A Replica Me-262 with 'Original Flair' and the Ace You Might Not Have Heard About Yet

The second project from the workshops at Pima Air and Space Museum is our featured Me-262 and a little more about an ace that tends to be overlooked: Theodor Weissenberger
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[@BOEHHO89]

Talking about high kill numbers ,Gunther Rall was asked how he managed to have such a high score ,he responded that he flew in a target rich environment ( Russia ).

[@Katzekoschi]

Right there, german humor 😁

[@zorngottes1778]

I know the interview. There was allways an interest in playing down those magnificant german soldiers. They where victorious in many ways. It was only the mass that brought them down. The best 100 german fighter pilot shot down over 10.000 !!! enemy aircraft. Surely all sitting ducks. What about the about 25.000 russian tanks from which about 2.500 allready whereT 34s when we "attacked" the UDSSR? On the german side there where 3.500 tanks up to Panzer IV. How was this over all 10 : 1 ratio achieved? We had the better men. Thats the answer.

[@Rkolb2798]

Gunther Rall was such a Character, I could listen to him talk for ages . RIP

[@gswombat]

@@zorngottes1778 They fought for an indescribably evil government.

[@strizhi6717]

​@@zorngottes1778take it easy on the 1 to 10 ratio. Its been repeated but not a single thought put into it. German losses in aircraft alone was over 116,000 compared to Soviet 106,000. German tank losses were 68,000 compared to Soviet 82,000. German KIA was 6 million and add another 2 million of their axis allies and the total number is 8 million the same as Soviet 8 million KIA. Over 80% of German losses were in the eastern front. The target rich environment was soon in the sights of Russian IL-2 pilots, IS-2 tankers and millions of PPsH wielding soldiers that by 1942 German high command knew it was over even two years before D-Day .. I don't see anything about 1 to ten ratio no matter which way you try to spin it. The worst movie ever made keeping the old stereotype was Enemy At The Gates where soldiers were thrown in makeshift boats to run across a river against Stuka attack only if surviving that told to get in line one for a rifle and another for bullets and then immediately without rest thrown into a mindless human wave attack with a single NKVD machine gunned to shoot an entire company should they decide to retreat. Not only is it insulting to history as it never happened but you have to be a moron to try to follow such an order nevermind convince an entire company of its good idea. Order #227 did exist from June 1942 til October of that same year. Rear line troops stopped 2 million sending them back to their unit without punishment while 40,000 were sent to penal battalion and 10,000 who were executed not only ran from their post but either killed their comrades in the process or joined the axis (in short they had it coming). Germans executed ten times as many off record with countless bodies dangling from city lamp posts to the shock of American forces who were tasked to clear city by city village by village. And that whole thing about one with a rifle and another with a bullet is also idiotic. Soviet Union amassed an army of 34 million men (rotation wise), produced over 28 million firearms and made fife tumes as many automated weapons as Germany. At no point was there a shortage of weapons..ammo in some small sectors was in short supply but that's always been a problem with every army. German losses have been grossly underestimated for the last 79 years while Russian overestimated and you can thank that on anti Russian hysteria and false claims that have never been questioned especially during the height of the cold war unless you wanted to be branded a communist only for trying to keep history honest. Today there is zero excuse for sloppy stupid ignorance when there is abundance if resources. I have travelledbrhe world and been to countless museums and have studied the eastern front for over two decades interviewing countless ww2 veterans. One thing that has always stood out to me was how well both Americans and Russians spoke of one another during that time. There wasn't much boasting but rather a true comradery...i hope to get back to those times one day.

[@Kr0N05]

The Me-262 is a beautiful aircraft, and is amazingly 'shark' looking.

[@ushikiii]

true. I often call my tempest mk v (war thunder) a shark due to its speed, but this plane looks much more like one.

[@user-oz3lx1rt2l]

Germany was in a real bind almost the entire war over lack of access to certain metal alloys. I highly recommend the book " The Secret Race For Horsepower", expensive but incredibly well researched.

