achieved widespread success in the Bf 109, Messerschmidt began to develop his next-generation fighter. Because the number of Me 209 has been awarded to the pre-war racing aircraft, the number of the new aircraft is designated as Me 309.
Me 309 is rarely painted with such an uplifted head. The design of
Me 309 originated in 1940, when the German Ministry of Aeronautics proposed the development of the Bf 109 successor aircraft. At that time, the aircraft encountered a fire-breathing type that could be called a lifelong enemy over the United Kingdom. fighter. The detailed design of the aircraft was completed at the end of 41, and the prototype successfully flew for the first time on July 18, 42.
If you only look at the above records, there is no problem. But if you look farther away, you will see that the design of the Me 262 jet fighter began before the outbreak of World War II in 39. On April 18, 41, the Me 262 with a piston engine flew for the first time. At this time, the design of the Me 309 had not been completed; on July 18, 42, the Me 262 with only a jet engine flew successfully, and the Me 309 flew for the first time. On the same day, in the same place (Leipheim Airport) and even the same test pilot (Fritz Wende). The
V-1 prototype took off from
, and if you look a little further, Heinkel’s He 280 jet fighter even completed its first jet-powered flight on March 30, 41.
When you see this, everyone may have to ask what happened? Among the above three fighters, the Me 309 and He 280 ended up without a problem. They were unknown in history. The development of the Me 262 almost dragged off the entire World War II. It was only in the second half of 44 that it was put into operation in an imperfect state. The aircraft itself The number of crashes exceeded the number of enemies shot down and the number of enemies shot down.
is actually just victory sickness. The early victory of World War II caused unprecedented arrogance and short-sightedness among the top German leaders. Since the German army is invincible and the war will end soon, why is it necessary to spend a lot of resources to develop new weapons? In February 1940, the head of state first waved his hand and declared domineeringly that any development plan that could not provide products to the frontline during the year would not be approved. Immediately after Herman Goering ordered strict conservation measures, the development of projects that could not be realized in the short term was directly banned, and the existing raw materials were used to produce models that had already achieved results in actual combat. Then the Ministry of Aviation, which was also intoxicated by Victory’s disease, naturally went up and down, and a large number of weapons with a long development cycle were stopped, let alone basic research. They are more enthusiastic about making minor modifications to existing equipment and launching new subtypes to meet the needs of the battlefield.
In this case, Messerschmidt can keep his jet project from being cancelled, so it's time to laugh. Although the German Aviation Department prefers him to develop and modify the Bf 109 series, as a designer, he is still at least technically sensitive and knows that he cannot stop developing new alternative models. Therefore, the Me 309 is actually being developed in parallel with the Me 262 jet fighter. Both projects have not received the attention of the Ministry of Aviation. The priority is very low, and it is just a matter of life.
Me 309 is a very ambitious design, hoping to surpass the Bf 109 in terms of speed, maneuverability, firepower, take-off and landing performance. The aircraft is to be equipped with DB603 engine, the leading edge of the wing adopts automatic flaps, and the trailing edge flaps extend from the wing root to the aileron position. The aircraft uses the first three-point landing gear, which is relatively rare in propeller fighters. The main landing gear is widely spaced and retracted inward, and the front landing gear is retracted backwards. After rotating 90 degrees, it is placed flat under the engine (in fact, it is just this. It's a risk in terms of point, because in the German aviation industry at the time, the first three-point landing gear was regarded as an American invention and politically incorrect). The
V-1 prototype did not have a propeller fairing initially installed. The
aircraft uses a pressurized cockpit and a bubble-type cockpit cover. There is a retractable radiator under the abdomen. The appearance is almost the same as that of the Bf 109. And because of the raised cockpit cover and the radiator when it was lowered, I have seen people with stinky feet call it Messerschmidt’s Mustang. The
V-3 prototype adopts an enlarged fixed underbelly radiator
, which is slightly related to the Mustang V-3 prototype
. Three to four Bf 109F test machines are assigned to Me 309.To test various new systems. The V-23 of the first three-point landing gear is actually a test machine for the abdominal radiator, the V-31 of the rear three-point landing gear tests the abdominal radiator and the wide-spacing main landing gear, and the V-30 is used for the cabin pressurization system test.
