Historic Aviation > Warbirds

P-80 and Me262

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alyster:
I know this site maybe isn't so into the oldies, but I'm not active in any other aviation forum.

In 1945 few P-80 were already used above Italy. They never acualy saw any battles there and in Korea they burned, MiGs were just so much better due to the wings ::). But what if P-80 would of seen Me262 over Italy or Southern Germany.

Me262 was more usefull against bombers, not fighters due to it's abilty to lose speed easly and it was hard to get the high speed back. When it was on low speed Mustangs ate it alive.
I'm not an expert with P-80. Was it any better then Me262 or did it have similar problems and was even worse?

Webmaster:
Not sure, but at least the P-80 had its power source embedded in the airframe instead of underwing pods...maybe this makes it a better design than the Me262, with less load on the wings. You know modern days jets with or without external fuel tanks makes a big difference in terms of performance. Also the single Allison engine in the P-80 has more thrust than the two combined on the Me262... so I'd bet on the P-80 for sure, maybe it would have been a different story if Hitler would have let it develop as a true fighter instead of bomber/fighterbomber.

alyster:
Now we can say the engine part was a mistake, but at that time jet plane was so new thing, that I don't think noone really knew where to but the engine, so they just guessed. Like if we'd look at He-162, Me-163 and Me-262 - 3 totaly different ways  8)
Btw now I'm already wondering what if Me263 would of made it to the front, but that's a nvm  : :)

The bombing part wasn't such a mistake, like many say it is. The prototype was already ready and then Hitler asked Messerschmitt if the plane can carry bombs. Surely he was anwsered yes. Building it into fighter-bomber plane took only about 3 weeks. So I hardly doupt that it would of changed anything if it would of been just fighter.

alyster:
The reson I asked about the wing loading in the other subject was that I was trying to write an essey in estonian about Me262 and P-80 for another site. Reading Mike Spicks books has made wing loading one important thing for my mind in WW2 times planes. And now I can say that the trouble I had to search it up(looking the translation, troubling u guys and then looking the number for another 2h, I even tried to calculate it, but the fuel tank like things on the edge of the wings made it impossible) payed off, cause wing loading is the only advantage I found for Me262A*. 
BTW one thing that hasn't been mentioned here was also the firepower. P-80 had 6*50cal, Me262 had short range 4*30cal.


* Me262B has also it's advantages by being night fighter. Night fighter from P-80(F-94) was ready in 1949.

But thank you for the help with wing loading

gman:
One slight correction.  The P-80 had 6 x .50Cal MG's, and the Sturmvogel had 4 x 30mm cannons.  The firepower advantage was entirely with the Me262.

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