[@bruceculver5935]

Many years ago, I heard a lecture by Gen. Adolf Galland - he said that in reality, only about 700 Me 262s were ever completed. Many of them were pushed out of the factories lacking finishing parts, to keep up reported production figures for the RLM and Hitler - these airframes were often stripped for parts to finish other aircraft still on the production line.....

[@sgt13echo]

Love that you're also creating warbird videos!

[@haroldmclean3755]

That will be an excellent tribute to the Luftwaffe Ace 👍

[@atomicyetti5513]

I was in Auckland NZ and saw a buzz bomb and a zero fighter at the commonwealth museum. Was amazing!!

[@user-rl5nd3ys8p]

I saw that Zero when I visited as a Kid in the 70s. 🇦🇺👍

[@installwebercarburetorsona6159]

It’s impressive he had that victory count in a 110 and survived

[@1967250s]

There were several German pilots with kill counts over 200, and even a couple over 300

[@Wookie120]

Erich Hartmann was the highest scoring with 352 confirmed. If memory serves there several night fighter pilots with higher than 100 confirmed kills that flew the ME 110. She is a much maligned aircraft because she did not, could not stand up to the single engined Spits and Hurris, but in all honesty the 110 was a solid aircraft, especially at night.

[@TheJustinJ]

The 110 was mediocre. Good tactics were required to be successful. The Beaufighter, Mosquito, and P-61 Widow were radically better twin engine heavy/night fighters.

[@Wookie120]

Perhaps you should read what Captain Eric Winkle Brown said about the 110, and considering he actually flew and evaluated it instead of reading a book, I will listen to him before I even consider what you say.

[@datvik7187]

@@Wookie120 same thought here. The Me110 was a versatile platform.

[@stephenkrall7609]

Thanks Sofi, another great video.

[@OlSgtLove]

Can't wait to see ...Sofi ,you are going to have to build some model planes now ...😊😊😊

[@ChristianThePagan]

An old-timer once told me that he merely got the feeling, when looking at most fighters, that they are lethal machines that can kill you. However, when looking at a Me.109 (we were standing in front of an E series) it is actually true that it looks like it really, really, WANTS to kill you. It's not the only fighter that has that look but the Me.109B to E series are my favourites for some reason.

[@edfederoff2679]

The Dornier Do-335 Pfeil (Arrow) definitely wants to kill you and everything else it can. Thankfully, it arrived too late to be useful.

[@cabanford]

Great video. One of my favorite WWII planes - looks like an Air Shark.

[@haskelldavis5244]

First I ever heard of Theodor Weissenberger (21 December 1914 - 11 June 1950) Thanks.

[@dbcooper4375]

An interesting little related tidbit.... google the quote "Theo, I've just used up all my ammunition. I'm going to ram. Good bye. See you in Valhalla."

[@ianhelyar6383]

I heard of him when I was playing Aces over Europe, a flight sim game from the early 90's. Various aces, like Galland, Rall, Nowotny, et al would randomly pop up and make my day difficult. If they shot you down, you learned their name after you died. If you shot them down, you would get a congratulatory message. I remember Weissenberger as the most difficult opponent I had to deal with. It was almost as if the computer was cheating, he was so hard to counter. If he got on my tail, I'd shrug my shoulders and wait for the end.

[@dbcooper4375]

@@ianhelyar6383 Man I played so many hours of Aces Over Europe and Aces of the Pacific...

[@heikos4264]

You are one of the few that has a 'might 'in the video title. Thank you for not being one of the people that don't care how arrogant their video title is 🙂

[@mr.g1683]

Amazing history Mr. Marchand shared thank you kindly Sofilein for having him as a guest. Good job out of you both.

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

He is not correct !!!!

[@happyhome41]

Most EXCELLENT ! THANK YOU

[@thegodofhellfire]

Wild to think of a farmers wagon with me-262 wheels. 😅

[@mischi9203]

well our wheelbarrow has a backwheel of an antonov an2

[@TheJustinJ]

@@mischi9203that is perfect.