Bf-109V-23 prototype, this machine is not a landing gear test machine
landing gear test machine Bf 109V-31 is often mistaken for the Me 309B prototype
The first Me 309V-1 (number GE-CU) was born in June 42 Month completed. While the aircraft was still being built, Messerschmitt’s designers found that the directional stability might be insufficient, and tried no less than 4 tail configuration combinations for it. On June 27, the aircraft rolled for the first time on the ground. It was found that the nose gear was twisting and oscillating at high speeds. In addition to the poor vertical tail effect, the aircraft was almost snaking on the runway, which was jaw-dropping. This is a bad omen, landing gear and stability problems will accompany the Me 309 for life. After modifying the front landing gear and replacing the vertical tail, the V-1 plane finally made its maiden flight on July 18. But as soon as the plane got into the sky, it was discovered that there was a problem with the cooling system and the engine was overheated, so it only flew for 7 minutes. At the same time, the landing gear hydraulic retractable system is too weak, and it is said that the landing gear has been in the lowered state during the first flight. Since then, the aircraft has been repeatedly repaired and repaired, but the tendency of deviation during takeoff and landing and the problem of insufficient stability at high speed have not been solved. Messerschmidt's chief test pilot Fritz Wendell even said that Me 309 is nothing compared to Bf 109.
The front wheel and the underbelly radiator were constantly malfunctioning.
In early November, the V-1 unit was replaced with a newly designed large vertical tail assembly, which was originally prepared for the V-3 prototype. On November 11, 1942, the modified V-1 was demonstrated to fighter director Adolf Garland. On the 20th, the test pilot Heinrich Beauvais of the German Aviation Ministry took over the test flight. Two days later, a simulated air battle was conducted with a Bf 109G at Rechlin Air Force Base. The
confrontation is a disaster for the Me 309 project. The turning radius of Bf 109G is smaller and more flexible than Me 309. In circling battle, Bf 109G cuts into the inner side of Me 309 and bites its tail. Me 309 can only take advantage of speed to get away from it, while Bf 109G is not even a horizontal circling ability. Known aircraft.
Beauvais stated in a subsequent report that if some improvements are accepted, the Me 309 can serve as a fighter, and the speed of the aircraft is about 50 kilometers faster than the Bf 109G. However, the aircraft has very high requirements for the pilot's maneuverability, and the first three-point landing gear may also have use problems on the front line. Especially when an advanced aircraft is about to come out, this model does not seem to have any advantages.
The high-end aircraft he referred to was the new Fw 190D model of Fokker Woolf. This report with a little politeness was essentially tantamount to a death sentence. Z1z
took the big-topped V-1 prototype
a week later, the CE-CV Me 309V-2 prototype flew for the first time. When it landed, the nose gear collapsed and the aircraft was broken into two pieces and was immediately decommissioned. . It seems that God is punishing them for slack. The V-1 prototype also got a big top because of the same accident, but the damage was relatively minor and it could be rescued. After the accident, the 1750-horsepower DB603A-1 engine of the Me 309V-1 was replaced with a 1450-horsepower DB605B engine. In fact, due to the delay in the development of the DB603, only the V-1 unit was equipped with this engine. Since then, the V-1 has continued to test flight, replacing as many as four types of tail combinations, hoping to test a reasonable configuration. The
tail design can be called changeable
In March and May 1943, the V-3 prototype (No. CE-CW) and the V-4 prototype (RH-LH) were assembled. Among them, the Me 309V-4 was manufactured as a weapon system tester. The aircraft is equipped with a very powerful fire system, including a total of 4 MG 131 machine guns at the nose and wing roots, two 20mm MG151 cannons slightly outside the wing roots, and Two 30mm MK108 cannons outside the wings. This kind of tallThe consequence of the firepower is that the weight is extremely increased, and the maneuverability and speed are reduced to an unacceptable level. The successful test flight of Me 309V-4 actually knocked the last nail on the coffin board for this project.
V-4 prototype machine side view
V-4 irrational firepower configuration
originally planned to develop three production types, including the basic fighter Me 309A-1 equipped with two MG131 and one MK108, which is configured with the V- The Me 309A-2, a heavy fighter jet that is basically the same as the No. 4 aircraft, and the Me 309B-1, a dive bomber that can carry bombs under the belly and on both wings, all went into nothing. In some sources, the photos of the Me 309B prototype are actually the Bf 109V-31 test machine, and the landing gear of the imagination is also drawn in the back three-point style. Due to the poor record of the aircraft's first three-point landing gear, this restoration is very reasonable, but I personally still prefer the first three-point recovery. Z1z
rear three-point landing gear and use Me262 tail B-type machine
front three-point landing gear B-type
In addition, there are several developments on paper. The Me 409, which is magnified on the basis of the Me 309, is quite miserable. There is almost no data left. The Me 409 we are currently talking about is a Siamese aircraft combining two Me 209IIs; the engine is located in the middle and the cockpit is moved forward. The Siamese Me 609, which is a combination of 509 and two Me 309, will be mentioned later. The
V-4 prototype was destroyed in an air strike shortly after the basic tests were completed; the V-1 prototype was later used as a test machine for the first three-point landing gear and variable-pitch propeller; the V-3 prototype was used Tests on the pressurized cockpit and ejection seat of the Me 262 jet fighter. The whereabouts of the two planes were eventually unknown and lost in the long river of time.
