Jet aircraft of the Second World War. German jet aircraft. Could they change the course of the war? Goliath and Engineering Machines

Messerschmitt Me.262 "Schwalbe" (from German swallow) - German jet fighter of the Second World War. It was used as a fighter (including night), bomber, reconnaissance aircraft. This aircraft was the world's first serial jet machine, which took part in the hostilities. In total, from 1944 to 1945, German industry managed to assemble and transfer to the troops 1433 Me.262 fighters, which thus also became the most massive jet aircraft of World War II.

Very often in combat there were such moments in which technical innovations at one particular moment almost completely nullified the entire combat value of aircraft of previous generations. One of the most striking examples confirming these words was the German Me.262 jet fighter. The technical advantage of the new aircraft over the Allied aviation was significant, but childhood illnesses (primarily shortcomings and unreliability of engines), as well as the difficult military and political situation in Germany at the end of the war, indecision and hesitation in the issues of new aircraft construction programs, led to that the plane appeared in the combat skies of Europe with a delay of at least 6 months and did not become the “miracle” that could return Germany to air supremacy.

Although the simplest explanation for these delays was the fact that the Junkers company simply could not bring its new turbojet engine to mass production until mid-1944. In any case, mass deliveries of the aircraft to combat units could not begin before September-October 1944. In addition, the rush to adopt the aircraft led to the fact that he was sent into battle even before the completion of the cycle of all tests. The start of the use of the machine was clearly premature and led to a large number of non-combat losses among aircraft and pilots of the Luftwaffe.

It is quite obvious that the possibility of accelerating the creation of such a radical aircraft as the Me.262 had its limits, even though the aircraft and its engines were given the highest priority, it was already too late for the successful implementation of the project. At the same time, comprehensive support for the creation of the machine even in the early stages of work also could not seriously affect the time of its development. The plane, which first took to the air in 1941 with a conventional piston engine, was simply too late for this war.

Despite this, one thing was certain: the Me.262 became the very first combat aircraft with a turbojet engine that took part in the hostilities, ahead of the British Meteor in this regard. Regardless of the results of combat use, the Me.262 will forever go down in history as an aircraft that opened a new page in the annals of air combat.

Design Description

The Me.262 aircraft was a cantilever all-metal monoplane, which had a low wing with two turbojet engines (TRD). The wing of the aircraft was single-spar and had slats located along the entire length. Flaps were installed between the aileron and the center section of the wing. The fighter had a vertical single tail tail and a retractable landing gear with a nose strut. The cockpit was closed with a transparent lantern that could be opened to the right. It also provided for the possibility of complete sealing of the cockpit and the possibility of installing an ejection seat.

The aircraft could withstand overloads of 7g with a maximum allowable flight weight of 5,600 kg. The maximum permissible speed in level flight was 900 km / h, while diving - 1000 km / h, with fully extended landing flaps - 300 km / h.

The fuselage of the fighter was all-metal and consisted of 3 sections, had a triangular section and had a large number of rounded edges. Its lining was smooth. The fuselage sections were represented by the nose, middle and tail with a power element for attaching the plumage. A set of weapons and ammunition was mounted in the forward fuselage. In the lower part there was a niche in which the front landing gear was retracted. The middle section housed the cockpit, which had a barrel-shaped shape, as well as the fuel tanks of the fighter. The recess under the pilot's seat served to attach the wing. The tail section of the fuselage formed a single structure together with the plumage.

The pilot's seat was unarmored and mounted on the rear wall of the cockpit, it could only be adjusted in height. Behind the pilot's seat was the battery. The cockpit canopy included 3 sections: the front (cabin visor) had armored glass and was fixed, the middle and rear sections could be dismantled. On the canopy of the cab on the left side was a small hinged window. The middle part of the lantern folded to the right and served to exit the cockpit. In front, ammunition, the pilot and the main instruments were covered with armor plates.

The aircraft landing gear was retractable, and when retracted, all parts of the landing gear were securely covered by closing shields. Cleaning and release of the chassis were carried out using hydraulics. All three wheels of the aircraft had a braking system. The braking of the nose wheel was carried out using the pump lever, which was located in the cockpit to the left of it, the braking of the main wheels was carried out using the brake pedal. Monitoring the state of the chassis could be carried out with the help of 6 visual signaling devices.

The fighter was equipped with two turbojet engines (TRD) Jumo 0004B, which were placed under the wing of the aircraft and attached to it at 3 points each. Engine control was single-lever and was carried out using only one lever for each engine. Removable fairing hoods provided technicians with fairly good access to the engines. On the left side of the engine nacelles there was a special recess-step, which made it easier for the technical staff and the pilot to climb onto the wing of the aircraft.

The main fuel tanks were located in front of and behind the cockpit (with a capacity of 900 liters each). An additional fuel tank with a capacity of 200 liters was located under the cockpit. The total fuel supply was 2000 liters. Aircraft tanks were protected. Fuel was supplied to the engines using a pair of electric pumps that were installed on each of the main tanks. The fuel supply control system was automatic and was triggered when there was less than 250 liters of fuel in each of the tanks.

The aircraft's main armament was four 30mm MK-108 automatic cannons. Due to the fact that the guns were installed in the bow next to each other, they provided a very dense and accurate fire. The guns were mounted in pairs one above the other. The lower pair had 100 rounds of ammunition per barrel, the lower pair had 80 rounds each. On one of the modifications of the fighter, a 50-mm BK-5 cannon was also installed. R-4M unguided rockets could be used to combat day bombers.

Disadvantages and combat use

During the fighting on all fighter modifications of the Messerschmitt Me.262, German pilots shot down 150 enemy aircraft, while losing about 100 of their vehicles. This bleak picture is primarily due to the low level of training of the bulk of the pilots, as well as the insufficient reliability of the Jumo-004 engines and their rather low survivability in combat conditions, interruptions in the supply of Luftwaffe fighter units against the backdrop of general chaos in the defeating Third Reich. The effectiveness of using the machine as a bomber was so low that their activities in this status were not even mentioned in the reports of hostilities.

Like any fundamentally new, innovative development, the Me.262 fighter was not without flaws, which in the case of this aircraft were mainly related to its engines. The following are listed as the most serious deficiencies identified:

A significant takeoff run (a concrete runway with a length of at least 1.5 km was required), which made it impossible to use the aircraft without the use of special boosters from field airfields;
- significant mileage during landing;
- very high requirements for the quality of the runway, which were associated with the suction of objects into low-lying air intakes, as well as insufficient engine thrust;
- very high vulnerability of the machine during takeoff and landing;
- pulling the fighter into a tailspin when exceeding the speed of Mach 0.8;
- unreliability of aircraft engines, failures of which led to a large number of non-combat losses, landing an aircraft with one engine running often led to the death of the aircraft;
- the engine was very vulnerable - during a sharp climb, it could catch fire;
- the engine had a very small motor resource - only 25 flight hours;
- high requirements for technical personnel, which was not acceptable for Germany in the conditions of hostilities at the final stage of the war.

In general, the main complaints about Me.262 relate primarily to engines. The fighter itself turned out to be quite successful, and if equipped with more reliable engines with greater thrust, it could show itself from a significantly better side. In its main characteristics, it surpassed most of the aircraft of its time. The speed of more than 800 km / h - 150-300 km / h exceeded the speed of the fastest Allied fighters and bombers. His rate of climb was also out of competition. In addition, the fighter could perform a vertical climb, which was not available to any of the Allied aircraft. In control, the aircraft was much lighter than the massive Messerschmitt 109, although it required serious training of fighter pilots.

The performance characteristics of the Messerschmitt Me.262 A1-1a

Dimensions: wingspan - 12.5 m, length - 10.6 m, height - 3.8 m.
Wing area - 21.8 square meters. m.
Aircraft weight, kg
- empty - 3 800
- normal takeoff - 6 400
- maximum takeoff - 7 140
Engine type - two Junkers Jumo 004B-1 turbojet engines with a thrust of 900 kgf each
Maximum speed at altitude - 855 km / h
Combat radius - 1040 km.

Practical ceiling - 11,000 m.
Crew - 1 person
Cannon armament: 4 × 30 mm MK-108 cannon, 12 R-4M unguided rockets can be installed

Sources used:
www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/me262a.html
www.pro-samolet.ru/samolety-germany-ww2/reaktiv/211-me-262?start=7
Materials of the free Internet encyclopedia "Wikipedia".

Warplanes are birds of prey in the sky. For more than a hundred years they have been shining in warriors and at air shows. Agree, it is difficult to take your eyes off modern multi-purpose devices stuffed with electronics and composite materials. But there's something special about World War II planes. It was an era of great victories and great aces who fought in the air, looking into each other's eyes. Engineers and aircraft designers from different countries came up with many legendary aircraft. Today we present to your attention a list of the ten most famous, recognizable, popular and best aircraft of the Second World War, according to the editors of the [email protected].

Supermarine Spitfire (Supermarine Spitfire)

The list of the best aircraft of the Second World War opens with the British fighter Supermarine Spitfire. He has a classic look, but a little awkward. Wings - shovels, a heavy nose, a lantern in the form of a bubble. However, it was the Spitfire that saved the Royal Air Force by stopping German bombers during the Battle of Britain. German fighter pilots, with great displeasure, found that British aircraft were in no way inferior to them, and even superior in maneuverability.
The Spitfire was developed and put into service just in time - just before the outbreak of World War II. True, an incident came out with the first battle. Due to a radar failure, the Spitfires were sent into battle with a phantom enemy and fired upon their own British fighters. But then, when the British tasted the advantages of the new aircraft, they did not use it as soon as they were used. And for interception, and for reconnaissance, and even as bombers. A total of 20,000 Spitfires were produced. For all the good things and, first of all, for saving the island during the Battle of Britain, this aircraft takes an honorable tenth place.

Heinkel He 111 is exactly the aircraft that the British fighters fought. This is the most recognizable German bomber. It cannot be confused with any other aircraft due to the characteristic shape of the wide wings. It was the wings that gave the Heinkel He 111 the nickname "flying shovel".
This bomber was created long before the war under the guise passenger aircraft. He showed himself very well back in the 30s, but by the beginning of World War II he began to become obsolete, both in speed and in maneuverability. For a while, he held out because of the ability to withstand heavy damage, but when the Allies conquered the sky, the Heinkel He 111 was “degraded” to an ordinary transport. This aircraft embodies the very definition of a Luftwaffe bomber, for which it receives the ninth place in our rating.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation did what it wanted in the sky of the USSR. Only in 1942 did a Soviet fighter appear that could fight on an equal footing with the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. It was "La-5" developed in the design bureau Lavochkin. It was created in great haste. The plane is so simple that the cockpit does not even have the most basic instruments like the artificial horizon. But the La-5 pilots immediately liked it. In the very first test flights, 16 enemy aircraft were shot down on it.
"La-5" bore the brunt of the battles in the sky over Stalingrad and the Kursk salient. Ace Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, it was on him that the famous Alexei Maresyev flew with prostheses. The only problem of La-5 that prevented it from climbing higher in our rating is its appearance. He is completely faceless and expressionless. When the Germans first saw this fighter, they immediately gave it the nickname "new rat". And that's all, because it strongly resembled the legendary I-16 aircraft, nicknamed the "rat".

