which hunt in a similar way, they have short bills, but strong jaws and a wide gape. Their body lengths range from about 10–24 cm (3.9–9.4 in) and their weight from about 10–60 g (0.35–2.12 oz). The smallest species by weight may be the Fanti sawwing , at

10414-448: The high-speed convergence allowing Me 262 pilots little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropriate amount of deflection . This problem faces any aircraft that approaches another from behind at much higher speed, as the slower aircraft in front can always pull a tighter turn, forcing the faster aircraft to overshoot. I passed one that looked as if it was hanging motionless in the air (I am too fast!). The one above me went into

10541-438: The installation of a low-fuel warning indicator in the cockpit that notified pilots when remaining fuel fell below 250 L (55 imp gal; 66 US gal). Unit cost for an Me 262 airframe, less engines, armament, and electronics, was 87,400  ℛ︁ℳ︁ . To build one airframe took around 6,400-man-hours. On 19 April 1944, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld just south of Augsburg , as

10668-652: The introduction of man-made stone structures such as barns and bridges, together with forest clearance, has led to an abundance of colony sites around the globe, significantly increasing the breeding ranges of some species. Birds living in large colonies typically have to contend with both ectoparasites and conspecific nest parasitism . In barn swallows, old mated males and young unmated males benefit from colonial behaviour, whereas females and mated young males likely benefit more from nesting by themselves. Pairs of mated swallows are monogamous, and pairs of nonmigratory species often stay near their breeding area all year, though

10795-516: The island of Jamaica , but was last seen there in 1989 and is now restricted to the island of Hispaniola . Swallows are tolerated by humans because of their beneficial role as insect eaters, and some species have readily adapted to nesting in and around human habitation. The barn swallow and house martin now rarely use natural sites. The purple martin is also actively encouraged by people to nest around humans and elaborate nest boxes are erected. Enough artificial nesting sites have been created that

10922-590: The jets. Aiming was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile, which proved more effective. A prominent Royal Navy test pilot, Captain Eric Brown , chief naval test pilot and commanding officer of the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight Royal Aircraft Establishment , who tested the Me 262 noted that: This

11049-460: The loss of three Me 262s. Although a 4:1 ratio was exactly what the Luftwaffe would have needed to make an impact on the war, the absolute scale of their success was minor, as it represented only 1% of the attacking force. In the last days of the conflict, Me 262s from JG 7 and other units were committed in ground assault missions, in an attempt to support German troops fighting Red Army forces. Just south of Berlin, halfway between Spremberg and

11176-400: The low-drag canopy with a 35° wing sweep and a V-tail (butterfly tail). The HG III had a conventional tail, but a 45° wing sweep and turbines embedded in the wing roots . Messerschmitt also conducted a series of flight tests with the series production Me 262. Dive tests determined that the Me 262 went out of control in a dive at Mach  0.86, and that higher Mach numbers would cause

11303-405: The metabolic rate of swallows in flight is 49–72% lower than equivalent passerines of the same size. Swallows have two foveae in each eye, giving them sharp lateral and frontal vision to help track prey. They also have relatively long eyes, with their length almost equaling their width. The long eyes allow for an increase in visual acuity without competing with the brain for space inside of

11430-422: The migratory instinct in young birds and persuaded the government of France to conduct initial testing, but further experimentation stalled. Subsequent attempts to train homing behaviour into swallows and other passerines had difficulty establishing a statistically significant success rate, although the birds have been known to trap themselves in a cage repeatedly to get to the bait. Robert Lusser Lusser

11557-522: The nacelle and wing root) was later swept to the same angle as the outer panels, from the "V6" sixth prototype onward throughout volume production. The shallow leading edge sweep of 18.5° may have inadvertently provided an advantage by slightly increasing the critical Mach number however, its Tactical (useable) Mach number remained a relatively modest at Mach 0.82 and both German and British test pilots found that it suffered severe controllability problems as it approached Mach 0.86. The jet engine program

11684-441: The nest site is defended most vigorously during the breeding season. Migratory species often return to the same breeding area each year, and may select the same nest site if they were previously successful in that location. First-year breeders generally select a nesting site close to where they were raised. The breeding of temperate species is seasonal, whereas that of subtropical or tropical species can either be continuous throughout

