"A German B-29? Let me present you the ..." Topic

…. Messerschmitt Me 264, built in 1942 as well.

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See here

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Also…

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Amicalement
Armand

vs B-29?

Me264 cruising speed: 217mph
B-29 cruising speed: 290mph

Me264 service ceiling 26,000 feet
B-29 service ceiling 31,000 feet

Me264 rate of climb: 390 ft/min
B-29 rate of climb: 900 ft/min

Me264 armament: 4 MG, 2 cannon
B-29 armament: 8 or 10MGs, plus 2MGs & 1 cannon in the tail (cannon later removed)

Me264: 4x 1,7300 HP engines
B-29: 4x 2,200 HP engines

Me264 range:9,500 miles
B-29 range: 2,820

Me264 bomb load: 6,600 lbs at 9,000 miles, 29,000 at 5,300
B-29 bomb load: 12,000 over 1,600 mile radius

Me264 max takeoff weight 123,000 lbs
B-29 max takeorr weight: 133,000 lbs.

Those last numbers seem fishy to me. After all, only three Me264s were ever built, what do we really know? It carried 10,000 lbs more fuel than the B-29, and used it more efficiently in smaller engines, but that kind of bomb range is hard to believe. Overall, though, while the planes are in the same class the B-29 is two years later and significantly better. That higher altitude limits bomb load, but it makes a big difference in AAA and fighter effectiveness.

Also without an long range escort what did the bomber hope to achieve?

Good question….

Amicalement
Armand

I love when people quote the year the first prototype got a wheel off the ground and expect the first production model to roll off the assembly line a few days later, a hundred at a time or so to satisfy their "And if they had deployed this weapon …" quota.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

During WW2, some aircraft were getting rolled off the line in hundreds per day within 6 months of first flight.

But I think the lower-powered engines of the Me264 would have really not been up to the task of flying to America and flying back. Far too slow for the fighters at the time. Even P40s would have shredded them, and P51s with Merlin engines would have absolutely destroyed them.

To say nothing of ground-based AA guns.