North American P-51 Mustang (North American P-51 Mustang)

The Americans in World War II participated in many types of fighters, but the most famous among them was, of course, the P-51 Mustang. The history of its creation is unusual. The British already at the height of the war in 1940 ordered aircraft from the Americans. The order was fulfilled and in 1942 the first Mustangs among the British Royal Air Force entered into battle. And then it turned out that the planes are so good that they will be useful to the Americans themselves.
The most notable feature of the R-51 Mustang is its huge fuel tanks. This made them ideal fighters for bomber escort, which they did successfully in Europe and the Pacific. They were also used for reconnaissance and assault. They even bombed a little. Especially got from the "Mustangs" to the Japanese.

The most famous US bomber of those years is, of course, the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress". The four-engine, heavy, machine-gunned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber spawned many heroic and fanatical stories. On the one hand, the pilots loved him for his ease of control and survivability, on the other hand, the losses among these bombers were indecently high. In one of the sorties, out of 300 Flying Fortresses, 77 did not return. Why? Here we can mention the complete and defenselessness of the crew from fire in front and an increased risk of fire. However, the main problem was the persuasion of the American generals. At the beginning of the war, they thought that if there were a lot of bombers and they were flying high, then they could do without any escort. Luftwaffe fighters disproved this misconception. The lessons they gave were harsh. The Americans and the British had to learn very quickly, change tactics, strategy and aircraft design. Strategic bombers contributed to the victory, but the cost was high. A third of the "Flying Fortresses" did not return to the airfields.

In fifth place in our ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the main hunter for German Yak-9 aircraft. If the La-5 was a workhorse that endured the brunt of the battles of the turning point of the war, then the Yak-9 is the aircraft of victory. It was created on the basis of previous models of Yak fighters, but instead of heavy wood, duralumin was used in the design. This made the aircraft lighter and left room for modifications. What they just didn’t do with the Yak-9. Front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance and even courier aircraft.
On the Yak-9, Soviet pilots fought on equal terms with the German aces, who were greatly frightened by its powerful guns. Suffice it to say that our pilots affectionately nicknamed the best modification of the Yak-9U the "Killer". The Yak-9 became a symbol of Soviet aviation and the most massive Soviet fighter during World War II. At factories, sometimes 20 aircraft were assembled per day, and in total, almost 15,000 of them were produced during the war.

Junkers Ju-87 (Junkers Ju 87)

Junkers Yu-87 "Stuka" - German dive bomber. Thanks to the ability to fall vertically on the target, the Junkers laid bombs with pinpoint precision. Supporting the fighter offensive, everything in the Stuka design is subordinated to one thing - to hit the target. Air brakes did not allow to accelerate during a dive, special mechanisms diverted the dropped bomb away from the propeller and automatically brought the aircraft out of the dive.
Junkers Yu-87 - the main aircraft of the Blitzkrieg. He shone at the very beginning of the war, when Germany was marching victoriously across Europe. True, it later turned out that the Junkers were very vulnerable to fighters, so their use gradually faded away. True, in Russia, thanks to the advantage of the Germans in the air, the Stukas still managed to make war. For their characteristic non-retractable landing gear, they were nicknamed "lappets". The German pilot ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel brought additional fame to the Stukas. But despite its worldwide fame, the Junkers Ju-87 was in fourth place in the list of the best aircraft of the Second World War.

In the honorable third place in the ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the Japanese carrier-based fighter Mitsubishi A6M Zero. This is the most famous aircraft of the Pacific War. The history of this aircraft is very revealing. At the beginning of the war, he was almost the most advanced aircraft - light, maneuverable, high-tech, with an incredible range. For the Americans, Zero was an extremely unpleasant surprise, it was head and shoulders above everything they had at that time.
However, the Japanese worldview played a cruel joke with Zero, no one thought about its protection in air combat - gas tanks burned easily, the pilots were not covered by armor, and no one thought about parachutes. When hit, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero flared up like matches, and the Japanese pilots had no chance to escape. The Americans eventually learned how to deal with Zero, they flew in pairs and attacked from above, avoiding the fight on turns. They released the new Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters. The Americans admitted their mistakes and adapted, but the proud Japanese did not. Obsolete by the end of the war, Zero became a kamikaze aircraft, a symbol of senseless resistance.

The famous Messerschmitt Bf.109 is the main fighter of World War II. It was he who reigned supreme in the Soviet sky until 1942. The exceptionally successful design allowed the Messerschmitt to impose its tactics on other aircraft. He gained excellent speed in a dive. The favorite technique of the German pilots was the "falcon strike", in which the fighter swoops down on the enemy and, after a quick attack, again goes to the height.
This aircraft also had its shortcomings. He was prevented from conquering the skies of England by a low flight range. It was also not easy to escort the Messerschmitt bombers. At low altitude, he lost his advantage in speed. By the end of the war, the Messers were hard hit by both Soviet fighters from the east and Allied bombers from the west. But the Messerschmitt Bf.109, nevertheless, entered the legends as the best fighter of the Luftwaffe. In total, almost 34,000 pieces were made. This is the second largest aircraft in history.

So, meet the winner in our ranking of the most legendary aircraft of World War II. Attack aircraft "IL-2" aka "Humpback", aka "flying tank", the Germans most often called him "black death". The IL-2 is a special aircraft, it was immediately conceived as a well-protected attack aircraft, so it was many times more difficult to shoot it down than other aircraft. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a flight and more than 600 hits were counted on it. After a quick repair, the "Humpbacks" again went into battle. Even if the plane was shot down, it often remained intact, the armored belly allowed it to land in an open field without any problems.
"IL-2" went through the whole war. In total, 36,000 attack aircraft were manufactured. This made the "Hunchback" the record holder, the most massive combat aircraft of all time. For its outstanding qualities, the original design and a huge role in World War II, the famous Il-2 rightfully takes first place in the ranking of the best aircraft of those years.

Once on the site, we held an Air Parade contest dedicated to the anniversary of the Victory, where readers were asked to guess the names of some of the most famous aircraft of World War II by their silhouettes. The competition has been completed, and now we are publishing photos of these combat vehicles. We offer to remember what the winners and the vanquished fought in the sky.

Edition PM

Germany

Messerschmitt Bf.109

In fact, a whole family of German combat vehicles, the total number of which (33,984 pieces) makes the 109th one of the most massive aircraft of World War II. It was used as a fighter, fighter-bomber, fighter-interceptor, reconnaissance aircraft. It was as a fighter that the Messer earned notoriety from Soviet pilots - at the initial stage of the war, Soviet fighters, such as the I-16 and LaGG, were clearly inferior in technical terms to the Bf.109 and suffered heavy losses. Only the appearance of more advanced aircraft, such as the Yak-9, allowed our pilots to fight with the "Messers" almost on an equal footing. The most massive modification of the machine was the Bf.109G ("Gustav").

Messerschmitt Bf.109

Messerschmitt Me.262

The aircraft was remembered not for its special role in the Second World War, but for the fact that it turned out to be the first-born jet aviation on the battlefield. Me.262 began to design even before the war, but Hitler's real interest in the project awakened only in 1943, when the Luftwaffe had already lost its combat power. The Me.262 had speeds (about 850 km/h), altitude and rate of climb that were unique for its time, and therefore had serious advantages over any fighter of that time. In reality, for 150 Allied aircraft shot down, 100 Me.262s were lost. The low effectiveness of combat use was due to the "dampness" of the design, little experience in the use of jet aircraft and insufficient training of pilots.

Messerschmitt Me.262

Heinkel-111

Heinkel-111

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

The Ju 87 dive bomber, which was produced in several modifications, became a kind of forerunner of modern precision weapons, since it threw bombs not from a great height, but from a steep dive, which made it possible to more accurately aim the ammunition. It was very effective in the fight against tanks. Due to the specifics of the application in conditions of high overloads, the car was equipped with automatic air brakes to exit the peak in the event of a loss of consciousness by the pilot. To enhance the psychological effect, the pilot, during the attack, turned on the "Jericho Trumpet" - a device that emitted a terrible howl. One of the most famous aces pilots who flew the Stuka was Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who left rather boastful memories of the war on the Eastern Front.

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

The tactical reconnaissance aircraft Fw 189 Uhu is interesting primarily for its unusual two-beam design, for which the Soviet soldiers nicknamed it "Rama". And it was on the Eastern Front that this reconnaissance spotter turned out to be the most useful to the Nazis. Our fighters knew well that after the "Rama" bombers would fly in and strike at reconnoitered targets. But to shoot down this slow-moving aircraft was not so easy because of its high maneuverability and excellent survivability. When approaching Soviet fighters, he could, for example, begin to describe circles of a small radius, into which high-speed cars simply could not fit.

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

Probably the most recognizable Luftwaffe bomber was developed in the early 1930s under the guise of a civilian transport aircraft (the creation of the German Air Force was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles). At the beginning of World War II, the Heinkel-111 was the most massive Luftwaffe bomber. He became one of the main characters in the Battle of England - it was the result of Hitler's attempt to break the will to resist the British through massive bombing raids on the cities of Foggy Albion (1940). Even then it became clear that this medium bomber was obsolete, it lacked speed, maneuverability and security. Nevertheless, the aircraft continued to be used and produced until 1944.

Allies

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The American "flying fortress" during the war constantly increased its security. In addition to excellent survivability (in the form, for example, of the ability to return to base with one engine out of four), the heavy bomber received thirteen 12.7-mm machine guns in the B-17G modification. A tactic was developed in which "flying fortresses" walked over enemy territory in a checkerboard pattern, protecting each other with crossfire. The aircraft was equipped with a high-tech Norden bombsight for that time, built on the basis of an analog computer. If the British bombed the Third Reich mainly at night, then the "flying fortresses" were not afraid to appear over Germany during daylight hours.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Avro 683 Lancaster

One of the main participants in the Allied bomber raids on Germany, a British heavy bomber of World War II. The Avro 683 Lancaster accounted for ¾ of the entire bomb load thrown by the British on the Third Reich. The carrying capacity allowed the four-engine aircraft to take on board "blockbusters" - super-heavy concrete-piercing bombs Tallboy and Grand Slam. Low security suggested the use of Lancasters as night bombers, but night bombing was not very accurate. During the day, these aircraft suffered significant losses. Lancasters actively participated in the most devastating bomb raids of World War II - on Hamburg (1943) and Dresden (1945).

Avro 683 Lancaster

North American P-51 Mustang

One of the most iconic fighters of the Second World War, which played an exceptional role in the events on the Western Front. No matter how the Allied heavy bombers defended themselves when raiding Germany, these large, low-maneuverable and relatively slow aircraft suffered heavy losses from German fighter aircraft. North American, commissioned by the British government, urgently created a fighter that could not only successfully fight the Messers and Fokkers, but also have sufficient range (due to external tanks) to accompany bomber raids on the continent. When the Mustangs began to be used in this capacity in 1944, it became clear that the Germans had finally lost the air war in the West.

North American P-51 Mustang

Supermarine Spitfire

The main and most massive fighter of the British Air Force during the war, one of the best fighters of the Second World War. Its high-altitude and speed characteristics made it an equal rival to the German Messerschmitt Bf.109, and the skill of the pilots played an important role in the head-to-head battle of these two machines. Spitfires proved to be excellent, covering the evacuation of the British from Dunkirk after the success of the Nazi blitzkrieg, and then during the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940), when British fighters had to fight like German bombers He-111, Do-17, Ju 87, as well as with Bf. 109 and Bf.110.

