The Me 262 Stormbird: From the Pilots Who Flew, Fought, and Survived It

While the R4M rockets that would prove so devastating to the Allied bomber formations later in the war (as these were not available until 1944) would have also been highly effective against shipping, the Germans did develop the airborne version of the highly effective Nebelwerfer in 1941, which was a 150mm (5.9-inch) artillery rocket launcher. These tubes could have been mounted under the wings of a jet. Had the German government given its complete support to the He 280 project, this aircraft could have gone into production in late 1941 or early 1942 and been delivered to the anti-maritime units of the Luftwaffe, placing it into active operations a full two years earlier than the Me 262. In a sense of heightened irony, Udet’s opposition on that April day changed the course of history.

Earlier during the war, when the British were minimally aware of German developments in technology, the future was still uncertain; there was still the serious competition for the jet contracts. Heinkel had also been developing a twin-engine fighter with their jet fighter. This design was designated the Heinkel He 280 V2, and the British were well aware of when the first prototype flew from Rostock on March 30, 1941, with test pilot Fritz Schäfer at the controls. The engine was a six-stage axial-flow BMW P 3302 and was actually Germany’s first jet aircraft—months ahead of the Me 262 in development and years ahead of the Arado Ar 234 bomber.

The report from Fritz Schäfer was promising, despite the engines being underpowered and unreliable, and the final report landed on the desk of Ernst Udet. The Heinkel He 280 proved to be a serious competitor to the Me 262 early on, and the comparisons between the two aircraft are quite revealing. (See Tables 4 through 7 for a comparison between the He 280, Ar 234, and Me 262 production specifications.)

TABLE 4: