Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 06:14 PM 1/15/2007, ISILVERMN@aol.com wrote: >On 1/15/07, Marc Small wrote: > ><<The German jets were duds. To my knowledge, none ever shot down an >Allied >fighter, though Allied fighters shot down a number of ME-262's. >> > >Not a fair agrument Marc. The Me-262's were under direct orders to go >after >the bombers, and expressly NOT to engage the allied fighters. In the context >of the numbers of 262's available, they were quite successful. A VERY fair comparison, Ira. The ME-262's had a lousy record against bombers due to their short legs, and were then shot down when they returned to refuel. Had Germany possessed sufficient fuel to allow itself to have prop fighters guarding the jet bases, this might not have been the case, but such it was. The reason for the poor record of the ME-262 against bombers is simple: the B-17/B-24 flights were flying in at roughly 180 mph, while the jets came in at 400 mph, giving them only a few microseconds to aim and fire. WWII in the air in the ETO was a battle of attrition. Had Germany fielded a jet force in 1942 (as it might have done), then the battle would have been more fairly fought but, by 1944 and 1945, the minor annoyance of the 262's was just that, a minor annoyance and a case of far too little and far too late. The Germans lost this battle by a failure of doctrine, training, equipment, and support. They did not lose it from ability: the oncoming German fighters, such as the Pfiel, were outstanding and the better German pilots, though few in number, were great. But they lost it on the grand scale and not on the lesser point that an ME-262 was a remarkably good aircraft. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!