Supermarine Spitfire

Japan

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese carrier-based fighter A6M Raisen was the best in the world in its class, even though its name contained the Japanese word "Rei-sen", that is, "zero fighter". Thanks to the external tanks, the fighter had a high flight range (3105 km), which made it indispensable for participating in raids on the ocean theater. Among the aircraft involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor were 420 A6Ms. The Americans learned lessons from dealing with the nimble, quick-climbing Japanese, and by 1943 their fighter aircraft had surpassed their once dangerous enemy.

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

The most massive dive bomber of the USSR began to be produced even before the war, in 1940, and remained in service until the Victory. The low-wing aircraft with two engines and double fins was a very progressive machine for its time. In particular, it provided for a pressurized cabin and electric remote control (which, due to its novelty, became the source of many problems). In reality, the Pe-2 was not so often, unlike the Ju 87, used precisely as a dive bomber. Most often, he bombed areas from level flight or from a gentle, rather than deep dive.

Pe-2

The most massive combat aircraft in history (36,000 of these "silts" were produced in total) is considered a true legend of the battlefields. One of its features is a load-bearing armored hull, which replaced the frame and skin in most of the fuselage. The attack aircraft worked at heights of several hundred meters above the ground, becoming not the most difficult target for ground-based anti-aircraft weapons and an object of hunting by German fighters. The first versions of the Il-2 were built single-seat, without a side gunner, which led to rather high combat losses among aircraft of this type. And yet, the IL-2 played its role in all theaters where our army fought, becoming a powerful means of supporting ground forces in the fight against enemy armored vehicles.

IL-2

The Yak-3 was a development of the well-proven Yak-1M fighter. In the process of refinement, the wing was shortened and other design changes were made to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. This light wooden aircraft showed an impressive speed of 650 km / h and had excellent low-altitude flight characteristics. Tests of the Yak-3 started at the beginning of 1943, and already during the battle on the Kursk Bulge, he entered the battle, where, with the help of a 20-mm ShVAK cannon and two 12.7-mm Berezin machine guns, he successfully opposed the Messerschmites and Fokkers.

Yak-3

One of the best Soviet La-7 fighters, which entered service a year before the end of the war, was a development of the LaGG-3 that met the war. All the advantages of the "ancestor" were reduced to two factors - high survivability and the maximum use of wood in the construction instead of scarce metal. However, the weak engine and heavy weight turned the LaGG-3 into an unimportant opponent of the all-metal Messerschmitt Bf.109. From LaGG-3 to OKB-21 Lavochkin they made La-5, installing a new ASh-82 engine and finalizing the aerodynamics. The modified La-5FN with a boosted engine was already an excellent combat vehicle, surpassing the Bf.109 in a number of parameters. In La-7, the weight was again reduced, and the armament was also strengthened. The plane has become very good, even remaining wooden.

La-7

U-2, or Po-2, created in 1928, by the beginning of the war was certainly a model of obsolete equipment and was not designed at all as a combat aircraft (a combat training version appeared only in 1932). However, in order to win, this classic biplane had to work as a night bomber. Its undoubted advantages are ease of operation, the ability to land outside airfields and take off from small areas, and low noise.

U-2

At low gas in the dark, the U-2 approached the enemy object, remaining unnoticed almost until the moment of bombing. Since the bombing was carried out from low altitudes, its accuracy was very high, and the "corn" inflicted serious damage on the enemy.

The article "Aerial parade of winners and losers" was published in the journal Popular Mechanics (

AT recent times interest in jet aircraft of the Third Reich is especially great. After all, it can be considered the progenitor of modern aircraft.

The Soviet pilots, as well as the pilots of their allies, were very lucky that the leadership of Nazi Germany, hoping for a blitzkrieg, realized a little late the logical conclusion from the "battle for England" - the war dragged on, and the Luftwaffe needed aircraft with higher flight data to achieve in quality what number could not achieve. When this fact was finally realized, the German aircraft industry had already taken an impressive step in the field of research and development of fundamentally new aircraft, but these efforts were nullified by the lack of coordination of work and the hesitation of senior leadership and could no longer affect the outcome of the war.

This was most clearly manifested in the creation of turbojet fighters - a sad story marked by political struggle, petty envy and shying from side to side. Until his suicide, Colonel General Ernst Udet stubbornly held the view that jet fighters did not fit the requirements of the Luftwaffe. These views were shared by General - Field Marshall Erhard Milch, who raised the question of stopping work in general. As a result, although the first non-280 jet fighter successfully flew on April 2, 1941 and demonstrated its complete advantage over conventional fighters in a number of aspects, the complete apathy of senior officials and personal dislike for Ernst Heinkel of some officials of the Technical Department of the RLM nullified the success of creating the most advanced combat aircraft of the time. Real support for jet aircraft was provided only in 1944.

Ernst Heinkel showed his interest in a gas turbine suitable for installation on an aircraft back in the spring of 1936, when Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain, a former assistant professor at the University of Göttingen, started to create gas turbines of his own design. His first HeS-2A engine was successfully demonstrated in September 1937. His thrust was 80 kg. It was followed by the "HeS-2B" with a thrust of 130 kg and work began on the "HeS-3A". At the same time, a suitable aircraft was selected for its testing. "HeS-ZA" developed a thrust of 450 kg and was tested in the spring of 1939 in flight under the fuselage of the He-118 V2. The second engine "HeS-3B" developed a thrust of 500 kg. It was installed on an experienced Non-178 V1. The first flight of the car took place on August 24, 1939, and the flight in a circle took place on August 27 in Marien under the control of Erich Warzitz. This was the first flight of an aircraft with a turbojet engine.

When designing the Non-178, the designers "squeezed" the car as much as possible. Its length is 7.48 meters, the wingspan is 7.2 meters, its area is 9.1 square meters. meters, while the specific load on the wing was 219 kg / sq. meter. Empty weight - 1620 kg, takeoff - 1998 kg. During the test was achieved maximum speed at 700 km/h.

By this time, work was already underway on the turbojet "HeS-8A" with a centrifugal compressor, which had a smaller diameter and greater thrust, and the technical director of "Heinkel" Robert Lusser in the spring of 1939 conducted a study of a twin-engine, single-seat fighter for this engine. All work was then carried out on an initiative basis. The technical department was not even informed. The Non-178 V1 was demonstrated to Udet and Milch on November 1, 1939 at Marien, but both were very skeptical about the use of a turbojet engine as the main propulsion system of the aircraft.

Later, work on jet and rocket aircraft will be carried out on a larger scale. Each design bureau will present its developments to the experts. The results achieved by the Germans during this period, as will become clear after processing all the captured documents and samples, will allow us to conclude that Germany in the second half of the 1930s and early 1940s was the undoubted leader in this area.

But the leadership of the Third Reich was in no hurry to actively finance the jet project. Germany, which had the most combat-ready army in 1939, developed the theory of "Blitzkrieg", in which there was no place for jet aircraft.

Despite the lack of understanding in the Milch department, work progressed on both the fighter and the engine. In March 1940, Messerschmitt received a contract for 3 experimental aircraft under Project 1065, which was developed independently of Heinkel. In the end, the Ernst Heinkel Flygzeugwerke received official support for its fighter, called the Non-280.

By September 1940, the airframe of the first He-280 V1 (DL+AS) aircraft was ready. Work was underway on two more aircraft. In addition to the turbojet engines of Pabst von Ohain, the Non-280 had a number of non-standard, if not revolutionary ideas. The cockpit was equipped with an ejection seat using compressed air - the first development of its kind in the world.

The cabin itself had to be airtight. The fighter had a retractable nose wheel, which allowed the aircraft to steer horizontally on the ground, thus avoiding the problems encountered on the first Me-262s, which had their engines pointing straight into the ground. The design was all-metal with a working skin, with an oval-section monocoque fuselage and two-keel plumage. The engines were attached under the main wing spar, just behind the landing gear hinge, which was hydraulically retracted to the line of symmetry. There were flaps on either side of the engine nacelle.

To evaluate the aerodynamic qualities of the Non-280 V1 before the first motor flight, fairings with ballast were installed instead of engine nacelles to simulate the weight of the engine and fuel. On September 11, 1940, the aircraft was lifted into the air in tow behind a Non-111H. Glider tests were conducted by a pilot from Rechlin Bader. In total, 41 glider flights were made until March 17, 1941, after which the He-280 V1 was returned to the hangar to install two HeS-8A turbojet engines with a thrust of 585 kg each.

Up to 1000 liters of fuel could be filled into the fuselage tank, but on the first flight on April 2, 1941, the tank was only half filled - enough for takeoff and one pass over the airfield at moderate speed. The non-280 V1 aircraft was lifted into the air by Fritz Schafer. Turning around over the mouth of Varnov, he made a circle at the airfield and went to land when the fuel was almost running out. During the first flight, the engines were without cowlings, as runs on the ground showed that fuel accumulated at the bottom of the engine nacelles, threatening a fire. The landing gear was not removed, and the flight altitude did not exceed 300 meters.

Three days later, on April 5, with the engines already hooded, the plane lifted Bader into the air - the Non-280 V1 was demonstrated in front of Udet, the head of the Luftwaffe engineering department Lucht and the head of the L.C.3 (propulsion department) Eissenlohr. They showed some interest in the aircraft, though not for long. Udet doubted the need for such an unusual fighter until the end of his tenure, and this opinion was shared by Milch, who replaced him.

With a gross weight of 4285 kg, the He-280 V1 reached a speed of 775 km / h at an altitude of 6000 meters, however, it was expected that the HeS-8A engines would produce up to 720 kg of thrust and speed up to 925 km / h - very optimistic estimates. The second experimental Non-280 V2 (GJ+CA) was ready in May 1941. In July finished He-280 V3 (GJ+CB). 6 more cars were ordered.

Meanwhile, serious difficulties were encountered in fine-tuning the HeS-8A engine, also known as the Heinkel-Hirt 001 (Heinkel acquired the former Hirta plant in Zuffenhausen on April 9, 1941). The engines mounted on the Non-280 V1 produced 600 kg of thrust, which made it possible to reach a speed of 800 km / h, but in one of the first flights of this aircraft, under the control of Fritz Schafer, one of the turbine blades came off. The engine shook, flames shot out of it. Schafer quite successfully landed the plane on the "belly", the damage was minor and the plane flew after repairs after 3 days.

In January 1942, the He-280 V1 was transferred to the test center in Rechlin, where the HeS-8A were replaced by 4 Argus As 014 impulse engines - they were tested under the Fi-103 program. With these engines, the Non-280 V1 could not even get off the ground.

Despite the problems with the HeS-8A, by the spring of 1942, Ernst Heinkel already believed that the He-280 was ready for service, at a time when its rival Me-262 had not yet even flown on jet propulsion. But the Ministry of Aviation ignored his proposal. To speed up the decision, Heinkel organized a training battle between the FW-190A, which took off from the Arado airfield near Warnemünden, and the Non-280. The jet fighter won the fight against his opponent without any problems.

After several major defeats, in 1942 Germany finally stepped up its jet program. As a result, the RLM agreed to release 13 pre-production He-280A-0s.

At the beginning of the summer of 1942, the tests of the He-280 aircraft were transferred from Mariene to Schwechat. By this time, the Technical Department agreed that the Jumo 004 turbojet engine had noticeable advantages over the Heinkel-Hirt 001, which never produced the planned thrust. As a result, in June 1942, the He-280 V2 was re-equipped with the "Jumo 004A" with a thrust of 840 kg.

The take-off weight of the car increased to 5200 kg, and the speed reached 785 km / h. Flight testing resumed in July. At the same time, armament of three 20-mm MG 151 cannons was first installed in the forward fuselage.