[@davidhobson7652]

can just picture that during the war they get orders to takeoff for a mission only to find their planes wheels have been stolen next day they see a tractor drive down road with those wheels

[@franksmodels29]

Fantastic great build cool vid 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@QualityRecord]

Had the pleasure of observing and talking to the restorer, this past summer.

[@sabii416]

Late in the war Germany faced a lack of experienced pilots to fly these planes. Most trained, experienced pilots had been killed or retired out of service. They were forced to put 18 and 19 yr old cadets behind the stick after a week of air hours.For an amazing story and account of aerial combat highly recommend reading A Higher Call which details a short stint of the ME 262 at the war's end.

[@TheAneewAony]

Nope. They had two operational squadrons piloted completely by aces.

[@curiousentertainment3008]

While that’s not completely correct the skill of the pilot doesn’t matter when the plane itself falls apart mid air, which did happen a few times.

[@TheAneewAony]

@@curiousentertainment3008 The best fighter of WWII did have issues

[@StevenG222]

Personally I'd like to see experimental and little known aircraft! But I'll watch wichever you choose and appreciate it, every aircraft is interesting!!

[@Sofilein]

That’s what I like to see too! Gonna switch it up for the next few vids 😎

[@justme8340]

Good save on condensing the limits of the Whittle engine. You caught yourself going down a long wordy road. I struggle with that as well. 😉

[@jackdoyle9448]

Call it what you will but THAT is the real deal. Beautiful airplane and look forward to seeing the final product.

[@Chuckles..]

Amazing episode, thanks Sofilein!.

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating history.

[@chrisivan_yt]

Man I love these older jets, thanks for the awesome channel and sharing btw!

[@guyk2260]

Great work Sofi , keep these coming please.

[@wastingmymoneyonmotorcycles]

What a great video. This guy is an encyclopedia.!

[@brcron007]

Great story about Theo an unsung hero by any standard. Pretty cool you are Honoring him and his sacrifices. As we all know it was a "Bankers War" and we all pay the price for their Greed and he recognized it 👍👍👍 and now you have recognized him for the stand up guy and his legendary actions. Thanks for recognizing the unsung Real heros of the Great war !

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

Thanks for the video. Good stuff!

[@oldgoat142]

This is terrific content from a terrific content creator. These are the kinds of tidbits that I love. Thank you very much for doing what you do.

[@robertmorey4104]

Neat videos, love these esp pilot history!

[@seanokeefe703]

Fantastic

[@theodorefritz4026]

I saw the post...and I *will* get back to it...thank you Sofilein. But...I gotta sleep before work

[@MGB-learning]

Great expansion into the Military aircraft. Outstanding video and presentation.

[@daguard411]

Again, Thank You!

[@OlSgtLove]

Enjoyed it Sofi ,and alot of history on the German Fighter Pilot . Not many 262's or pieces of them around . Take care Sofi.

[@skyking7964]

What a gem , You are really lucky to have gotten your hands on that aircraft one of the,few

[@sumpterino]

Magnificent wörk, Bröther 👌💯

Awesome! Hadn't realized how small the me-262 fuselage actually is..!

[@Nick-rr5cy]

Good video enjoyed it thanks 👍

[@Tankman14852]

Wow this is very cool ❤❤❤

[@darkredvan]

BTW German engine developers knew what alloys to use for the hot part of the engine, they even built one prototype that lived well beyond the lifetime of the production engines. The problem was they never had enough high grade metals that were needed for the serial production of jet engines. So they had to use inferior „Ersatz“ alloys. This led to the micro TBO of ~25 hours. They did know what they were doing or better should have been done instead.

[@mbr5742]

Thankfully that is the history of many WW2 german weapons. The Panther being a good example - the engineers KNEW the final drives where to weak (The Panther had "bulked out a bit" from a Sofiline weight class to something closer to Brendan Fraser in "The Whale") and had a fix (Use the Tiger finals) but where not allowed to do that (They also wanted to add some more vision elements for the gunner...)

