Status of Paul Allen's Me-262 Restoration?
Rob Arndt
Howard Hughes Me-262 T-2-4012 (captured Me-262 FE-4012):
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr5wenNw3N1qzsgg9o1_500.jpg
This aircraft [FE-4012] was surrendered to US Forces at Lechfeld and
was named Connie the Sharp Article, with the number '444'. It was
later re-named Pick Il by Watson's Whizzers. It came to the USA aboard
HMS Reaper and was flown from Newark to Freeman Field on 19th August
1945. While at Freeman Field it was reconditioned and given an overall
smooth finish for performance comparison with the Lockheed P-80. This
process almost certainly involved the removal of its photo-
reconnaissance-type nose and its replacement by a fighter-type nose
without camera bulges. All gun ports were then plugged and sealed as
well.
Hughes streamlined the a/c and souped it up to race against the P-80
during the Bendix & Thompson Jet Trophy Race but Gen. "Hap" Arnold
would not permit that (Smithsonian). In Wright Field tests conducted
with the Me-262 vs the P-80, the Me-262 was judged superior and Gen.
"Hap" Arnold had no intention of allowing the Nazi machine to beat
America's best jet publically.
The conclusion of the official report on the tests was also censored.
It stated:
"Despite a difference in gross weight of nearly 2,000 lb, the Me-262
T-2-711 was superior to the average P-80A in acceleration, speed, and
approximately the same in climb... The Me-262 apparently has a higher
critical Mach number, from a drag standpoint, than any other current
Air Force fighter."
Later it served at Glendale Aeronautical School where it was used to
instruct future jet mechanics. In 1954-55, it was relegated to the
scrap heap, but was luckily saved by Ed Maloney, the founder of Planes
of Fame Museum at Chino before being sold to Microsoft co-owner Paul
Allen in 2000 for secret restoration in the UK...???
At Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California as White 9:
[IMG]http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/photos/detail_me262_01.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/Luftwaffe/messerschmitt/
images/Me262%20PoF.jpg[/IMG]
[url]http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/09/
stuff_eng_detail_me262.htm[/url]
From the UK it was shipped back to the USA as part of the Paul Allen
Flying Heritage Collection, Arlington WA (restoration). Rumor has it
that this Me-262 is being restored to flying condition.
N94503
White 25
T-2-4012
So what is its present status? This is supposed to be a flying
restoration.
Rob
John
I have read that the most critical part of the restoration is
replicating the internal components of the engine in modern materials
for improved reliability. Not sure how this is progressing but it
can't be easy even with original components to reverse engineer. I
have also heard that there has been some kind of slow down on Mr.
Allen's projects and some discontinuity in operations at his museum.
John Dupre'
Tinzinious Nicklefritz
>
> Howard Hughes Me-262 T-2-4012 (captured Me-262 FE-4012):
>
> http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr5wenNw3N1qzsgg9o1_500.jpg
>
> This aircraft [FE-4012] was surrendered to US Forces at Lechfeld and
> was named Connie the Sharp Article, with the number '444'. It was
> later re-named Pick Il by Watson's Whizzers. It came to the USA aboard
> HMS Reaper and was flown from Newark to Freeman Field on 19th August
> 1945. While at Freeman Field it was reconditioned and given an overall
> process almost certainly involved the removal of its photo-
> reconnaissance-type nose and its replacement by a fighter-type nose
> without camera bulges. All gun ports were then plugged and sealed as
> well.
>
> Hughes streamlined the a/c and souped it up to race against theP-80
> during the Bendix & Thompson Jet Trophy Race but Gen. "Hap"Arnold
> would not permit that (Smithsonian). In Wright Field tests conducted
> "Hap"Arnoldhad no intention of allowing the Nazi machine to beat
> America's best jet publically.
>
> The conclusion of the official report on the tests was also censored.
> It stated:
>
> "Despite a difference in gross weight of nearly 2,000 lb, the Me-262
> approximately the same in climb... The Me-262 apparently has a higher
> critical Mach number, from a drag standpoint, than any other current
> Air Force fighter."
>
> Later it served at Glendale Aeronautical School where it was used to
> instruct future jet mechanics. In 1954-55, it was relegated to the
> scrap heap, but was luckily saved by Ed Maloney, the founder of Planes
> of Fame Museum at Chino before being sold to Microsoft co-owner Paul
> Allen in 2000 for secret restoration in the UK...???
>
> At Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California as White 9:
>
> [IMG]http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/photos/detail_me262_01.jpg[/IMG]
>
> [IMG]http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/Luftwaffe/messerschmitt/
> images/Me262%20PoF.jpg[/IMG]
>
> [url]http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/09/
> stuff_eng_detail_me262.htm[/url]
>
> From the UK it was shipped back to the USA as part of the Paul Allen
> Flying Heritage Collection, Arlington WA (restoration). Rumor has it
> that this Me-262 is being restored to flying condition.