Meanwhile, the He-280 V4 (GJ+CC) and V5 (CJ+CD) were completed. The latter retained the Heinkel-Hirt 001 engines, while the former had the BMW 003A-0 with a thrust of 750 kg. The Non-280 V5 was proposed by Heinkel as a prototype for the serial Non-280A-1, which had an empty weight of 3060 kg, and a take-off weight of 4300 kg. It was stated that the maximum speed reached 815 km / h (however, this is doubtful), the flight range at this speed and an altitude of 6000 meters is 650 km, and at an altitude of 10,000 meters - 950 km, the rate of climb is 19 m / s, the ceiling is 11500 meters . Landing speed was 140 km/h.

Aircraft Non-280 V6 (NU+EA) from the very beginning received weapons and engines "Jumo 004". It was tested in Rechlin in early 1943. Heinkel proposed to the Technical Department a He-280V-1 fighter-bomber with two "Jumo 004B" 900 kg thrust. The maximum speed was estimated at 875 km / h. The armament of the Non-280A was planned to be doubled at once - by installing up to 6 x 20-mm MG 151 cannons, and the two-keel plumage was replaced with a single-keel one. The RLM and the Milch department, having concluded only 3 months ago that preparations for the mass production of the Me-262 were premature and that, given the Heinkel's heavy workload with other work, the production of the He-280 was not realistic, they suddenly made a "turn around", ordering 300 machines Non-280V-1. Since Heinkel did not have the necessary capacity, it was decided to transfer the contract to Siebel.

However, by that time tests of the Me-262 V2 showed that the Messerschmitt fighter had superior flight performance over the He-280 with the same propulsion system, especially in terms of flight range - the main drawback of the Heinkel fighter. As a result, on March 27, 1943, the Technical Department ordered Ernst Heinkel to stop all work on the Non-280. It was allowed to finish only 9 experimental aircraft ...

* * *

In 1944, training centers for training pilots for jet aircraft and the first combat units were formed. Jet aircraft took an active part in combat operations almost until the very end of the war.

The main goal for jet aircraft The Luftwaffe were Allied bombers that constantly hit cities and industrial sites in Germany. Aircraft of the Soviet Air Force encountered the latest developments of the Germans only at the very end of the war, when the front was already in Germany.

And the war was coming to an end, the "raw" and unfinished Luftwaffe jet planes could not withstand the perfect ones: La-7, Yak-9 and so on. And the training of German pilots left much to be desired ... The absence of permanent jet aircraft on the Eastern Front is explained by the fact that all jet aces were in the westerly direction and protected the German sky from constant bombing attacks by the allies.

Pilots of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment were the first to encounter jet aircraft on the Eastern Front.

This meeting took place on February 14, 1945. A. S. Kumanichkin, together with the regiment commander P. F. Chupikov, met in the air with an unusual aircraft. The guards tried to attack the enemy, but the German aircraft unexpectedly quickly broke away from their pursuers. After developing the film of the photo-machine gun, it became clear that the pilots of the 176th GIAP met with the latest Me-262 jet fighter. This was the first, but not the last meeting of the pilots of the 176th GIAP with the German jet technology.

The first jet at his own expense was recorded by the famous ace Hero Soviet Union Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub.

Kozhedub Ivan Nikitovich He was born on June 8, 1920 in the village of Obrazhievka, now in the Shostka district of the Sumy region, in a peasant family. He graduated from the chemical - technological college. Since 1940 in the Red Army. In 1941 he graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilot School. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since March 1943. The squadron commander of the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment (302nd Fighter Aviation Division, 5th Air Army, Steppe Front) Senior Lieutenant I.N. Kozhedub by October 1943 made 146 sorties, shot down 20 enemy aircraft. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded on February 4, 1944. By the middle of 1944, the deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (302nd Fighter Aviation Division, 16th Air Army, 1st Belorussian Front) of the Guard, Captain I.N. 48. On August 19, 1944, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal. By the end of the war, Major I.N. Kozhedub brought his account of sorties to 330 and downed aircraft 62. For high military skill, personal courage and courage on 18.8.1945 he was awarded the third Gold Star medal. In 1949 he graduated from the Air Force Academy, in 1956 - from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1971 in the Central Office of the Air Force, since 1978 - in the General Inspection Group of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Air Marshal. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd - 5th convocations. Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of DOSAAF. Awarded with the Orders of Lenin (twice), Order of the Red Banner (seven), Alexander Nevsky, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star (twice), "For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces" 3rd degree, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals . Honorary citizen of the cities of Balti, Chuguev, Kaluga, Kupyansk, Sumy and others. A bronze bust was erected in the village of Obrazhievka.

This event took place on February 19, 1945 in the sky over the Oder and, according to the description of I. Kozhedub himself, it happened like this:

“It was like this. We were conducting aerial hunting not far from the front line. I carefully monitor the air. From the south, from Frankfurt, at an altitude of 3500 meters, an airplane suddenly appears. It flies along the Oder at a speed limit for our Lavochkins. Yes, this is jet plane! I quickly turn around. I give the engine full throttle, chasing the enemy. The pilot, obviously, did not look back, relying on high speed. I "squeeze" maximum speed out of the car, try to reduce the distance and approach with a slight decrease under the "belly" of the enemy aircraft. I would like to examine it in detail; if I manage to open fire and shoot it down. I approach from the side of the tail at a distance of 500 meters. Successful maneuver, speed of action, speed allowed me to approach the jet aircraft. But what is it? Tracks are flying into it: clearly - my partner I mercilessly scold the "Old Man" to myself, I am sure that my plan of action is irreparably violated. But its routes unexpectedly - unexpectedly helped me: the German plane became a turn left, towards me. The distance shortened sharply, and I got close to the enemy. With involuntary excitement, I open fire. And the jet, falling apart, falls."

In this air battle, I.N. Kozhedub shot down a Me-262. German sources confirm the loss, even the aircraft number is WNr.900284.

Let's try to look at that meeting with the Luftwaffe jet fighter, which ended in one of the mysteries of the history of aviation.

Many, and often everyone, believe that I. N. Kozhedub shot down non-commissioned officer Kurt Lange from I. / KG (j) 54. But this is unlikely, since I / KG (j) 54 at that time (02/22/1945 - 03/28/1945) was based at the airfield in Giebelstat near Würzburg. And the battle of Ivan Nikitovich with a jet plane took place north of Frankfurt an der Oder. If one of the readers does not have the opportunity to look at the map of Germany, then I will allow myself to remind you that Würzburg is Bavaria, which means the southern part of Germany. Frankfurt an der Oder - northern. And the distance between them is quite decent. About 600 km (the practical range of the Me-262 is 1040 km). The question is why KG (j) 54 will send an aircraft across Germany to "hunt" when the more experienced (in terms of pilots) JV44 periodically operates there (the fact is that there was a so-called "training zone" of this unit near the Oder, there young pilots were trained)? But wait, JV44 was officially formed on February 24, 1945, and the jet fighter battle took place on February 19, 1945. Well, JV44 doesn't fit. Let's look at the next parts.

Maybe JG7. Let's consider this option. In February, this unit was engaged in repelling attacks by allied aircraft from the western direction, but there were frequent cases of JG7 flying near the Eastern Front. Fortunately, the location allowed: Brandenburg - Brist.

This means that the plane from JG7 most likely met with Ivan Nikitovich. It is known that the camouflage of this fighter consisted of random spots and with a number behind the cockpit: the number "9" in red. Recall the designations in the Luftwaffe. The red number indicates belonging to the 2nd squadron in each group. So Ivan Nikitich, most likely, shot down the Me-262 from the 2nd squadron JG7. But even skeptics have reason to doubt, for example: why Ivan Nikitich did not declare victory immediately upon landing at the airfield. Or, where is the FKP film that filmed the Me-262? Why is there not a word about a jet aircraft in the regiment's documents, at least in the monthly summary. And one more argument: in the typewritten list of victories, the victory over the Me-262 is inscribed in the margins with a pen, which raises doubts about the authenticity of this document.

Well, this issue is very complex and requires separate consideration. And I just tried to slightly - slightly open the veil of this mystery.

But other pilots also had meetings with the Me-262, someone shot down this "miracle weapon of retaliation", and someone died from his "hands".

Merkviladze Garry Alexandrovich. He was born on February 17, 1923 in the city of Batumi (Adjar ASSR). Graduated from 9 classes. Since 1941 in the Red Army. In the same year he graduated from the Tbilisi, and in 1942 - Armavir military aviation pilot school. From March 1943 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Deputy squadron commander of the 152nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (12th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) Guards Senior Lieutenant G. A. Merkviladze by May 1945 made 386 sorties, in 87 air battles he personally shot down 13 and in a group 2 enemy aircraft. The title of Hero of the Owls. Union was assigned on 27.6.1945. In 1952 he graduated from the Air Force Academy, in 1961 - from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1970, Major General of Aviation G. A. Merkviladze has been in reserve. Lived in the city of Tbilisi. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (three times), Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star (three times), and medals. He died on April 2, 1971.

The pilot of the 152nd GvIAP, Garry Aleksandrovich Merkviladze, also has a downed Me-262 on his account. The battle took place as follows: Harry Alexandrovich, while flying, noticed a new enemy aircraft, according to the description, suitable for the Me-262. The German pilot also spotted the Soviet fighter and prepared to attack. Merkviladze realized that without cunning this plane "from heaven to earth" could not be lowered.

The enemy fighter went into the tail of the Merkviladze fighter and prepared to shoot, the Soviet pilot took advantage of the maneuverability of his fighter, and when the Me-262 rushed at high speed to the tail of Harry Alexandrovich's plane, he applied the same trick, making a sharp jerk to the side.

Merkviladze changed the flight path of his plane, and the enemy fighter rushed past at breakneck speed and went ahead. The Soviet pilot had only to catch the enemy's fighter in the sight and fire a line of machine-gun and cannon fire at the enemy, which Garry Aleksandrovich did, chalking up the "miracle of German engineering".

German twin-engine jet aircraft Messerschmitt Me-262.

On February 27, 1945, a conference was held in the 16th Air Army on the topic: "The struggle of piston fighters of the Red Army Air Force against the new enemy jet technology." The conference was attended by pilots who had already met in the sky with the Me-262, everyone shared their impressions of the new creation of the Luftwaffe. By the way, Ivan Nikitich Kozhedub also spoke there, but he didn’t say anything about the downed Me-262, he only described how it was possible to shoot it down.

The conference was opened by the commander of the 16th Air Army, General - Commander of Aviation S.I. Rudenko with the following words:

"We have gathered to talk about some of the features of the fight against high-speed German aircraft, including the Messerschmitt-262, which have jet engines. Some of the comrades present here have already met with such aircraft in the air. I would like these pilots shared their impressions of air battles, told how the new enemy planes look in flight, what tactics are needed to better hit and shoot them down. This is required in the interests of the final victory over Nazi Germany."

Novikov Alexey Ivanovich. Born on November 7, 1916 in Moscow in a working class family. He graduated from the 7 classes, the FZU school, the flying club, and in 1936 - the Ulyanovsk school of pilots - instructors. Since 1939 he was in the Red Army, in the same year he graduated from the Borisoglebsk military aviation school for pilots. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from the first day. By August 1942, the squadron commander of the 17th Fighter Aviation Regiment (205th Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, Voronezh Front) Captain A.I. Novikov made 242 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft in 34 air battles. On February 4, 1943 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, during the war he made about 500 sorties, shot down 22 enemy aircraft personally and 5 in a group. After the war he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1960 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1970, Major General of Aviation A.I. Novikov has been retired. Lived and worked in Moscow. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (three times), the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (twice), the Red Star (four times), and medals. He died on October 23, 1986.