[@captiannemo1587]

Metallurgy wasn’t as much an issue as limited supplies of the metal needed to produce the alloy. Plus capacity to produce the alloy in volume. People forget sometimes. For the Allies, there was a general shortage of Tungsten as it went in the majority to tool steel. That said Canada extracted so much ore so quickly (expanding production of ore) that the UK and US said to stop. With the end of the war in sight, Tungsten got released for projectiles.

[@dbcooper4375]

The man I bought my house from was USAF Col Bob Landino (ret). In 1945 he was navigator on the B17G "Sweet Nancy II," shot down by Weissenberder on march 18th,1945 when he was leading jg7. Pretty sure that was his 204th kill. Landino ended up outliving Weissenberger by almost 65 years, passing away in 2014.

[@Lutz101]

Interesting video. Thanks.

[@bierce716]

Good video! One small exception I'll take is that there were some very good engines derived from the Whittle centrifugal compressor format.

[@zippytpinhead847]

Rolls Royce Nene. Mig 15 had an engine based off of a licensed one.

[@number1genoa]

@@zippytpinhead847 Rolls Royce Dart had a two stage centrifugal compressor, served on the Fokker Friendship well into the 1970's and other types.

[@TheAneewAony]

True, the centrifugal jet engine is great for generators, turboprops etc. Just not high performance jets

[@keithad6485]

There is a pristine ME 262 in Australia, donated to the Australian War Memorial by the RAF after they had run it through flying tests after the war. It is still complete but the AWM will never fly it not wanting to risk its destruction by accident. During a restoration quite some years ago, the staff found pine needles inside the rear fuselage, leading them to conclude it was made outdoors in a German forest.

[@vwtype34fan]

Great video, would have liked to hear more about its history, like where it came from, kind of like what you did with the BF 109.

[@thedoctorofstyleirondeadpaul]

Awesome

[@whpruitt1]

Cool video!

[@easynovember5423]

👍Thanks!

[@barryfenwick609]

very nice

[@eric-wb7gj]

TY 🙏🙏

[@TheTHX1138lives]

Doesn't Pima have a B-36 with the "hybrid" setup of 6 piston engines and 4 jet engines? Would be interesting to see what the flight engineer's station looks like with that many "kids" to keep track of.

[@Sofilein]

Yes! And it’s in great condition also. It’s outside though so we’re waiting for it to cool off some. I’ll do that vid in the fall

[@robbwatson2088]

Montana to San Antonio is not the width of North America. Lol. I love your museum and really enjoyed you video on the 109 and 262. Cheers

[@andrewreilly1018]

Thank you Sofi . . . great videos

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Thanks, Sofi, for reminding us about Theo Weissenberger; and also for letting the Pima museun update us on their progress on their projects - which have all been slowed down due to the COVID convulsion and stupid ugly politics. Hope that things can get going more normally soon; we need the military and air museums to remind us of what's possible when we work together.

[@tootired76]

I was at an airshow in 2005 and came across a booth where these people were trying to tell us that they were making new ME 262 airplanes. I told the woman that they were making repilcas. She argued that they were building brand new ME 262s! They were even giving them sequential serial numbers after the original ones! I told her they were making replicas! I explained there are original Shelby Cobra cars but most new ones are now replicas! She kept saying "but,but,but". She sounded like a motorboat!!

[@armandbotha636]

Well the Messerschmidt foundation in germany felt they were good enought to be given a continuation number and accepted them as something other than a mere replica

[@commonsenseisntcommon1776]

pretty cool

[@samparkerSAM]

❤ The builds make me feel Pretty, oh so Pretty 😍 💗 and witty and ... umm ... Spring Time for USAF...

[@robertk.5195]

"Great Job!" to both of you. How about some insights into the Martin B-57 Canberra?

[@Manta-82]

Thank you !! Love your stuff. WB you war nerd hehe.

