Me 262 vs P-51 Mustang: Europe 1944–45 (Duel Book 100)

The P-51 Mustang, a happy marriage of British and American technology, came along at a critical moment in the Second World War. Its long range capability enabled it to escort Allied bombers deep into Nazi Germany and its increasing sophisticated air defenses. Those air defenses included the newly deployed Me 262 jet fighter...This well-written Osprey Duel Series entry by Robert Forsyth traces the development of the two fighters, one an acme of the piston-engine fighter, the other the first useful jet fighter. Their paths would intersect in the skies over Germany. This book details and analyzes their encounters, nicely supported by period photographs and modern illustrations and diagrams. Recommended to the student of the air war over Germany as a fascinating and concise read.

This is a superb and long overdue book on the unavoidable collision between the P-51 and the ME 262 over the German skies of WW2. Well worth the price and read.Over the many years since the end of WW2, there has been a lot of misinformation and miscalculation concerning the German Jets and the effect those jets, especially the ME 262 could possibly have had on WW2. In an incredible effort under constant bombing, an effort that earns major respect, over 1400 ME 262's were built. At most, 250 total Me 262's were made operational, with never more than 100 Me 262's operational at any given time. First reports of ME 262 sightings caused major concern at the commands of the Royal Air Force(RAF) and United States Army Air Force(USAAF).The RAF was working on its on first generation jet fighter (Gloster Meteor), as was the USAAF (P80 Shooting Star), but both jets were far from ready, having the many developmental issues of a first generation jet fighter. The ME 262 also had ongoing developmental issues. As the air war deteriorated for the German Luftwaffe, the ME 262 was put into combat, developmental issues and all. The ME 262 was effective against the bombers, although the short range of the 30mm cannons, put the ME 262 in effective range of the bomber's many deadly .50 caliber Browning Machine Guns, long before the ME 262 could get into effective 30mm cannon range. But the opposition most deadly to the ME 262 were the mature-technology, high performance piston-engine fighters. RAF Spitfires and Tempests shot down 22 ME 262's. USAAF P47 Thunderbolts shot down 25 more. And, in a "Perfect Storm" inevitable collision, P51 Mustangs shot down 121 ME 262's.There is a myth that P-51B/C/D Mustangs could only ambush the ME 262 while taking off and landing. On March 24, 1945, during a bomber formation attack at 25,000 ft the famous Tuskegee Airman (332nd Fighter Group) shot down 3 ME 262's. It is overlooked, but on that same day, during the same attack, the 31st Fighter Group shot down 5 more ME 262's, for a total of 8 ME 262's downed by P-51B/C/D's in high altitude, high speed combat. The P-51, handled by good, experienced pilots, could handle the ME 262 at high altitude and high speed. (Statistics & Analysis Chapter):Nevertheless, bearing in mind the relatively small number of operationally ready Me 262s at any one time (100 or so across all units at the most), VIII Fighter Command groups accumulated some impressive scores against the Messerschmitt jet fighter. The 357th FG claimed 19 Me 262 kills to become the highest-scoring Eighth Air Force group. Five groups (4th [10], 339th [12], 78th [13], 55th [16.5], and 357th FGs) scored ten or more kills. In total, USAAF fighter units lodged 166.5 air-to-air destroyed, probable and damaged Me 262 claims.(Author Robert Forsyth)

I never knew the 262 was so vulnerable to prop fighters.Excellent photos and combat narration.

Good history of both aircraft and how they operated. It also went into the tactics of both too.

Excellent read I’ve always loved the osprey duel series as it talks about training, tactical situations and combat for both aircraft.

thank you

The kindle edition of this book is a hot mess. Font size changing, weird backgrounds, no continuity of text and clarity of message. I enjoy detailed history texts, but this one is both short and incoherent.

The book was new and covered the topic that I was interested!

Great photographs and fine colour illustrations ,especially the combat recreation scene.Text ,as usual gives an effective account of aerial warfare.But for all the Luftwaffe s' technology ..they didn't stand an earthly!

The book would benefit from a discussion of “kill claims” and the tendency for over-claiming. A good example is the Mig15 vs Saber book from the same series.

Always good, art work text and details

Great book for the 100th title in the fantastic duel series. I don’t read as much about the most famous aircraft, I often find myself more interested in the less common types, however for me this was a great book on some of the best known fighters of the war, and for me actually most of this information was new and appreciated. The P-51 isn’t heralded as the perfect aircraft as it often is elsewhere, it’s many teething issues and flaws early on are gone into in detail that almost cost it it’s career. The Me 262 is also a flawed design due to it being in many ways the first of its time, and dangerous for its pilots. The book is well written and flows well, and has most first hand accounts than most of the aircraft fuel books I’ve read, however it is a bit lopsided in its having more coverage per chapter on the P-51 than the 262 it seems. However great book

El libro está publicado por Osprey, una editorial británica especializada en historia militar. La mayoría de sus libros están publicados en alguna de sus colecciones (New Vanguard, Combat, Fortress, etc.), que siguen un formato fijo en el que ocupan un lugar muy importante las fotografías y las ilustraciones.Este libro corresponde a la serie "Duel", que sigue un formato fijo de 80 páginas, abundantes fotografías, varias láminas en color y un texto estructurado de forma muy similar en todos los títulos de la serie, con una introducción general, una cronología básica, una presentación de ambos contendientes, la descripción de varios enfrentamientos y, finalmente, un análisis general. Un último apartado es el de la bibliografía recomendada y, en ocasiones, también incluye una recomendación de museos y páginas web.En el caso de este libro, el duelo del que se trata es el de los cazas norteamericanos P-51 Mustang y los cazabombarderos alemanes Me 262 en los últimos meses de la guerra. El autor del libro es Robert Forsyth, un especialista en la Luftwaffe que he escrito muchos libros para esta editorial.Me ha parecido una lectura interesante, aunque no he encontrado mucha información novedosa, quizás porque ya he leído otros libros relacionados con este tema. Todos los apartados del libro están bien explicados y, dependiendo de las lecturas previas de cada uno, serán más o menos interesantes y / o novedosos. En mi caso particular, he encontrado interesante todo el libro, aunque el apartado final, el del análisis y las conclusiones, es el que me ha dejado un poco decepcionado, porque no contiene ningún punto novedoso con respecto a lo que ya había encontrado en otras lecturas.Los gráficos y las fotografías están, como casi siempre, muy bien.