11811-435: The nose of the Me 262A (one either side of the nosewheel well) were only as fast as MK 108 rounds. Though this broadside-attack tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war and only small numbers of Me 262s were equipped with the rocket packs; most were Me 262A-1a models, of Jagdgeschwader 7 . This method of attacking bombers became the standard and mass deployment of Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles

11938-419: The original design was very different from the aircraft that eventually entered service. Specifically, it featured wing-root-mounted engines, rather than podded ones. The progression of the original design was delayed greatly by technical problems with the new jet engine. Originally designed with straight wings, problems arose when the long delayed engines proved heavier than originally promised. While waiting for

12065-471: The passerines, with molecular evidence placing them as a distinctive lineage within the Sylvioidea ( Old World warblers and relatives). Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the family Hirundinidae is sister to the cupwings in the family Pnoepygidae . The two families diverged in the early Miocene around 22 million years ago. Within the family, a clear division exists between the two subfamilies,

12192-411: The piston-powered, 1935-origin Bf 109 and the projected Me 209 . Major General Adolf Galland had supported Messerschmitt through the early development years, flying the Me 262 himself on 22 April 1943. By that time, the problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably. One particularly acute problem was the lack of an alloy with a melting point high enough to endure

12319-502: The project, the Jumo 004 being only marginally more reliable than the lower-thrust (7.83 kN/1,760 lbf) BMW 003. Early engines were so short-lived that they frequently needed replacement after only a single flight. Airframe modifications were complete by 1942 but, hampered by the lack of engines, serial production did not begin until 1944, and deliveries were low, with 28 Me 262s in June, 59 in July, but only 20 in August. By mid-1943,

12446-559: The purple martin now seldom nests in natural cavities in the eastern part of its range. Because of the long human experience with these conspicuous species, many myths and legends have arisen as a consequence, particularly relating to the barn swallow. Roman historian Pliny the Elder described a use of painted swallows to deliver a report of the winning horses at a race. There is also the Korean folktale of Heungbu and Nolbu , which teaches

12573-598: The ramp up of production began. From there on, the design worked. Like many important German engineers, Lusser was brought to the United States after the end of World War II . There, he worked for the Navy , the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , and in 1953, re-joined von Braun's rocketry team at Huntsville, Alabama . During his six years there, he formalised his theories of reliability, which focus on

12700-415: The river martins, the bill is orange-red and the legs and feet are pink. The most common hirundine plumage is glossy dark blue or green above and plain or streaked underparts, often white or rufous. Species that burrow or live in dry or mountainous areas are often matte brown above (e.g. sand martin and crag martin ). The sexes show limited or no sexual dimorphism , with longer outer tail feathers in

12827-429: The root to 1 mm (0.039 in) at the tip. To expedite construction, save weight, and use fewer strategic materials late in the war, the wing interiors were not painted. The wings were fastened to the fuselage at four points, using a pair of 20 mm (0.79 in) and forty-two 8 mm (0.31 in) bolts. During mid-1943, Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as a ground-attack / bomber aircraft rather than

12954-400: The saw-wings of the genus Psalidoprocne , the core martins, and the swallows of the genus Hirundo and their allies. The saw-wings are the most basal of the three, with the other two clades being sister to each other. The phylogeny of the swallows is closely related to evolution of nest construction; the more basal saw-wings use burrows as nest, the core martins have both burrowing (in

13081-496: The short barrels of the MK 108 cannon and low muzzle velocity - 540 m/s (1,800 ft/s) - rendered it inaccurate beyond 600 m (660 yd), coupled with the jet's velocity, which required breaking off at 200 m (220 yd) to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots normally commenced firing at 500 m (550 yd). Gunners of Allied bomber aircraft found their electrically powered gun turrets had problems tracking

13208-450: The size of prey chosen. The more primitive species nest in existing cavities, for example in an old woodpecker nest, while other species excavate burrows in soft substrate such as sand banks. Swallows in the genera Hirundo , Ptyonoprogne , Cecropis , Petrochelidon , Atronanus and Delichon build mud nests close to overhead shelter in locations that are protected from both the weather and predators. The mud-nesters are most common in