Speaking of Me 309 is a kind of plane that was born untimely. First of all, the German Aviation Department has never paid much attention to it. Initially, they were slow to develop new technologies and new models; they were kidnapped by the war in the middle and late stages of the war, and any project that affected the production of active aircraft was difficult to gain a foothold. It can be said that even if the Me 309 has superior performance, the possibility of being approved for mass production is very low, because it has a poor inheritance with the Bf 109 and is not as revolutionary as the Me 262.
On the other hand, the designers inside Messerschmidt also lack enthusiasm for it. At the beginning of the development, they were obsessed with the practical use of the armed racing machine Me 209V4. 43 years later, their attention turned to the improved high-altitude fighter Me 209II based on the Bf 109. After all, making improvements on existing models is always more labor-saving and easier to produce results than designing a new aircraft from scratch. Under the short-sighted policies of the Ministry of Aviation and the Air Force, these designers naturally paddle fish with peace of mind.
That is to say, the failure of this project is actually a popular thing. As a kind of aircraft, it is not easy to be so unwelcome.
The V-1 prototype
on the grassland is over. Someone may be asking, such an overwhelming design, performance is also scumbags, there are few such losers in aviation history, why is it necessary to write a special article to introduce it? In fact, I didn't mean to do this. The interesting thing about the
aircraft and its development is that it constantly collides with others in the face.
First of all, let's talk about Me 309. Although some people tout it is like P-51 Mustang, in fact, the ground state of this aircraft is similar to P-39 flying snake god. To be honest, when I saw the Me 309 photo for the first time, the reaction was that the Germans were driven by the P-39 on the Eastern Front, and the mentality of the Germans was destroyed by the Soviets. The copycat took off in the middle of World War II. But in fact, the Me 309 engine is in the front, and the P-39 engine is in the middle of the fuselage. The layouts are completely different, but the shape and outline are really similar. Z1z
Me 309
Soviet P-39
refurbished Me 309
or P-39
Me 309 landing gear problems are largely due to this overall layout. MesserschmiAfter all, I had no previous experience, and the front engine overloaded the front wheels, so both prototypes fell. Later they realized this problem, moved the engine to the middle of the fuselage, or followed the Bell Company's old road, this is the paper model Me 509. However, for the sake of balance, Me 509 moved the cockpit extremely forward and placed it behind the propeller, which looked nothing like P-39.
Me 509 cockpit is very far forward.
The Japanese Jing Yun said that it was almost like me. Although
was different from the Bell family, it collided with the high-speed reconnaissance plane R2Y Jingyun of the Japanese Naval Aerotechnics Factory. During World War II, there was a submarine contact between Germany and Japan, and they secretly sent good things. So some people suspected that they secretly sent Me 509 drawings to the Japanese. But after the war, the Japanese said who knew your Me 509? The prototype of Jing Yun was two He 119 prototypes bought by Heinkel in 40 years. People were born with a mid-engine design, and Japan did not participate in the war at that time!
He 119 said that Jing Yun actually learned from me
. What's interesting is that Me 309 also has a high-speed design with an embedded cockpit. It was shot at the drawing stage. It is somewhat similar to He 119.
Me 309 said I also have a
Me without a canopy. 309 said I also have a
Me 509 without a canopy. Just for the sake of face issues, I cruelly abandoned the P-39. How can Bell see this? Is the beginning chaos and the end abandoned? If the mountain is not just me, I will come to the mountain, change! With that, they came up with a TP-39Q coach. The Soviet Air Force took the picture of the gourd and changed the P-63 to a UTI trainer type. Oh, I ran into it again...
TP-39Q said that it is not difficult to move the cockpit forward
UTI P-63 means I can move forward.
finally talk about the paper Me 609, which is the product of Messerschmitt's obsessive weight-type destroyer concept, which consists of two Me 309s in parallel. It is said that there are few parts that need to be modified, and 80% of the parts are common to Me309. This protruding bubble canopy, plus the lowered belly radiator, compares favorably with the North American F-82 dual Mustangs. Does it look like two brothers?
Me 609
F-82 Double Mustang
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