The first to speak was the assistant commander of the 3rd Fighter Air Corps, Lieutenant Colonel AI Novikov. He spoke about the encounter with the jet plane:

“The aircraft had a long, thin tail and an elongated nose with a low suspension of two gondola mounts under the wings. The meeting took place on intersecting courses. The enemy quickly slipped past me and disappeared from view. In the process of searching, I met him again and went to approach. German pilot, probably noticed me and broke away again, left.. For the third time he met the enemy on the same course as for the first time.

Turning around, I picked up a speed of 570 km per hour and went to approach. However, the jet aircraft again left me. General E. Ya. Savitsky tried to attack him. But this attempt remained equally unsuccessful: the speed of the German car reached 800 km per hour. Traces of the work of his jet engines were not visible because of the heavy haze."

Summing up his speech, Alexei Ivanovich gave some advice on the technique of dealing with new aircraft. First, to attack only using the method of surprise, it is better from the direction of the sun. Secondly, when conducting a battle, it is necessary to use the maneuver of your aircraft, no matter what to allow targeted firing by the enemy. During the attack of the enemy, it is necessary to make a turn, and when the attacker slips forward, only then open cannon fire.

Alexei Ivanovich also noted the rather poor maneuverability of this aircraft due to its very high speed. Oddly enough, but one of the weak features of this fighter was precisely its speed. According to Novikov, the sight that was on Soviet aircraft was suitable for firing at new enemy aircraft only from short distances. It was pointless to fire at long distances. But still, it makes no sense to remake the sight specifically for the new enemy aircraft. The volume of confrontation between the Me-262 and the Soviet Air Force was so small and ineffective that the jet "Messer" could no longer influence the course of the war.

Makarov Valentin Nikolaevich Born on August 30, 1919 in Sevastopol in a working class family. He graduated from 7 classes and Simferopol flying club. Since 1937 in the Red Army. In 1938 he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School. Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. Squadron commander of the 511th Fighter Aviation Regiment (220th Fighter Aviation Division, 16th Air Army, Don Front) Captain V.N. 7 enemy aircraft. On January 28, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, he completed 635 sorties, conducted 150 air battles, shot down 30 aircraft personally and 9 in a group. In 1947 he graduated from the Higher Officer Flight and Tactical Courses, in 1956 - from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1975, Major General of Aviation V. N. Makarov has been in reserve. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin (twice), the Red Banner (thrice), Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star (twice), "For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces" 3rd degree, and medals. He died on May 20, 1978.

“While covering the ground troops on the northern bridgehead of the Oder River, I also met an unfamiliar plane. At first I recognized it as the Rama, but when I turned around and went on the attack, I was convinced that it was not the Focke-Wulf. Gondolas were hung under the planes of the car installations. They probably contained jet engines, as white smoke streamed from the nacelles. The unknown aircraft quickly moved away from me, and I lost sight of it. "

Valentin Nikolaevich agreed with Novikov: in order to shoot down such an aircraft, it is necessary to use the surprise factor using the sun and clouds. According to Makarov, one of the weak features of the new car was the poor visibility of the pilot, and especially the lower hemisphere. The opinions of the speakers also agreed that there was no need to change the sight, but to fire only from small angles.

Also, Makarov made a proposal that it is necessary to send pairs or fours to destroy the Me-262, since they are easier to manage than large groups. And that the battle order, when escorted by attack aircraft and bombers, must be built in such a way as to prevent the enemy from suddenly attacking. Groups should be strengthened and pulled back.

Kobyletsky Ivan Ivanovich Born on August 10, 1916 in the city of Birzula (now Kotovsk, Odessa region) in a working class family. He graduated from 7 classes, school FZU. Worked as a driver's assistant. Since 1936 in the Red Army. In 1938 he graduated from the Orenburg Military Aviation Pilot School. Participated in the national liberation war of the Chinese people against the Japanese invaders. Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. Deputy squadron commander of the 43rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (220th Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, South-Eastern Front) Senior Lieutenant I. I. Kobyletsky in an air battle on August 16, 1942 over his airfield near Stalingrad on a Yak -1 rammed an enemy fighter. Made a landing at the airport. He fought on the Southwestern, Don, Central, Belorussian fronts. Deputy commander of the 53rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (1st Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 16th Air Army, 1st Belorussian Front) Major I. I. Kobyletsky by February 1945 made 451 sorties, in 94 air battles personally shot down 15 and as part of a group of 9 enemy aircraft. On May 15, 1946, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Since September 1948, Lieutenant Colonel I. I. Kobyletsky - retired due to illness. Lived in Kyiv. He worked as a locksmith - patternmaker, senior control foreman, engineer. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin (twice), the Order of the Red Banner (twice), Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star, and medals. Died July 25, 1986.

From the 53rd Guards IAP, Major Ivan Ivanovich Kobyletsky and Captain Gennady Sergeevich Dubenok took part in the conference.

I. I. Kobyletsky gave an interesting idea. He proposed to arrange something like an "ambush", or rather, to study the enemy's routes and organize an ambush, thereby the enemy would be taken by surprise and, taking the air combat initiative in their own hands, shoot down or force the enemy aircraft to land.

Captain G.S. Dubenok, on the contrary, developed the idea of ​​Lieutenant Colonel V.N. Makarov that in order to successfully fight the enemy, all the advantages of building a formation of attack aircraft and fighters must be used.

In addition, one or two pairs of fighters must follow in front of the main group and destroy enemy fighters, which will be carried at high speed through the formation of bombers or attack aircraft. Head-on attacks by inexperienced pilots are unsuccessful, because the duration of these attacks is so short that an inexperienced pilot will not be able to aim and hit the target.

Summing up the results of the last conference, the commander of the 16th Air Army, General - Colonel of Aviation S. I. Rudenko, recommended that the command of the units continue the process of training in the tactics of combating Luftwaffe jet aircraft. He also expressed the hope that battles with jet aircraft would be fought at short distances (from 20 to 600 meters).

At the end of his speech, the General urged everyone to keep the proud name - the falcons of the country of the Soviets.

The conference was over, the victorious spring of 1945 was on fire. But the resistance of Hitler's army continued, in the sky there were frequent clashes with enemy aircraft. New encounters with Luftwaffe jet technology were no exception.

Dubenok Gennady Sergeevich. Born on January 1, 1920 in the village of Kraskovo, Pustoshkinsky District, Tver Region. After graduating from the Chuguev Military Aviation School in 1939, he was sent to the position of a fighter pilot on the Southwestern Front. Member of the Battle of Stalingrad. He was an aviation commander, and then deputy squadron commander of the 512th Fighter Aviation Regiment, deputy squadron commander of the 55th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 16th Air Army. He fought on the Don, Central and 1st Belorussian fronts. He made 372 sorties in total. After more than 100 air battles, he shot down 12 enemy aircraft personally and 11 in a group. On August 24, 1943, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, he completed postgraduate studies at the Red Banner Air Force Academy. He served as a teacher and senior lecturer at the academy. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (twice), the Patriotic War 1st and 2nd degree, the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces" 3rd degree, the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" and many others.

So on March 22, 1945, in a battle with a pair of Me-262s, pilot Lev Ivanovich Sivko (photo provided by A.V. Stankov) shot down a "jet". I would like to dwell on this episode for a moment.

The battle took place in the evening at 18:20 near the town of Tsekhin. Four Yak-9s from the 812th IAP, covering the ground troops, were at an altitude of 2000 meters, and the flight speed was 550 km / h. At the head of this four was Captain V. I. Melnikov. Suddenly, Lieutenant L. I. Sivko, who was flying in a group on the left, saw how fire was bursting out from under his "Yak" towards the leader. The next moment, an unknown plane without propellers passed by them at high speed, with a climb.

When the enemy plane began to turn around, Lev Ivanovich damaged the right plane of the Me-262 wing, between the engine and the console, with a burst from 100 meters. The enemy fighter rolled over and crashed to the ground 5 km west of Tsekhin.

According to some sources, L. I. Sivko himself soon died:

"But L. Sivko's car was also damaged, the pilot could not leave it and died a hero's death. Now fighting friends in the skies of Berlin avenged the death of a brave Komsomol member."

On March 22, the US Air Force raided targets in Germany. On this day, the Germans announced 3 downed German fighters. Perhaps these were aircraft from JG7 from the Bradenbug-Brist airfield.

So, on this day, 3 aircraft of the Luftwaffe jet fleet were lost. The first aircraft from 11./JG7 was lost during a bomber attack (pilot August Lübking, WNr. 111541), the second between Cottbus and Bautzen near Alt-Döbern (pilot Heinz Eichner, WNr. 500462). And what about the third, you ask? I will answer that there is very little data on this loss, only the serial number Me-262 is known. WNr. 900192. And the fact that this plane was lost in the Tsekhin area on March 22, 1945. Coincidence? Hardly, considering that this is the territory where Soviet pilots "hunted". So Lev Sivko most likely shot down this particular Me-262. Another argument for the truth of this victory is the confirmation of the battle from the ground.

And where did the second Me-262 from a pair of attackers go? If he returned to the airfield, then why didn't he announce that his partner was shot down by a Soviet fighter? Although he may have notified, but this is already March 1945, less than 2 months before the end of the war. Perhaps the message from the pilot of the second fighter was simply lost in the confusion of German military documents. It's the end of the war...

German twin-engine jet aircraft Messerschmitt Me-262A.

Less than a month remained before the end of the war, but the resistance of the Luftwaffe pilots did not cease to weaken (we must pay tribute to the German pilots, they continued to resist the enemy, as they say until the last "drop of blood").

In the spring of 1945, Soviet pilots were lucky to shoot down a few more Me-262s. One of these lucky ones turned out to be Egorovich Vladimir Alekseevich. In April 1945, in the skies of Berlin, he shot down the Me-262 with his Yak-9T.

He was born on May 19, 1919 in the village of Sutiski, now a village in the Tyvrovsky district of the Vinnitsa region, in a peasant family. Studied at the construction college. Since 1939 in the Red Army. In 1940 he graduated from the Odessa Military Aviation School. From April 1943 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Squadron commander of the 402nd Fighter Aviation Regiment (265th Fighter Aviation Division, 3rd Fighter Aviation Corps, 16th Air Army, 1st Belorussian Front) Captain V. A. Egorovich made 248 sorties by February 1945, in 71 air battles he shot down 22 enemy aircraft. On May 15, 1946, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war he continued to serve in the Air Force. Since 1949, he was the head of the flight department of the DOSAAF flying club in the Zaporozhye region. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (thrice), Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, and medals. He died tragically on April 27, 1953.

Another "April lucky" Kuznetsov Ivan Alexandrovich.

The battle took place as follows: the Me-262 group wished to attack the Il-2 attack aircraft when cover fighters took off. "Messers" began to try to get out of the battle. And then the regiment commander gave the order: "Shoot down a jet plane!" I. A. Kuznetsov directed his "Yak" to intercept the jet and fired a long burst at the German aircraft. Messer's right engine smoked. But the jet "Messer" was still trying to get out of the battle, picking up speed. But 3 more fighters took off to help their commander. They simultaneously opened fire on the Me-262. The German pilot could not get away from such an attack, his plane tilted and crashed to the ground.

