First, thanks for your elaborate answer, second.
About 1) :
That during the last years of WW II SO units were established, that's
beyond doubt. That any means of precaution to save the pilot would have been more or
less for morale only, probably, too, although it may have allowed one pilot to fly
at least two missions. The example of the exploding tanker is somewhat meaningless,
I think, as attacks on the wide open sea would have been impossible with the available
SO weapons and secondly : How many tankers were crossing the Atlantic alone ? There
were a number of missions, where the soldiers rescue was seen in their capture.
But as mentioned before, that's not the main point of this discussion.
About 2) :
The Me 262 fighter had an empty weight of 3,800 kg. Removing weapons (334 kg), ammo
(150 kg), armour (196 kg) and maybe even the landing gear (estimated 300 kg) would
reduce this to 2,820 kg, that gives a difference of 3,580 kg to the stated MTOW of
6.800 kg. The normal fuel load of 1,500 l/ 1270 kg gave a range of about 1,000 km.
So, for the stated range of about 500 km not even the more powerful Jumo 004C would
have been needed. And removing the mentioned componenets certainly wouldn't be the
development of a new variant.
About 3) :
See 2), for a suicide mission, an "emptied" Me 262 would have been the quicker way, not
to mention, that this solution would have saved the full speed of the Me 262, whereas
the combination would have been slower without doubt.
About 4) :
You're right, there would have been sufficient space. The manned version of the
Fi 103 would have had sufficient space for the additional instrumentation. Only the
transmsission of the input via the control column was needed and this was done via
potentiometers, not very big devices, not even back then. And the device, that translated
those commands in the lower unit was integrated into the "Kurssteuerung" (command unit).
About 5) :
You're right, it wouldn't have been more complex, than in the other Mistel types. It was
tested and proven, maybe it would have had to be modified for higher attack velocities.
About 6) :
You're right, there were designs for Mistel combination using Ju 287 as lower components !
As mentioned, jet engines had a much shorter life span, but could be manufactured with much
less man hours.
About 7) :
Maybe because a Reichenberg was simpler, easier and would have freed Me 262 for other tasks ?
About 8)
Your article mentions, that the pulse jet of the Fi 103R would have been shut down for cruise
flight. If the Me 262 could have accomplished cruise flight alone, I can hardly see much reason
for the pulse jet at all ! For take-off rocket boosters could have been used and for the terminal
dive, any additional vibrations may have reduced accuracy. So, combining both, to my opinion only
makes sense for the use as a conventional Mistel.
About 9 ) :
The simple fact, that quite a lot of V1 reached a target at their maximum range of about 280 km,
proves the "20 minutes lifespan" to be wrong, as it certainly hadn't a V(max) of 840 km/h, had it ?
The As 014 certainly was a short-lived engine, AFAIK the main limitation came from the spring loaded
pistons. But that would have been a point ceratinly to be cured quite quickly with the use of higher
quality materials.
About 10 ) :
"... This was a time to destroy bridges to stop the Red Army." Exactly for such missions the "conventional"
Mistel had been designed, too, but proven too slow. And those Mistels were fitted with a shaped charged
warhead to achieve a better efficiency.
About 11) :
"Do not argue what it is not - bring arguments what it is. "
Just one simple question : Do you have a reliable source, stating that this combination was meant
as a suicide weapon ?
You mentioned a drawing showing it, is it somehow labelled as "SO-Flugzeug" ? I have the feeling, we
are discussing just drawn conclusions, not provable facts. Don't get me wrong, that's absolutely ok,
history is something, that has to be interpreted. But it an interpretation should be marked as such,
as well as main sources should be shown, or at least mentioned, because only then those interested can
conceive their own opinion. For example, the document about the load of explosives of the Me 262, to
my opinion has so many inconsistencies, that I would regard it as highly dubious. We both know about
susceptibility of that market !
About 12 ) :
The DB project is known, we have a thread here, mentioning it, I think. Those "manned missiles" should
be carried by a big carrier aircraft, AFAIK. But In 1945 the Me 262/Reichenberg Mistel hardly would have
had any chance to reach a tanker in the Atlantic!
Did you have a precise look at the drawing you posted ?
What you see in the nose with that sting-like fuse looks exactly like a shaped charge to me. And from
all technical-tactical thoughts, that would have been a wise decision, as even a very strong explosion
at the outside of the hull of a tanker may just have led to a deep dent or severe whole, but the effect
of the explosion may not have gone into deep. A shaped charge without doubt would !
Remember, a simple explosion brings not even 50 % of its effects to bear to the target.
But many thanks for that drawing, it gives an idea, why Me 262 as explosive carrier could remain externally
unaltered, besides the deletion of the cockpit.
"Area weapon" - what a nonsense! ". In the form, you've described the combination of the Me 262 and the
Fi 103R it would have been an "area weapon", similar to an aerial mine or a modern FAE (Fuel-Air-Explosive),
not meant to destroy point targets, but "soft" targets (houses, troops and so on) over a great area. But a high
accuarcy isn't needed for such missions. So, why sacrifice a pilot for it ? And no, I don't think, that destroying
"the bathroom of the King at Buckingham Palace" would have motivated any suicide pilot. Maybe the irony
about that point was lost in my post, sorry for that.
But a mission like that to my opinion would have been the only reasonable use for a suicide Mistel of that
configuration !
So, here are the arguments, what it to my opinion is: A proposal for a Mistel with a Fi 103R Reichenberg as
upper component, that was meant to bring home the pilot. A suicide weapon could have been realised much easier,
without the need for using up two aircraft, even offering higher speed and accuracy. If the layout with the lower
component just filled with explosives, as mentioned in that document, would have been used, that loss of speed
would not even have been compensated by a much higher explosive power !
Again, I wouldn't completely deny, that such a proposal was made. Other, even less practical weapon systems
were proposed and sometimes, if those ideas fell on fertile ground, even resources for development and testing
were allocated ! So, why not here, too ? But I really would like to hang on to the believe, that at least the
biggest part of the aviational branch of the German industry had kept some common sense ...
