Me 509
Model picture Me 509
Role Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer Messerschmitt
Status Unrealised project

The Messerschmitt Me 509 was an all-metal fighter project, underway in Germany during World War II.

Development

Not much information about this project has survived. It was based on the Me 309 but with the engine located behind a pressurized cockpit, much in a similar manner to the US Bell P-39 Airacobra.

The engine was a Daimler-Benz DB 605B driving a three-blade propeller, and armament was to consist of two 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns and two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon. The tricycle landing gear from the Me 309 was retained, which worked better on the 509, due to the lower weight on the nosewheel - the Me 309's nosegear had collapsed during trials. The smaller nose would have improved visibility. The project was cancelled along with the Me 309,[1] but the Japanese made a similar aircraft, the Yokosuka R2Y Keiun, which suffered from engine overheating.[2]

Specifications (as designed)

Data from

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.27 m (37 ft 0 in)
  • Height: 3.98 m (13 ft 1 in)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Daimler-Benz DB 605B v-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,085 kW (1,455 hp)
  • Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 760 km/h (470 mph, 410 kn)

Armament

  • Guns:

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

  1. ↑ "Projekte : Projekt Me 509 (drop down)". me109.info (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ↑ Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental Aircraft of the ITA and IJN 1939–1945. Hinkley: Midland Publishing. pp. 78-80. ISBN 978-978-1857805.
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