This victory was recorded on the personal account of Ivan Kuznetsov, although it was a group one. This event took place on April 30, 1945 near Berlin.

And here is how the pilot-attack aircraft describes this battle, Hero of the Soviet Union, the only full holder of the Orders of Glory of all 3 degrees (among pilots), Ivan Grigorievich Drachenko, who himself shot down 5 enemy aircraft in air battles (including 1 - by ramming) in his book "On the Wings of Courage":

He was born on 01/05/1917 in the village of Repnoye, now the Uvarovsky district of the Tambov region, in a peasant family. Graduated from 2 courses of agricultural technical school. In 1936 - 1938 and since 1942 in the Red Army. In 1938 he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School. He worked as a pilot-instructor of the Donetsk flying club. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since December 1942. Squadron commander of the 107th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (11th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) Senior Lieutenant I. A. Kuznetsov made 219 sorties by May 1945. In 59 air battles, he shot down 10 enemy aircraft, destroyed a lot of enemy manpower and military equipment with assault strikes. 06/27/1945 was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1953 he graduated from the Higher Officer Flight and Tactical Courses, served in the Air Defense Forces of the country, commanded a unit. Since 1972, Major General of Aviation I. A. Kuznetsov has been in reserve. Living in Astrakhan, he was the chairman of the regional committee of DOSAAF. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (four times), Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, the Red Star (twice), Soviet and foreign medals.

“It was much more difficult for us, attack aircraft, to fight the Me-262. Jet planes swept over our formation, watching for the Ilys on turns when approaching a target or when leaving an attack. They also attacked damaged aircraft going to land.

One pair got used to intercepting the Ilyushins in such a way that at least do not return from the mission alone. The corps commander ordered to stop these impudent attacks of hunters. We came up with a simple plan: they decided to use me and my partner as bait, to deceive the enemy with the appearance of easy prey.

One morning, at 8 o'clock, I raised my Il into the air. Ammunition is full, but without bombs. Three pairs of "Yakov" climbed up to 5000 meters. I began to walk over the airfield at speed. Suddenly, from the side of the front line, 2 silver dots began to grow. The leading Me-262 went on the attack. Maneuvering, I fired a cannon burst at him. Then our fighters arrived from above.

The "Messer" that attacked me quickly went up, and our guys still covered the second one. The fascist had no choice but to eject.

Drachenko Ivan Grigorievich Born on 11/15/1922 in the village of Velyka Sevastyanovka, now the Khristinovsky district of the Cherkasy region, in a peasant family. He graduated from high school and the Leningrad flying club. Since April 1942 in the Red Army. In 1943 he graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation Pilot School and was sent to the front. Senior pilot of the 140th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment (8th Guards Assault Aviation Division, 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) Guards Junior Lieutenant I. G. Drachenko by August 1944 made 100 sorties for reconnaissance, destruction of enemy manpower and equipment. Participated in 14 air battles. On August 14, 1944, while performing a combat mission, he was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. Managed to run. Upon recovery, he returned to the front. On October 26, 1944 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, Senior Lieutenant I. G. Drachenko retired. In 1953 he graduated from the law faculty of Kyiv University, worked as the director of the evening high school, Deputy Director of the Palace of Culture "Ukraine" in Kyiv. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star, Glory (all three degrees), medals. Author of books: "For the sake of life on earth", "On the wings of courage".

Why didn't his parachute open? When we arrived at the place where the Nesetsk pilot had fallen, we immediately noticed that the parachute was out of order. So, the pilot was doomed to death in advance ... "

But perhaps the most interesting clash occurred with Major A.V. Vorozheikin.

Arseny Vasilyevich is the only Soviet Air Force pilot who shot down a German Arado Ar-234 jet bomber. In addition, Vorozheykin is also a wonderful writer: from his pen came such wonderful works as: "Soldiers of the Sky", "Private Aviation", "Berlin Under Us". It is in his book "Soldiers of the Sky" that Arseniy Vasilyevich describes how he shot down a jet "Arada". I bring to the attention of the reader the same passage:

"Unusually, some kind of aircraft is sliding under us unusually quickly. My eyes are firmly clinging to it. Under the wings I see 4 twin engines. rockets.

The speed of this car is about 900 km/h. This is the latest German military equipment. Although we flew on the best "Yaks" - the Yak-3, they are piston-powered and are inferior to the new German jets at a speed of 200 kilometers. You cannot take this fascist with the old tricks. Experience told him how best to attack him.

Vorozheikin Arseny Vasilievich Born on October 28, 1912 in the village of Prokofievo, now the Gorodetsky district of the Gorky region, in a peasant family. Since 1931 in the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Kharkov Military Aviation Pilot School. Participated in the battles on the Khalkhin-Gol River in 1939. Spent 30 air battles, shot down 6 Japanese aircraft personally and 12 - in the group. During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 he was a military commissar of an aviation squadron. In 1942 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since 1942. To the squadron commander of the 728th Fighter Aviation Regiment (256th Fighter Aviation Division, 5th Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) for 78 sorties and participation in 32 air battles, in which he personally destroyed 19 enemy aircraft, 02/04/1944 was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The second medal "Gold Star" was awarded to Captain A.V. Vorozheikin on 19.8.1944 for 28 sorties, 14 air battles and 11 downed aircraft. Since 1944, he has been a senior instructor - a pilot in the combat training department of front-line aviation. After the war, he commanded an aviation regiment, division, was the first deputy commander of the air defense of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1952 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1957, Major General of Aviation A.V. Vorozheykin has been in reserve. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (four times), Suvorov 3rd degree, Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star (twice), foreign orders.

"Arada" rushes towards. I have an altitude of 6000 meters. When the reactive enemy is in front of me at an angle of 45 degrees, I will go straight down and intercept him there.

As always, "Yak" easily, like a toy, rolled over and went steeply to the ground, quickly picking up speed. The enemy was behind. Why doesn't he contrive and hit me with 4 cannons, and maybe even with rockets? He has only to raise his nose, and he, having great speed, will immediately overtake me. And I sharply twist the car into a dive to see how the Arada reacts to me.

The plane is still flying low and will soon overtake me. This is where I have to catch him. And I spin the car again. "Yak" obeys with difficulty, as if complaining: "Enough to test me" - and is eager to get out of the dive. I hold on tight as I keep losing height. The speedometer needle is already vibrating at the round and dangerous number - "700". And my "Yak", as if having renounced life, lost its agility and no longer rushes up into the sky, but with cold doom goes to the ground.

The car is not designed for such a high speed: it can fall apart. And if there is enough strength, it will not come out of a dive: it will suck.

With full muscle tension, I begin to withdraw. Listens hard, but listens. True, it darkens in the eyes from overload, but I know from experience that this will pass, one has only to ease the pressure on the handle. Just a little more effort. If only the "Yak" could stand it! Should! So I want. And I pull. Although in the eyes of the night, but I feel everything is in order.

"Yak" well done, survived! It clears up in my eyes, I see the horizon, the sky, the earth. There must be "Arad" here somewhere. Here she is! Near. Calculated well. And then something happened that I no longer feared. There was an explosion, a blow to the head. I choked on something thick and cold. His eyes darkened again. Consciousness clearly noted: this is the last attack. A shell burst in the cockpit... But why was it cold and not hot, and I don't feel any pain or scorching fire? Did the plane crumble?.. However, I again have the sky, the earth, the horizon and the "Arad" in front of me. My "Yak" is intact. And what about the explosion, the blow?.. That's it - the lantern was torn from the cockpit, and cold air whipped into the face. I take "Arada" at gunpoint!

Here's a failure. Already far away, I can not get. I'm shooting. Fabulous! Cords of tracers and bullets caught up with the enemy and dug into his body. Sparks, fire, thick smoke poured out of the Arada, and the plane disappeared into the burning Berlin ... "

It is very difficult to trace this loss from German sources. But in fact it is impossible, because it is not even known whether this plane was shot down, since its remains were not found. And there are no witnesses either. One can only guess what happened to that jet "Arada". Of course, the probability that the Ar-234 landed is practically zero, since landing in a city is not very convenient, especially on a bomber. But, if the wreckage of the aircraft was not found and there are no witnesses to the victory, then the victory will not be counted. They did the same with Arseny Vasilyevich. This victory was simply not counted.

Soviet pilots undoubtedly gained experience in dealing with enemy jet equipment (which came in handy a little later in the war with the United States in North Korea), but what about the Germans themselves? Do they have any mention of such incidents in the history of front-line jet aviation? Let's try to figure it out.

Of course, it is unlikely that it will be possible to find out who shot down the first Soviet fighter. We will try to consider all episodes of meetings with Soviet aircraft on the Eastern Front.

So let's start, and we'll start with such an eminent pilot as Johannes Steinhof.

In his memoirs "At the Last Hour", Oberst Steinhof describes encounters with Soviet pilots in the skies over the Oder in February 1945:

"We are flying eastward in the direction of the highway that led to Frankfurt an der Oder. Suddenly, a Russian fighter appeared in front of me, and I did not manage to coordinate the position of the Me-262 and fix the target in sight in a few seconds. Only a few meters separated me from the Russian fighter as I rushed past and went up.Looking back I saw the flashes of his weapons.He continuously pulled his fighter up.

There were many fighters maneuvering around me, it was a temptation to get one of their guns, but as soon as I flew up to them, they began to maneuver even more vigorously, which made it extremely difficult to attack. And I was forced to hide from their sight."

Me-262A jet fighter, spring 1945.

"Flying west at an altitude of 1000 meters, I crossed the Oder. Now I must climb again to be among the Russian fighters. When I put the Me-262 on the wing and moved the gas sector levers to turn around, I saw a group of Il- 2, there were 7 or 8 of them, despite the camouflage coloring, their silhouettes were clearly visible.They fired cannons and dropped bombs on the highway, the trucks going along this highway turned into the side of the road, and the soldiers scattered in different directions.I caught sight of one of the attack aircraft , pressed the button of the guns, the queue was short, and immediately pulled the control stick towards himself so as not to touch the tops of the trees.

A few hundred meters in front of the edge of the forest, he touched the snow with a screw, a huge snow cloud rose completely hiding the IL-2, when the snow was blown away by a gust of wind, I saw a distinct silhouette of an attack aircraft in the snow and at that moment a small black figure of the pilot got out of the plane , which first jumped on the wing, and then ran through the deep snow towards the forest.

30-mm cannon, which was on the Me-262.

This meeting took place on February 25, 1945. Steinhof took off from the airfield Brandenburg - Brist. In March, he also mentions meetings with pilots of the Red Army Air Force. Here is another quote from his memoirs:

“On one of the March days, I wanted to teach one of the newcomers to fly in pairs. After takeoff, we headed for the “training zone” near the Oder. We flew over the river and on the other side saw a group of Russian fighters. I want to attack, but the lead angle when firing let me down again, the fact is that the Me-262 jet has a different one than the Me-109. I flew unsuccessfully through the formation several times. Then something appeared in front of me that turned out to be a Russian fighter. Instinctively, I fired from four 30- mm cannons. Like lightning, the remnants of a Russian fighter flew around my cockpit. It literally crumbled in the air!

Looking back, I saw the rest of the Russian fighters go home at full throttle. I turn around, descend and see below me a lone fighter with red stars flying to the west. I catch him in the scope and shoot. His pilot twitched, tried to get away at low level, but crashed into the top of the hill."

As we can see from the above quotes, Steinhof claims two Russian planes shot down.