13335-600: The species of swallow; in colonial-nesting species, it tends to be small, but it may be much larger for solitary nesters. Outside the breeding season, some species may form large flocks, and species may also roost communally. This is thought to provide protection from predators, such as sparrowhawks and hobbies . These roosts can be enormous; one winter-roosting site of barn swallows in Nigeria attracted 1.5 million individuals. Nonsocial species do not form flocks, but recently fledged chicks may remain with their parents for

13462-539: The species where the males help with incubation, their contribution varies amongst species, with some species such as the cliff swallow sharing the duties equally and the female doing most of the work in others. Amongst the barn swallows, the male of the American subspecies helps (to a small extent), whereas the European subspecies does not. Even in species where the male does not incubate the eggs, he may sit on them when

13589-533: The start of the war. The project had originated with a request by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM, Ministry of Aviation) for a jet aircraft capable of one hour's endurance and a speed of at least 850 km/h (530 mph; 460 kn). Woldemar Voigt headed the design team, with Messerschmitt's chief of development, Robert Lusser , overseeing. During April 1939, initial plans were drawn up and, following their submission in June 1939,

13716-419: The temperatures involved, a problem that had not been adequately resolved by the end of the war. After a November 1941 flight (with BMW 003s) ended in a double flameout , the aircraft made its first successful flight entirely on jet power on 18 July 1942, propelled by a pair of Jumo 004 engines. Ludwig Bölkow was the principal aerodynamicist assigned to work on the design of the Me 262. He initially designed

13843-533: The unarmed Mosquito, though Wall evaded Schreiber's three attack runs, to land safely at Fermo, Italy, after the first air-to-air use of a jet fighter. Sources state the Mosquito had a hatch fall out, during the evasive manoeuvres, though the aircraft returned to RAF Benson on 27 July 1944, and remained in service till it was lost in a landing in October 1950. On 8 August 1944, Lt. Joachim Weber of EKdo 262 claimed

13970-418: The war but it only partly alleviated the problem. The aircraft had, by contemporary standards, a high wing loading (294.0 kg/m, 60.2 lbs/ft) that required higher takeoff and landing speeds. Due to poor throttle response, the engines' tendency for airflow disruption that could cause the compressor to stall was ubiquitous. The high speed of the Me 262 also presented problems when engaging enemy aircraft,

14097-718: The war. Several two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a, had been adapted through the Umrüst-Bausatz 1 factory refit package as night fighters , complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar, using Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae with a set of dipole elements shorter than the Lichtenstein SN-2 had used, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10. Staffel Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 , near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of

14224-536: The wing using NACA airfoils modified with an elliptical nose section. Later in the design process, these were changed to AVL derivatives of NACA airfoils, the NACA 00011-0.825-35 being used at the root and the NACA 00009-1.1-40 at the tip. The elliptical nose derivatives of the NACA airfoils were used on the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces . Wings were of single-spar cantilever construction, with stressed skins , varying from 3 mm (0.12 in) skin thickness at

14351-456: The year or seasonal. Seasonal species in the subtropics or tropics usually time their breeding to coincide with the peaks in insect activity, which is usually the wet season, but some species, such as the white-bibbed swallow , nest in the dry season to avoid flooding in their riverbank nesting habitat. All swallows defend their nests from egg predators, although solitary species are more aggressive towards predators than colonial species. Overall,

14478-490: Was a Blitzkrieg aircraft. You whack in at your bomber. It was never meant to be a dogfighter , it was meant to be a destroyer of bombers ... The great problem with it was it did not have dive brakes . For example, if you want to fight and destroy a B-17, you come in on a dive. The 30mm cannon were not so accurate beyond 600 metres [660 yd; 2,000 ft]. So you normally came in at 600 yards [550 m; 1,800 ft] and would open fire on your B-17. And your closing speed

14605-416: Was a great potential advantage in a dogfight as it meant better energy retention in manoeuvres. Too fast to catch for the escorting Allied fighters, the Me 262s were almost impossible to head off. As a result, Me 262 pilots were relatively safe from the Allied fighters, as long as they did not allow themselves to get drawn into low-speed turning contests and saved their maneuvering for higher speeds. Combating

14732-425: Was able to draw into the unit many of the most experienced and decorated Luftwaffe fighter pilots from other units grounded by lack of fuel. During March, Me 262 fighter units were able, for the first time, to mount large-scale attacks on Allied bomber formations. On 18 March 1945, thirty-seven Me 262s of JG 7 intercepted a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters. They shot down 12 bombers and one fighter for