>
> N94503
> White 25
> T-2-4012
>
> So what is its present status? This is supposed to be a flying
> restoration.
>
> Rob
>On Apr 25, 4:44 am, Rob Arndt <teuton...@aol.com> wrote:
The usual collection of propaganda, plagiarism, whoppers and road
apples.
First of all :
> This aircraft [FE-4012] was surrendered to US Forces at Lechfeld and
> was named Connie the Sharp Article, with the number '444'. It was
> later re-named Pick Il by Watson's Whizzers. It came to the USA aboard
> HMS Reaper and was flown from Newark to Freeman Field on 19th August
> 1945. While at Freeman Field it was reconditioned and given an overall
> smooth finish for performance comparison with the LockheedP-80. This
> process almost certainly involved the removal of its photo-
> reconnaissance-type nose and its replacement by a fighter-type nose
> without camera bulges. All gun ports were then plugged and sealed as
> well.
...is a selectively reworded, unattributed pinch from:
http://www.indianamilitary.org/FreemanAAF/Aircraft%20-%20German/FE%204012-Me262A1U3/4012.htm
"This aircraft was surrendered to US Forces at Lechfeld and was named
Connie the Sharp Article, with the number '444'. It was later re-named
Pick Il by Watson's Whizzers. It came to the USA aboard HMS Reaper and
was flown from Newark to Freeman Field IV Col Watson on 19th August
1945. While at Freeman Field it was reconditioned and given an overall
smooth finish for performance comparison with the Lockheed P-80. This
process almost certainly involved the removal of its photo-
reconnaissance-type nose and its replacement by a fighter-type nose
without camera bulges. On about 17th May 1946 Col Watson flew the
aircraft to Patterson Field for the start of this series of trials. It
was flown at Patterson and Wright Fields on test work for 4 hours and
40 minutes (8 flights), being flyable at Wright Field in August 1946.
Flight trials were discontinued after four engine changes were
required during the course of the tests, culminating in two single-
engine landings."
Interesting to note how less than 5 hours in the air over 8 flights,
two of which necessitated emergency landings, can be construed to
encompass any type of legitimate comparison, even for the lower
standards of the time. The comparison testing was cancelled because
they couldn't get the bloody Jumos running long enough to get good
data, much less the risk to the pilots. It just wasn't worth it. -*
But even that is hardly the issue. Quibbling about 20mph here or there
or a few 10ths of critical mach, or the distinctions between FE 4012,
the XP-80 and P-80A, much less the XP-80R (P-80B) or the P/F-80C is
pointless; arguing moot details to support a fantasy agenda.
A cursory examination of the personalities involved and significant
dates puts the subject to rest quite nicely: the "evidence" of a
mystical "coverup " to further the agenda of some mythical superiority
is plain hogwash. In reality, the story devolves into a minor pissing
match between an eccentric industrialist and the service/procurement
system he tried to buy his way into by hook or crook in a historical
sense and a technical curiosity that was rapidly eclipsed by the fast
pace of the times.
> Hughes streamlined the a/c and souped it up to race against theP-80
> during the Bendix & Thompson Jet Trophy Race but Gen. "Hap"Arnold
> would not permit that (Smithsonian). In Wright Field tests conducted
> with the Me-262 vs theP-80, the Me-262 was judged superior and Gen.
> "Hap"Arnoldhad no intention of allowing the Nazi machine to beat
> America's best jet publically.
Really now? Okay, *which* Bendix/Thompson Races? 1946? 1947? 1948?
The answer here is critical to understanding the folly of the entire
assertion.
So, was it the 1946 race?
Let's see now. FE-4012 was flown to Wright Pat on May 17th, 1946 and
was there through August:
http://www.indianamilitary.org/FreemanAAF/Aircraft%20-%20German/FE%204012-Me262A1U3/4012.htm
On June 30, 1946, Hap Arnold retired. Officially, he wasn't in a
position to allow - or disallow - anything.
Howard Hughes crashed the XF-11 on July 7, 1946.
The 1946 Bendix Races were held from August 29 through September 3,
1946.
Nope. Can't be the 1946 race. Hap Arnold was out of the service,
FE-4012 was still at Wright and Howard was still in the hospital,
working on designing a new bed and becoming a morphine addict.
The 1947 Bendix, perhaps?
