Manufacturer: HobbyBoss
Scale: 1/72
Additional parts: from the spare part box
Model build: May 2019
Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 262T
HobbyBoss
1/72
1/72
Me 262 - Wings of Steel and Fire
0:00
Made with Suno
Schwalbe's Dance
The salty spray stung Lieutenant Hans Richter's face as he gripped the control stick of his Me 262T, the carrier Graf Zeppelin a behemoth churning through the icy North Sea. Below him, deck crew scurried like ants readying the catapult for launch. This was it. The first official jet launch from a German carrier. Hans, a veteran ace with more victories over the Soviets than he cared to count, felt a sliver of hope pierce the bleak winter of 1944. The Me 262, a technological marvel, could turn the tide.
The roar of the catapult drowned out everything as Hans was flung towards the grey sky. He fought for control, the unfamiliar torque of the jet a stark contrast to his beloved Messerschmitt 109. Below, the carrier seemed to shrink into a toy beneath him. He leveled off, marveling at the raw power at his fingertips. This machine was pure speed, a scalpel against the lumbering B-17s plaguing German skies.
Suddenly, the radio crackled. "Schwalbe 2, this is Graf Zeppelin. Smoke trail detected from your starboard engine." Hans cursed under his breath. Engine trouble. A common gremlin with these new jets. He nursed the ailing aircraft back towards the carrier, a knot of dread tightening in his gut. Unlike land bases, there was nowhere to run on a carrier.
Landing a jet on a pitching deck in the North Sea was a dance with death. Hans fought the controls, desperately trying to align with the narrow landing strip. The arresting hook snagged with a sickening clang, but the Me 262T lurched forward, momentum carrying it past the designated stop point. Hans slammed on the brakes, praying for traction on the slick deck. The end of the carrier loomed closer.
A deafening screech filled the air as the tailhook snapped, the Me 262T careening towards the churning sea. Time slowed. Hans braced himself for impact, the icy water rushing towards him. Then, a jolt. The aircraft lurched, spinning to a halt precariously close to the carrier's edge. Dazed, Hans looked up to see a tow cable stretched taut, a deck crewman staring at him with wide eyes. He had been saved by a hair's breadth.
Hans emerged from the wreckage, shaken but alive. Three Me 262Ts had been lost in as many days. The dream of a jet-powered carrier force lay broken on the deck of the Graf Zeppelin. Disappointment gnawed at him, but a flicker of pride remained. He had tamed the beast, even if for a fleeting moment.
News of the failed trials reached the Führer's bunker. The much-anticipated wonder weapon, the jet carrier, was a dud. The war machine sputtered to a halt, and with it, Hans' dreams of turning the tide. He walked away from the wreckage, the ghost of a Schwalbe etched on the carrier deck, a stark reminder of the unfulfilled promise of German jet supremacy.
Introduction:
The aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was Germanys only aircraft carrier in WW2 - and it was not completed. Laid down in 1938, the construction of the incomplete ship was stopped in 1940. In 1942, construction was continued with a planned operational date of winter 1943. However, in December 1942, the consturction was stopped again, at this point the ship was completed about 80%. The incomplete ship was taken over by the Russians at the end of the war and sunk during weapons tests in 1947. Some years ago, the wreck was found in the Baltic Sea.
Alternate History:
Lets assume that the construction of Graf Zeppelin was not stopped in 1940. Instead, the carrier was put into service in late 1942 with its original planned aircraft, the Me 109T as a fighter, the Ju87 as dive bomber and the Fi167 as torpedo bomber.
The Plane:
After the completion of the Graf Zeppelin, it used the Me 109T as on board fighter aircraft. As the Me 109T were a very difficult aircraft to be used on the Graf Zeppelin, the search for alternatives started. In late 1943 the Luftwaffe got its hand on several Chance Vought F4U fighers which were used until the end of the war.
However, with the introduction of the Me262 in Luftwaffe service, the idea was born to use those first jet fighters on board of the Graf Zeppelin.
By late 1944, a first flight - four aircraft - were converted into Me262T. Compared to the original Luftwaffe aircraft, the landing gear was strenghtend and carrier equipment like the arrestor hook was added. As those were the first prototypes, they were not equipped with foldable wings, those were projected on later versions.
Flight tests on board of the Graf Zeppelin started in early February 1945. But it soon got obvious that those aircraft were "too much" for the Graf Zeppelin. Landing the fast jet fighters on board of the carrier was very difficult, so its not surprising that two of the four Me 262T were lost during landing attempts. One other had to ditch after an unsuccesful catapult launch.
While the performance of the aircraft was good - similar to the Luftwaffe 262-1a, those aircraft showed that carrier generation of the Graf Zeppelin was not really usable for jet aircraft.
The end of the war prevented further improvments on the planes and the carrier, the only Me262T left was later displayed in the Luftwaffe Museum in Appen.
The model shows the "White 8", flown by Leutnant Schmidt during the flight tests on board of the Graf Zeppelin. The "White 8" was the only of the four aircraft that survived the tests.
As I want to build all the aircraft to be used on the Graf Zeppelin, I still struggle a big with the camo pattern. So this Me26 kit was used to test another camo scheme - two different grays fo the upper cammo, the lower part of the fuselage and wings in light blue.
The model is a HobbyBoss Me 262-1a, a "easy assembly kit". Which means that the hull and wings were in one piece each, and in theory, the model could have been build without glueing.
The only additional parts used was the arrestor hook which is form a 1:100 scale A-7. The kit contained some very good and detailed decals and did fit quite good together.
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