14859-413: Was attacked by other Mustangs, forced to bail out, and died. The Kommando was then withdrawn for further flight training and a revision of combat tactics to optimise the Me 262's strengths. On 26 November 1944, a Me 262A-2a Sturmvogel of III. Gruppe / KG 51 'Edelweiß' based at Rheine-Hopsten Air Base near Osnabrück was the first confirmed ground-to-air kill of a jet combat aircraft. The Me 262

14986-696: Was born in Ulm . As a pilot, he won the International Light Aircraft Contest in France in 1928. Next he participated in three out of four FAI International Tourist Plane Contests, flying Klemm aircraft, and completed all three taking quite high places ( Challenge 1929 : 4th, Challenge 1930 : 13th, and Challenge 1932 : 10th). In August 1930 he was 3rd in the handicapped race Giro Aereo d'Italia in Italy. Lusser's first jobs were with

15113-465: Was cancelled. Some nicknamed this tactic the Luftwaffe's Wolf Pack , as the fighters often made runs in groups of two or three, fired their rockets, then returned to base. On 1 September 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz expressed the fear that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied bombing offensive by daylight. The Me 262

15240-404: Was difficult to counter because its high speed and rate of climb made it hard to intercept. However, as with other turbojet engines at the time, the Me 262's engines did not provide sufficient thrust at low airspeeds and throttle response was slow, so that in certain circumstances such as takeoff and landing the aircraft became a vulnerable target. Another disadvantage that pioneering jet aircraft of

15367-476: Was exasperating. I would never be able to shoot one down like this. They were like a sack of fleas. A prick of doubt: is this really such a good fighter? Could one in fact, successfully attack a group of erratically banking fighters with the Me 262? Luftwaffe pilots eventually learned how to handle the Me 262's higher speed and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter, with pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down seventeen enemy fighters in

15494-447: Was head of Messerschmitt's design bureau and in charge of the Bf 110 heavy fighter project. In 1938 the company was renamed Messerschmitt . Lusser stayed with the company until 1938, when he returned to Heinkel . There, he led the design of two highly sophisticated aircraft that never reached their full potential - the He 280 and the He 219 . The He 280 was the first jet fighter to leave

15621-471: Was shot down by a Bofors gun of B.11 Detachment of 2875 Squadron RAF Regiment at the RAF forward airfield of Helmond, near Eindhoven . Others were lost to ground fire on 17 and 18 December when the same airfield was attacked at intervals by a total of 18 Me 262s and the guns of 2873 and 2875 Squadrons RAF Regiment damaged several, causing at least two to crash within a few miles of the airfield. In February 1945,

15748-593: Was still high and since you had to break away at 200 metres [220 yd; 660 ft] to avoid a collision, you only had two seconds firing time. Now, in two seconds, you can't sight. You can fire randomly and hope for the best. If you want to sight and fire, you need to double that time to four seconds. And with dive brakes, you could have done that. Eventually, German pilots developed new tactics to counter Allied bombers. Me 262s, equipped with up to 24 unguided folding-fin R4M rockets —12 in each of two underwing racks, outboard of

15875-422: Was the construction of a "flak lane" of over 150 emplacements of the 20 mm Flakvierling quadruple autocannon batteries at Rheine-Hopsten to protect the approaches. After seven Tempests were lost to flak at Hopsten in a week, the "Rat Scramble" was discontinued. Adolf Busemann had proposed swept wings as early as 1935; Messerschmitt researched the topic from 1940. In April 1941, Busemann proposed fitting

16002-470: Was too high for accurate shooting with the relatively slow firing 30mm MK 108 cannon - at about 650 rounds/min this gave around 44 rounds per second from all four guns. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great to use the short-ranged cannon to maximum effect. A roller-coaster attack was devised, the Me 262s approached from astern and about 1,800 m higher (5,900 ft) than the bombers. From about five km (3.1 mi) behind, they went into

16129-460: Was waylaid by a lack of funding, which was primarily due to a prevailing attitude amongst high-ranking officials that the conflict could be won easily with conventional aircraft. Among these was Hermann Göring , head of the Luftwaffe, who cut the engine development program to just 35 engineers in February 1940 (the month before the first wooden mock-up was completed). The aeronautical engineer Willy Messerschmitt sought to maintain mass production of

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