¡El Cazador Imposible Messerschmitt Me 262 que Cambió el Cielo para Siempre!

Video from the channel Leyendas en el Cielo about Messerschmitt Me 262, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 30:58. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary narrated in Spanish that reviews the history of the Messerschmitt Me 262, from the earliest work on jet propulsion to its capture by the Allies at the end of the Second World War. It opens with a re-enactment of a German jet attack on a large bomber formation and then follows the aircraft's development, its combat debut and its legacy.

The video frames the project within the parallel race for jet engines between Hans von Ohain, who worked with Heinkel, and Frank Whittle in Britain. In early 1939 the Reich Air Ministry authorised Project 1065, entrusted to Messerschmitt with Waldemar Voigt and Robert Lusser, while Heinkel was advancing with its He 280. As the BMW and Jumo engines were delayed, the first prototype flew in April 1941 with a Jumo 210G piston engine. Later, already fitted with Jumo jet engines, Fritz Wendel flew it from Leipheim in July 1942. The documentary stresses Hitler's pressure to turn it into a fast bomber, which produced the Sturmvogel variant, and Adolf Galland's objections.

The standard armament was four 30 mm MK 108 cannon. For the attack version, 550 kg bombs, rockets and Ruhrstahl X-4 missiles were tested. In April 1944 Erprobungskommando 262 was formed, commanded by Werner Thierfelder. After the Normandy landings, the jets achieved over 20 kills in a few weeks and lost six aircraft. On 18 March 1945, 37 Me 262s went up to intercept a large formation and shot down 12 bombers and several fighters for only three losses. Its weak points were takeoff and landing, which P-51 Mustangs exploited by stalking the airfields, along with fuel shortages and a lack of experienced pilots. After the surrender, Operation Lusty brought examples to the United States. The narrator links the design to the Japanese Nakajima Kikka and to the F-86 Sabre.