| Me 309Z | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A model of the Me 309Z. | |
| Role | Heavy fighter |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt |
| Status | Unrealised project |
| Developed from | Messerschmitt Me 309 |
The Messerschmitt Me 309Z was a short-lived World War II German project which joined two fuselages of the Me 309 fighter prototype together to form a heavy fighter. The project was initiated in response to a 1942 Reich Air Ministry requirement for a Schnellstbomber (fastest bomber) able to outpace existing Allied bombers and fighters. Messerschmitt's response was the Me 309Z, which would use the failed Me 309 project to form the basis of the new fighter. The Me 309Z would have joined the two Me 309 fuselages with a new center wing section into which the two inboard wheels of the landing gear would retract. The Me 309Z kept the Me 309's tricycle undercarriage which resulted in an ungainly six-wheel arrangement. The Me 309Z would have had its cockpit in the port fuselage, the starboard being smoothed over.
The finished project would have been used as a Schnellbomber, but in January 1943 the Dornier P.231 was declared the winner of the Schnellstbomber competition, meaning that the Me 309Z remained a paper project only.
Some sources associate Me 609 with the Me 309Z, but Messerschmitt documents indicate that Me 609 was actually a cover designation for test-ready, late-war Me 262s.[1][2]
Specifications (Me 309Z, as designed)[]
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 9.72 m (31 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 15.75 m (52 ft 6 in)
- Height: 3.43 m (11 ft 3 in)
- Empty weight: 5,247 kg (11,660 lb)
- Loaded weight: 6,534 kg (14,520 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603, () each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 760 km/h (472 mph)
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannons
- 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons
- Bombs: 500 kg (1,102 lb) of bombs
See also[]
- Bf 109
- Me 209
- Me 209-II
- Me 309
- Me 509
- P-82 Twin Mustang
- Heinkel He 111Z Zwilling ("Twins")
- List of military aircraft of Germany
- List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Messerschmitt Me 309Z. |
The original article can be found at Messerschmitt Me 309Z and the edit history here.
- ↑ Sharp, D., 2018. "Schnellstbomber: Me 109 Zw, Me 309 Zw, and Me 609", Luftwaffe: Secret Designs of the Third Reich. Mortons, pp. 108-115.
- ↑ Ebert, Hans A., Johann B. Kaiser and Klaus Peters, 2000. Willy Messerschmitt: Pioneer of Aviation (The History of German Aviation Design). Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books. ISBN 0-7643-0727-4.