Well, the trouble there was that after getting out of the hospital in
April, 1946, Howard had all the trouble he could handle without the
diversion of prepping an aircraft that was tempermental at best and a
team to service it. Due to Hughes' controversial, to say the least,
lobbying practices to secure contracts for the XF-11 and H-4 projects
during the war, he was neck deep in horse whipping the Spruce Goose
(H-4) into existence and prepping for the Senate War Investigating
Committee Hearings that took place on July 6, 1947. Howard's famous
statement to the effect that if the H-4 didn't fly, he'd leave the
country was plenty enough to keep him busy between the hearings and
the Goose's sole puddle jump on November 2, 1947. The $40 million of
government money Hughes was on the hook for and the associated
complications to his other government contractual interests easily
provided all the incentives necessary to relegate the ego trip of a
Bendix race to back-burner status.
What's more, XP-80R had already captured the world air speed record of
623.73 mph (1,004.2 km/h) on June 19, 1947. FE-4012's window of
opportunity had already been convincingly slammed shut. There wasn't
enough spackle and wax in the world to make FE-4012 go that fast.
Well then, how about 1948?
The 1948 Bendix (jet) Race was an all Navy affair, the entrants being
standard FJ-1s from VF-51. While a spit-shined Me-262 with two good
Jumos could have given the straight-winged FJs a run for their money,
that was hardly a matter of concern to the freshly minted USAF. In a
simple horse race, the former Air Corps wags would likely have been
rooting for Howard Hughes; there was hardly a need for Hap Arnold,
USAAF (ret.) to pull strings from behind the comfortable retirement
scenes to stop a race his former service had no stake in for fear Navy
equipment would be "shown up." In that simple context, the assertion
doesn't pass the smell test.
And if waxing Howard Hughes had been that big of a concern, by
September, 1948, the USAF was quite capable of pulling a standard
F-86A from the production line, giving it a wax job and then waxing
Howard and FE-4012 quite handily.
So realistically, why the "official pressure" to prevent Hughes from
entering FE-4012 in the Bendix?
Simple. Hughes never owned FE-4012. It was still government property.
No civilian registration was ever issued for it. For all the enemies
Hughes had within the services and government (and they were legion -
including Hap Arnold), he was a very public figure. FE-4012 was a
known quantity. Tempermental at best and at the least, downright
dangerous when pushed to its limits. Howard Hughes the pilot was also
a known quantity; talented, but erratic and prone to making poor
decisions. If Hughes had smeared himself into a bloody clot in some
farmer's field while flogging the snot out of a piece of iffy
government war booty, there'd have been PR hell to pay.
To be sure, there was no love lost between Howard Hughes and Hap
Arnold:
But the reasons for and the details of that relationship run far
deeper and are more significant than mere paranoia and wishful
thinking that ""Hap" Arnold had no intention of allowing the Nazi
machine to beat America's best jet publically."
Pure horsefeathers.
By 1948, the Nazis were receding in the rearview mirror, FE-4012's
supply of Jumos were clapped out and the poor quality of late Nazi
manufacturing caused handling problems at high speed.* The Me-262's
technology and performance had been eclipsed and new challenges - both
technical and political - were rising. There was no need to fear being
"shown up" by an airplane that was already a dead end. There were
plenty of reasons to fear for an eccentric nut that stood a better
than fair chance of killing himself in a vain attempt to "show up" the
service in an airplane on loan from your own junk pile.
* -
If - and that's a big *if* - Hap Arnold, USAAF (ret), pulled any
strings to keep FE-4012 from racing, fear of being "shown up" by
Howard Hughes and a rattletrap Me-262 was the least of them.
Peter Stickney
I rather doubt that. While the poor materials used in the Jumo 004 were
a problem, there were many other problems with the engine that aren't
going to get fixed no matter what you do. (And still have it be a Jumo 004.)
The compressor aerodynamics are poor. Not only is it inefficient, with
a low compression ratio, it's also prone to compressor stall/surge.
The turbines are also very inefficient.
Engine controls were rudimentary at best.
The smart thing to do is use a pair of GE CJ610/J85 engines.
They're smaller than the Jumo, but have the same mass flow
and will fit nicely into the original nacelles.
(I was part of a project in the late '80s to obtain a 2 seat 262
from Czechoslovakia and restore it to flight. I was handling
aerodynamics and performance analysis. So I know a bit
about what's involved)
Note 1: This isn't a slap at Junkers, or the Germans in general - somebody
had to be first. But they had to put so much of their engineering effort into
trying to get something - anything - into the field, that little stuff like being
able to change throttle settings without blowing out the fire went by the
wayside.
Note 2: The contemporary Westinghouse J30 exceeded Jumo 004 performance
for efficiency and ease of handling.
--
Pete Stickney
Failure is not an option
It comes bundled with the system