[@Incorruptus1]

Awesome! Please keep at it :D The ME-262 models, are like wolves in sheep clothing. Awesome designs at it's basic, the rounded formula just rocks. I still like to call it Der Schwalbe. *QUESTION:* How many models of the ME-262, where actually designed. Beside the two seater instructor aircrafts, I wonder how many versions of this plane existed, since there is varied responses on that question I wonder about yours sir?

[@hacheyp]

This guy is fascinating! More please.

[@ericneilson1198]

ME-262 fuselage reminds me of a shark. It looks more modern than anything that immediately later. Almost laminar and very elegant.

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

I tried to visit the museum last week but they close the gate a 1 pm during the week, over the summer. I hadn't been for more than 20 years. I'm interested in the A-26.

[@user-rl5nd3ys8p]

I so very impressed 🇦🇺👍👍👍

[@recoilrob324]

That 262 is about as original as most warbirds flying today....many have had extensive repairs and rebuilding and some have only the data plate as original with the rest being newly manufactured. A good example is 'Glacier Girl' the P-38 recovered out of the ice years ago. I saw it in 'as recovered' condition and it was flat as a pancake from the hundreds of feet of ice that had been on top of it. So while there are a few bits and pieces of it that are original...a lot needed to be made new to get it into flying condition. Oh...and a comment on the centrifugal vs axial flow jet engines: Yes... almost all modern engines use the axial flow compressor but there were many successful centrifugal engines that served for decades in British and Russian service. That design does have limitations but within those they work well. Great video Sofilein!!

[@vumba1331]

Many of the turbine engines used on helicopters are of the centrifugal type, more efficient and as it is not being used in a high forward speed situation, aerodynamics not being critical, it's compact configuration is fine.

[@oldtugs]

@@vumba1331 Gas turbine engines using centrifugal compressors are less efficient than those that use axial compressors. Since all turbine engines require intake air to be subsonic, the speed of the aircraft is irrelevant except to the airframe designers who must insure that the compressor always sees subsonic flow.

[@vumba1331]

@@oldtugs That's interesting because centrifugal compressors are more efficient, more compression of the air with the same amount of fuel results in more thrust and hence you can get more power from a more compact unit. The Aeriel 1D1 uses a centrifugal compressor for its main stage with an axial for the feed air.

[@vumba1331]

@@oldtugs On helicopters size is an issue so a compact, efficient power unit is important and our neighbour's helicopter was of such a configuration and it is amazing how small it was and what the helicopter could carry, 4 passengers plus a load. Perfect for hunters.

[@laurencehoffelder1579]

@@vumba1331 they are not more efficient but have a single radial compressore stage has a higher compression ratio than a single axial compressor stage.

[@misdangered4326]

Ironically there’s probably more original parts in that replica than many flying ‘restorations’. 🙁

[@vesawuoristo4162]

Cool! Marvelous job getting all those parts.

[@pjchris90]

The Whittle design approach using a centrifugal style compressor was developed well into the 1950's by Rolls Royce and Allison and was heavily used until the axial flow engines began to finally deliver on their promise of higher thrusts in a smaller airframe. Whittle type engines were heavily used all through the 1940's and into the middle of the 1950's.

[@iDEATH]

Feels a bit weird to come off Garand Thumb and Forgotten Weapons doing videos about a whacky late-war German thing - the Krummlauf Device curved barrel attachment for the STG-44, for those who haven't seen them - that went nowhere to, a video about something as influential as the Me-262!

[@mbr5742]

The Krummlauf - it was a cover up. Bertha (the wife of a weaponsmith working on Stg's) had sat on a couple of barrels. And being a tad on the big side... Now it was either find a good explanation of visit the eastern front. And so the Krummlauf was born

[@tomhowe1510]

Wow badass. How much for that as is with wings?Id mount that in my yard.