However, Steinhof was not alone in claiming downed Soviet fighters, there were other Luftwaffe pilots flying the Me-262, who also claimed victories won on the Eastern Front.

So, in the last days of April, Ober - Lieutenant Herbert Schluter shot down one Yak-9 near the city of Breslau, and Ober - Fenrich Günther Wittbold destroyed 2 Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft in the vicinity of Baerwalde. He later recalled:

“Everything happened very quickly and at low altitude. I was very surprised to meet Russians there. The gunner of the first Il did not even have time to open fire. "I saw him until the tracer bullets from his cannons flew past my ears. After receiving several hits, the Il-2 fell apart into many small parts."

During the last weeks of the war, JG7 pilots destroyed about 20 Soviet aircraft.

But the most interesting thing is that the last victory in the Second World War, which was won by the Luftwaffe pilots, was on a jet plane, and besides, a Soviet fighter was shot down. Presumably, this is a pilot from the 129th GvIAP G. G. Stepanov. This victory was won on May 8 at 15:20.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Luftwaffe jet aircraft did not bring the desired result to Hitler. Too late, he "gave the green light" to the mass production of aircraft with jet and rocket engines. Nothing could save Germany.

Pilots died not so much from the fact that they were shot down by enemy aircraft, but because they became victims of man-made disasters.

On the Eastern Front, jet planes did not bring any success, and their use there is comparable to the dying convulsions of a dying man. In this case, the role of the dying was the Third Reich and its war machine.

Nevertheless, experience, courage and loyalty to the Motherland did not even psychologically break the pilots of the Red Army Air Force in front of the "jet monster" of the Luftwaffe, the Russian pilots drove off this beast and put an end to the ambitions of the Luftwaffe.

* * *

The Me-262 aircraft was not the only serial Luftwaffe jet fighter that took part in the battles of the Second World War. And although another aircraft of the same company, we are talking about the missile Me-163 "Kometa", did not meet in air battles with Soviet pilots, it is worth telling a little about it.

This aircraft is known in the history of world aviation as "Messerschmitt-163". However, its creator was not Willy Messerschmitt, whose name he began to bear, but Alexander Lippish, a very talented scientist in the field of aviation. This machine was conceived and designed by Lippisch, but built at the Messerschmitt factories. The idea of ​​Lippisch, embodied in metal, began to bear the designation Me-163. There are countless children in the world who bear the names not of their parents, but of those who took care of them. The main thing in this case is the essence, not the name.

Everyone who flew on this jet miracle felt "heat in the chest and cold in the back." This plane in a short time could lift a person to a great height or throw him into the underworld. It was for this temper that he was loved. Here is what test pilot Mano Ziegler writes in his memoirs:

“Almost not a single flight day passed without the loss of one of us. But oddly enough, we all loved this rocket monster, like a windy woman who could deceive you and leave you at any moment, but nevertheless we remained faithful to him ".

The German fighter-interceptor Me-163, which entered service with the German Air Force in May 1944, was one of the most unusual, but at the same time the most promising fighters in the world. In the subsequent decades of aviation development, not a single serial aircraft was created that could be directly compared with this fighter.

The prototype aircraft had the designation DFS-194. Rather, it was a DFS-33 glider, developed by the German Research Institute of Gliding Technology, equipped with a rocket engine. At the same time, the design of the aircraft had to be thoroughly redone, after which it received the designation DFS-194. While it was being built in Darmstadt, Alexander Lippisch and several of his employees had to move to Augsburg to the firm of Willy Messerschmitt (since the institute was mainly a research institution, it was decided to start mass production of the aircraft on the basis of the Messerschmitt company, the leading developer and manufacturer of German fighters). The aircraft was assigned the corporate designation Me-163. Work on this aircraft began on January 2, 1939. A team of 6 people began to work on it. Heini Dittmar agreed to become a test pilot.

Meanwhile, the DFS-194 built in Darmstadt began to undergo towing tests. Then a rocket engine was installed on it, running on "T-fuel" (hydrogen peroxide) and "Z-fuel" (potassium permanganate). Test flights with such a power plant were carried out at the missile base in Peenemünde. Despite the great difficulties that accompanied the tests, encouraging results were obtained. On a DFS-194 rocket glider, Heini Dittmar reached a speed of 550 km/h.

Tests of the first experimental aircraft Me-163 V1 in a gliding flight began in the spring of 1941. Flight tests of the aircraft were initially carried out in tow. The twin-engine aircraft Me-110 was chosen as a towing vehicle. The first towing flights showed that the Me-163 had a too small glide angle. There was not enough landing strip on the first landing, and Dittmar was forced to slip between two hangars at the end of the airfield. Everyone who saw this landing had their hair on end. A number of improvements in the design of the aircraft followed, and again towing tests for planning.

Until that time, not a single aircraft that did not have a tail had flown at a speed above 350 km / h. At speeds greater than this, there was a dangerous flutter on the rudder. When they managed to cope with this, it turned out that at a speed exceeding 520 km / h, he appeared on the elevator. It took more than 15 towing flights until these problems were fixed. In general, in terms of aerodynamic properties, the Me-163 aircraft turned out to be unusually good and reliable. In a gentle flight, he easily reached a speed of about 900 km / h.

Once, Ernst Udet, who was in charge of new equipment at the Ministry of Aviation, came to test the aircraft. At this time, Dittmar, at an altitude of 5000 meters, was carrying out another program on the Me-163, which was raised there in tow. Lippisch, seeing Udet arriving, showed him his finger up.

What is it, Lippisch? asked Udet.

Our experienced Me-163...

At this moment, Dittmar sent the car down and at a great speed, about 800 km / h, having leveled it, flew over the airfield, and then went up with a candle.

What engine is in this car? asked Udet.

There is no engine on this plane yet,” Lippisch replied.

No engine? - asked Udet. - Do you take me for a fool, Lippisch?

During this test flight, Dittmar made several dive flights and climbed up.

This cannot be, - every time the plane was lifted up, Udet said, - You are lying to me, Lippisch!

When Dittmar landed, Udet approached the plane and began to carefully examine it. Finally, making sure that he was not being deceived, he said:

Indeed, there is no engine ...

The unpowered flight Udet saw made a strong impression on him. From that time on, he began to vigorously promote further work on it and did not lose sight of it until his death.

The rocket engine created by Walter for the Me-163 had a thrust of 750 kg. The first flights with such an engine were carried out at the missile base in Peenemünde. The car showed an unprecedented rate of climb. But, since the dropped take-off Iassi did not have shock-absorbing devices, the pilot was subjected to large vibration overloads during the launch. The same thing happened on landing. There was an urgent need to create a seat for the pilot, able to withstand such overloads. Test flights were temporarily suspended.

Despite the fact that a sufficiently reliable pilot's seat was not made, test flights were resumed. Already in the 4th flight, Dittmar managed to reach a speed of 800 km / h. But this is not yet the limit. Upon reaching a speed of 920 km / h on the plane as a result of flutter, the rudder flew off. Landing the plane was out of the question. Dittmar had to leave it and jump out by parachute.

On the next experimental aircraft Me-163 V4, Heini Dittmar made a record flight and reached a speed of over 1000 km / h. If flights were not carried out in the greatest secrecy, they could become a world achievement. Dittmar himself spoke about these flights as follows:

“Achieving record speeds was not easy. The engine turned off every time, I could barely reach a speed of about 500 km / h. When I managed to find out his whim, I decided to conduct high-speed flights at an altitude of 4000 meters. I monitored the speed indicator. The pressure gauge showed normal pressure. At this altitude, the engine did not let me down. In one of the flights over the measured distance, I began to increase the speed. The arrow began to creep up: 950 - 960 - 970 ... I looked at the pressure gauge, the engine is in order "I barely looked at the speed indicator, the needle was already over 1000 km / h. The plane began to vibrate strongly. I felt that he stopped obeying the control stick. I immediately turned off the engine and waited for the plane to collapse. Some time passed. Suddenly I I felt that the plane began to obey control. Then I finally realized that I had entered the sound barrier zone. After landing, I found out that on the measuring line sa the aircraft showed a speed of 1004 km/h.

One of the first test flights of the Me-163 rocket aircraft.

Thus, already in 1941, an aircraft with a person on board exceeded the 1000-km mark. After achieving such success, Heini Dittmar was awarded the Lilienthal Prize for research in the field of aviation. This was a well-deserved reward for his flight tests, during which he was on the verge of death more than once.

This aircraft was also the first aircraft in the history of aviation to encounter problems with the compressibility of the air flow at high speeds in level flight. Therefore, when developing the machine, a number of new aerodynamic problems had to be solved. The scheme chosen for the "Kometa" - "tailless" with a swept wing - facilitated their decision. Since that time, the use of swept wings has become one of the traditional solutions to the problems of high-speed flight.

The modification of the Me-163 aircraft, which received the designation "B", had a jet thrust, almost 2 times greater than the first. The speed increased, and with it the danger. Knowing full well that every flight could end in death, Dittmar turned to Udet with a request for a partner whom he could teach to pilot a rocket plane. Goes made sure that Dittmar's friend, Rudolf Opitz, was transferred from the front to the Messerschmitt company as a test pilot.

The designers still faced the problem of cushioning the pilot's seat. Already at the end of the tests of the rocket plane with Heini Dittmar, an accident occurred that chained him to a hospital bed for 2 years. When landing, the shock absorber on the landing ski could not stand it. The plane remained unscathed, but Dittmar broke his spine. Tests of the aircraft continued Opitz. Soon he was joined by the famous pilot ace Wolfgang Spathe, recalled from the front. When the tests were completed, in the summer of 1943, "Test Detachment No. 16" was formed in Bad Zwischenahn for training in piloting a rocket aircraft.

It can be said that the members of the anti-Hitler coalition were lucky that the technical difficulties that arose during the development of the aircraft (mainly associated with the creation of a liquid-fuel rocket engine), as well as the political difficulties of that time, made it difficult for the Comet to enter the arsenal of the fascist Air Force .

According to its scheme, the Me-163 was a rather conservative "tailless" with a swept wing, which was designed by Alexander Lippisch, who had gained considerable experience by this time. Single-section elevons were installed on the wing (of a wooden structure), and on the tail section of a short all-metal (aluminum alloy) fuselage - a vertical tail with a rudder. The designers solved the problem of the retractable landing gear by abandoning it altogether. The plane took off from a detachable two-wheeled cart, and landing was carried out on a single ski, similar to the landing gear of gliders. The aircraft did not have supporting wing supports of a ski or wheel type, so almost every landing ended with a turn of the aircraft, and often with a coup.

The Me-163 rocket plane was transported over the ground on a transport trolley.

All available volumes of the fuselage were given over to the tanks, which housed the LRE fuel. The fuel components of the Me-163 fighter were a mixture of methyl alcohol, hydrazine and water (fuel) and hydrogen peroxide (oxidizer). Several Me-163 accidents occurred due to the contact of rocket fuel components outside the engine combustion chamber (Walter HW 509 C-1, thrust 20 kN). Sometimes the engine exploded even just from a rough landing.

Despite a significant fuel reserve (2000 kg), the efficiency of the engine was very low, so that it could only work for 12 minutes; this means that the interceptor had to be based directly under the air corridors followed by the enemy bombers. By the time the Me-163 reached an altitude of 9760 meters, he had only 6.5 minutes of fuel left. In some cases, fully fueled "Comets" were towed to a height behind heavy German aircraft, after which the engine was started in the air, and the fighter-interceptor began to attack the bomber.

