Messerschmitt Me-262B Schwalbe 'Jet Trainer' (2in1)

Two ex-Eduard injection-moulded kits are supplied in this box and each kit contains 38 parts and one clear part (the cockpit canopy). One small fret with photo-etched parts and a comprehensive decal sheet are included.

The Me 262 Schwalbe was a German jet fighter designed by the team led by Willy Messerschmitt. It was one of the most advanced warplanes to see front-line service during WWII. Its protracted development began in 1939, but aerodynamics research work and jet engine development delayed its mass production.

The training aircraft based on the Me 262A-series was conceived in August 1943, but its prototype, a Blohm und Voss-converted Me 262 S5 was first flown only in July 1944.

In total, some 29 Me 262Bs were modified, with the conversions shared between B&V and DLH, and in fact all two-seaters were adapted from existing Me 262A airframes. Of these, nine aircraft were later upgraded to the combat night-fighter variant, the Me 262B-1a/U1.
The Me 262B was an all-metal low-wing monoplane, of a streamlined design and with two cockpits in tandem. It was powered by two Jumo 004 turbojets suspended under the wings. It was fitted with a swept-back wing and a tricycle landing gear. It had a long clear-view canopy and was fitted with a non-ejection seats. The original Me 262A's on-board offensive armament was to be deleted, but some B-model aircraft carried two or even four MK 108 cannons in the fuselage nose.

A number of Me 262s fell into Allied hands and some were examined in Britain, the USSR and the USA post-war. In Czechoslovakia, three two-seater CS-92s were completed and utilised by the Air Force until 1951.