[@vladcraioveanu233]

🏆

[@spsliger]

Is the 262 going to be a flyer or static display

[@razor1uk610]

Weissenburg (spelling?) seems much akin to Kurt Knispel was with tanks, with regards him being a great combat leader, a high scoring ace in different vehicles types, and relatively a non-Natzi whom was and is overlooked purposefully by command,andtbusly the allies.

[@Joe-bx4wn]

I built one when I was 14. I was proud of it but it was only 1/32 SCALE, by Revell.

[@mbr5742]

As for planes - Can we have an F4 Phantom II please? And if they have the original MIG 31 (The one retrieved by Major Gant in 1982) can we get that as well? ;)

[@highdarktemplar]

This aircraft has such a beautiful line, almost like a race car. I love WWII German aircraft.

[@eamo106]

Make them fly ~!

[@davidhobson7652]

if you wanna know more about some pilots that flew the Me262 i"d recommend reading the book " A HIGHER CALL " about Franz Stigler how his flight career started his encounter with Charlie Brown and the B17 Ye Old Pub and his life between being a Bf109 pilot then as a Me262 pilot flying alongside Adolf Galland too

[@iand8331]

The Metropolitan-Vickers F2 axial flow turbojet was test flown in a Gloucester Meteor in 1943!

[@kantenklaus9753]

Speaking of Mustang P51 👍👍

[@johngriffin9720]

The importance of the 262 was not in the engines, but rather in the swept wing configuration.

[@Chopatube]

How about a episode on the "Round the World" Avro Vulcan at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.

[@CthulhuInc]

hm, you might want to watch christophe's [military aviaion history] version of the history of the 262 regarding the whole usage of the craft

[@LarsAgerbk]

3:59 I believe this a myth. Military Aviation History has a video called The 'Real' Reason(s) Why The Me 262 Had Bombs. It explains this myth in detail.

[@oxcart4172]

Does anyone out there know if the one at Paine Field is being worked on again?

[@sblack48]

Who built this airframe?

[@johnk7814]

Meet a 262 pilot once Walter Schuck from JG7 and the American pilot Joe Peterburs who shot Walter down. Walter clams Joe saved his life because his Squadron was wiped out shortly after so Walter had broken his ankle bailing out and was out of commission for a while.. Those two became good friends long after the war.😁 Meet Gůther Rall in Germany two weeks before he past away I didn't hear he died till I returned to the states😔

[@mypl510]

How about a tour of the B-24 Liberator

[@Red_Four]

So Theodor Weissenberger was the Luftwaffe's version of Kurt Knispel then?

[@markboyles8019]

There's the pilots story. Sofilein keeps her promises.

[@georgedoolittle7574]

This aircraft had only one purpose which was to shoot down Allied Bombers. In this the item totally failed but the Allies in charge of the bombing campaign against Germany later Japan immediately saw how quickly the piston age was coming to a close after barely being in existence from looking at the me 262 absolutely.

[@kkteutsch6416]

Is it a scratch built aircraft - 262 or a reconstruction - Me 109 ?

[@ralfklonowski3740]

When German Fighter General Adolf Galland was asked about the impact of an earlier introduction of the Me262, he said "It would have changed nothing, except prolonging the war, thus costing even more lives." Adolf Galland lost two brothers as fighter pilots, with 17 and 50 victories to their name. The force was strong in that family.

[@HaVoC117X]

During the war he was said one Me262 was worth 5 Bf 109s as an interceptor.

[@mbr5742]

@@HaVoC117X More like needed the service of 5 to safely land or take off

[@Wookie120]

Is there a book about Herr Weisenberger?

[@slol144]

Piasecki Flying Banana or the Chickasaw, a little biased as my great uncle flew them in the late 40's? mid 50's? I know that he was flying just as WWII ended and injured during the Korean War.

[@fw1421]

Sofi,if you are interested in building WWII German aircraft I have a pretty substantial collection of larger scale aircraft that I’d be interested in sending you one as a gift. Just respond and I’ll give you a list and you can pick one that I’ll send to you. Been a fan for years.

[@red_d849]

excuse me what