Serial fighter - interceptor Me-163V, spring 1945.

The armament of the aircraft consisted of 2 cannons of 20 mm caliber, installed in the wing. Me-163 was one of the smallest fighters of World War II. The wingspan of the aircraft was 9.81 m, the wing area of ​​the aircraft was 20.37 sq.m, the take-off weight was 5299.8 kg, the load per unit area of ​​the wing was 260.9 kg / sq.m. The maximum speed of the serial Me-163S was 858 km / h, the aircraft was able to climb 12,100 meters in 3 minutes 20 seconds; the rate of climb near the ground was 60 m / s.

364 aircraft were produced in serial production. Subsequently, a number of aircraft with rocket engines were created, but none of them ever became a serial combat aircraft of the Air Force.

The Me-163 aircraft was in service with only one fighter squadron - JG400 [commander - famous German pilot ace Wolfrang Spate; ended the war flying on the Me-262, had 99 air victories to his credit] and was used exclusively to combat enemy heavy bombers on the Western Front. By the end of 1944, the combat activity of the JG400 dropped sharply due to the constant bombing of airfields, poor pilot training, and a critical situation with the delivery of fuel. In reality, only the 1st group was fighting, which managed to achieve 9 victories with the loss of 14 aircraft. The 2nd group, due to a lack of fuel, ended the war without making a single sortie ...

The Me-163 rocket plane was not covered with the glory of victories. Many vehicles were lost due to engine failure. Many of them died in air battles. The rest were captured by the Allies and for some time were tested in the research institutes of the Air Forces of the victorious countries. This indicated that his flight performance was of interest.

In our country, test flights of a two-seat training version of the machine - Me-163S were carried out.

* * *

In the years when the speed of 700 - 750 km / h was considered very good for serial fighters, in Germany, the designers already knew what would happen to the aircraft when it reached a speed of twice, four times as much, how the car would behave in the sound speed zone and far for her. All the years of the war, the Germans, it turns out, stubbornly carried out relevant research, and not only theoretical, but already in laboratories and at test sites, "purging" in the wind tunnels of Göttingen, Hamburg, Volkenrode, Detmold, Travemünde, Pienemünde, in the giant Otzale tube in the Alps, they shot detailed films about the flights of cruise missiles, about the fall of experimental bombs from a great height (so that when they fall, they have time to accelerate to the desired speed). They learned to reliably, with an error of no more than 1%, determine the parameters of a supersonic air flow at any point of the profile flowing around it, take into account the influence of various physical and geometric factors on such a flow, and much more - and as a result, in 1944, Germany was already building at least 8 experienced jet aircraft, at least 7 were in the design stage.

In 1944 - 1945, our Western allies discovered in Germany a ready-made purge aerodynamic model of the Jaeger R-13 fighter (chief designer Alexander Lippisch) and an experimental glider DM-1 - a simplified "analogue" of this fighter, a narrow tailless triangle.

The Americans have already flown on the DM-1. The speed of the R-13 would be, according to some sources, 1650, according to others - 1955, according to others - 2410 km / h. In the powerful wind tunnel of Göttingen, the Germans blew the R-13 model in a flow more than 2.5 times the speed of sound.

Designed by Alexander Lippisch, the DM-1 glider had a 60° leading edge sweep and a 15° trailing edge sweep. The glider was created at the end of the Second World War as a full-scale gliding model of the projected fighter aircraft with a ramjet. The DM-1 was developed in order to test the possibility of providing acceptable flight characteristics of an aircraft of such a scheme at low flight speeds. In the absence of a prototype aircraft equipped with a sufficiently powerful power plant, it was planned to obtain high-speed aerodynamic data in a wind tunnel. Aerodynamic data in the region of intermediate speeds were obtained during flight tests, during which the DM-1 was towed to a high altitude (approximately 7600 meters or more), after which the aircraft separated and free-flyed. The DM-1 was supposed to accelerate to the speed required by the test program during a protracted dive. The relatively small mass of this glider did not allow it to develop a very high speed in a dive. The maximum speed in a dive was approximately 558.7 km / h.

Wooden glider A. Lippisha DM-1, created at the end of the war.

When creating the DM-1 glider, Lippisch was assisted by two groups of engineers - aviation enthusiasts from the universities of Darmstadt and Munich (the glider got its name from the initial letters of these cities).

Apart from the lack of an engine, the DM-1 was a fully completed aircraft, including a tricycle retractable landing gear. To ensure the minimum mass of the structure, the aircraft was made of wood, and thin aircraft plywood was used as skin. In addition to the innovative wing shape, a unique design feature was that the cockpit was a root part of the leading edge of the vertical tail of a large relative thickness.

The DM-1 fell into the hands of the American occupying forces, after which it was used in the United States for testing in 1945. The results obtained were so encouraging that Conver received a contract to develop and build a jet modification of this airframe. The DM-1 is currently in the US Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio.

Immediately after the war, the United States removed 86 German military designers and scientists from Germany. An incomplete list of them (only the "leaders" are listed) was given in December 1946 by the Aviation News magazine. Named among them was Wernher von Braun, the chief designer of the V-2 rocket, later the head of the development of the American Saturn launch vehicles and the Apollo series spacecraft, and the first was Dr. Alexander Lippisch ...

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In conclusion of our story, I would like to return to the developments in the field of jet technology by designer Ernst Heinkel, or rather, to the Heinkel He-162 "Salamander" aircraft.

The history of this car is very interesting. In the last year of the war, when the inevitability of the defeat of Germany was already obvious, two "great ideas" owned Hitler - the creation of a total retaliation weapon and the total mobilization of the entire country. During this period, one after another, "extremely simple" and at the same time, it would seem, very effective means of fighting the enemy appear. One of them was the "total" He-162 fighter. One of the leaders of the Ministry of Armaments had the idea to create a small jet fighter, later called "people's", designed to "defend the fatherland." It was required that it be easy to manage. It was supposed to fly, after a short training, mostly boys from the glider schools of the "Hitler Youth".

Task for the development and tactical - technical requirements five firms were issued for a similar aircraft at the same time: Blom and Foss, Heinkel, Junkers, Arado and Focke-Wulf. According to the requirements, the speed of the aircraft was to be 750 km / h, armament - 2 guns, flight time 20 minutes, weight 2000 kg., Power plant - one BMW 003 turbojet engine with a thrust of 810 kg.

On September 8, 1944, Heinkel employees received an order for the design of the aircraft. Even before proceeding with its layout, they already knew that it was not advisable to place a single engine in the fuselage. Having experience in building a single-engine He-178 aircraft, they understood how many different linkages would be required with this placement of the engine. It was easier to install the engine above the fuselage, as was already done by the Fizler designers on the Fi-103 projectile. In order to simplify production, the wing and plumage were decided to be made of wood. Even the fuel tank was veneered. It was decided to make the landing gear with a nose wheel, which was supposed to provide good take-off and landing qualities of the car.

German serial jet fighter Heinkel He-162А.

The design study of the Non-162 aircraft began on September 24, 1944, and already on December 6, that is, just 2 months later, the first prototype of the aircraft was flown into the air by pilot Peters, who had an engineering education. When it was tested, a maximum flight speed of 840 km / h was obtained at an altitude of 6000 meters. Unfortunately, this talented pilot later died during the testing of the second prototype He-162 aircraft due to the destruction of the wing in flight. However, Hitler hurried Heinkel, and therefore, after a slight strengthening of the wing structure, even without additional flight tests, the aircraft was put into production simultaneously at several factories of Heinkel and the Junkers company.

On July 17, 1945, an air parade took place at the English airfield in Farnborough, in which captured German-made aircraft also took part. Among others, 8 He-162 aircraft were shown. According to the report of an English pilot who tested the serial He-162, the speed of the machine did not exceed 750 km / h, which was explained by the haste of launching the aircraft into mass production. About the flight and aerobatic properties of this fighter, he expressed himself in just two words: "The best in the world!"

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The original article by Andrey Lyubushkin is on the site "Aviators of World War II". I took the liberty of inserting additional information about the He-178, He-280, He-162, Me-163 aircraft, experimental developments of A. Lippisch into it, supplementing it with some interesting drawings and photographs.

For those who are interested in the history of the creation of jet aircraft in the design bureau of Ernst Heinkel, I suggest reading one of the chapters of his book "In my fast-paced life ..." -

All countries that took an active part in World War II had a certain backlog in the development of jet aircraft before it began. During the war, efforts to create jet combat aviation did not stop. But their achievements pale in comparison with the scale at which the Wehrmacht was produced in World War II.

Pre-war reserve

Jet propulsion has always attracted the attention of gunsmiths. The use of powder rockets goes back to ancient times. The advent of aircraft capable of controlled flight immediately led to the desire to combine this innovation with the capabilities of jet propulsion. The desire to provide military potential at an advanced technological level was most clearly reflected in the scientific and technological policy of the Reich. The restrictions imposed deprived Germany of fifteen years of evolutionary improvement of military equipment and forced them to search for revolutionary solutions. Therefore, immediately after the Reich abandoned military restrictions and the creation of the Luftwaffe, the head of scientific programs Richthofen in 1934 was tasked with creating a German jet aircraft of the Second World War. By its beginning, only the British managed to make a technological breakthrough by creating a prototype turbojet engine. But they owe this not to technical foresight, but to the perseverance of the inventor F. Whittle, who invested his own funds in it.

Prototypes and samples

The outbreak of the war had a different impact on jet aviation development programs. The British, realizing their vulnerability to air threats, took the development of a new type of combat aircraft quite seriously. Based on the Whittle engine, they tested the prototype in April 1941, from which the British jets of the Second World War began. having a weak technological base, having lost and evacuated part of the industry, conducted rather sluggish experiments with rocket and low-power ones that had, rather, an educational interest. The Americans and Japanese, despite great opportunities, did not advance much from the same level. Their World War II jets were based on foreign designs. Already at the very beginning of the war, Germany began to create flying prototypes of serial machines and work out the operation of real combat aircraft. In the spring of 1941, the Henkel He-178 jet took off, equipped with two HeS-8A turbojet engines, which developed thrust up to six hundred kilograms. In the summer of 1942, the first German jet aircraft of World War II, the twin-engine Messerschmitt Me-262, flew, showing excellent handling and reliability.

First series

The first production jet aircraft of World War II to enter service are the English Gloster Meteor. There is a legend that the delay in the release of the jet Messerschmitt is due to the whims of Hitler, who wanted to see him as a fighter-bomber. Having started the production of this machine, in 1944 the Germans produced more than 450 aircraft. In 1945, production amounted to about 500 aircraft. The Germans also put in a series and began mass production of the Non-162, considered by the command as a mobilization fighter for the Volkssturm. The third type of jet fighter that participated in the war was the Arado Ar-234. Before the end of the war, they produced 200 units. The scope of the British was noticeably weaker. The entire military series of Gloucesters was limited to 210 vehicles. Jet aircraft of the Second World War of the USA and Japan developed on the transferred technologies of England and Germany and were limited to experimental series.

Combat use

Only the Germans managed to get combat experience in using jet aircraft. Their planes tried to solve the problem of defending the country from an enemy with overwhelming air superiority. English jets, although they were used over the territory of Germany and in the defense of England against German cruise missiles, had only a few combat episodes. They were mainly used as training. did not have time to create jet aircraft of the Second World War. The USSR actively mastered trophy groundwork based on its own rich military experience.