A MOMENTOUS CONTRIBUTION --

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The Collings Foundation is please to announce it has received the donation of theonly flying Messerschmitt Me-262 in the United States by Mr. E. Louis Werner Jr. of Paradise Valley,AZ.Judge Werner's vision to bring the world's first operational jet fighter back to the skies has been a 14year- long dedicated effort. Judge Werner wished to share this aircraft that forever changed the face ofaviation, with as many people as possible throughout the United States. Judge Werner's generous donationto the Collings Foundation will allow millions of people to see, hear and fly in (I) this one of a kind avia-tion icon. The aircraft will be joining the Collings Foundation's Wings ~f Freedom tour in 2009 at manylocations. The Me-262 will be accompanying the B-17G Flying Fortress, the world's only flying B-24JLiberator and TP-51C on national tour. We can't think of a better addition to an already fantastic livinghistory tour!

The Me-262 Schwalbe (swallow) represents one of the largest technological leaps in the history of avia-tion.The WWII fighter had a twin axial flow jet engine mounted under each swept wing with leading edgeslats; a configuration that virtually every transport category jet currently utilizes. The Me-262 was a veryadvanced aircraft and had a considerable speed advantage over the allied straight wing piston aircraft. TheMe-262 was a potent interceptor with unparalleled speed and a lethal punch of four 30mm cannons!

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The American 8th and 15th Air Force and British Bomber Command had one surprise ally to keep theirformations from being devastated by this lethal fighter. Adolf Hitler wanted the Me- 262 to be a bomber,not a fighter. The aircraft had incredible speed, but a short range and very little payload capacity - in shortit was not a bomber! Hitler's closest advisors, such as Adolf Gallant, fought the decision but Hitler was

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slow to change his mind. Fortunately, by the time the aircraft was made operational as a fighter, the Al-lies had air superiority in Europe, allowing Mustangs the opportunity to take advantage of the Me-262's''Achilles heel" which was its slow speed during takeoff and landing. The Me- 262 had to slow down atsome point to land and that was when the Mustang fighters could pounce on the helpless jet and score avictory. The Germans were aware of this vulnerability and had long-nose FW-190's fly top cover for theMe- 262 bases to discourage the allied fighters from taking out their most valuable weapon.

The Messerschmitt's Jumo engines were technological marvels of their time. But, the German innovationsthat made this aircrafts design so dynamic were not perfected. Lack of high heat and stress resistant metalresulted in an engine that lasted a mere 15 hours between overhauls, and the fuel control unit was not re-

~Qnsive enough to cope with the rapid throttle movement needed for a dogfight. Rapidchanges in power resulted in a compressor stall. The Me-262's strength remained in

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. speed. The Messerschmitt pilot would use the jet's overwhelming speedadvantage to come in fast, hit and run. Willy Messerschmitt created theoriginal Me-262 design. Swept wings, automatic slats and modular con-struction are all examples of cutting edge technology introduced through this air-craft. Full production of the Me-262 did not start until 1944, too late toaffect the outcome of the war.

In 1944 the Kommando Nowotny unit, named after its Commander, MajorWalter Nowotny, became the first pure jet fighter unit. Major Nowotny was shotdown and killed on November 8th, 1944. At that point, "Kommando" was with-drawn for further training in combat tactics. In Autumn of 1944, Gruppe 1 ofKG51 became the first fighter-bomber unit equipped with the Me-262. ByFebruary, Lieutenant General Adolf Galland formed the fighter unit calledthe Jagdverban 44. This unit consisted of the most experienced and deco-rated Luftwaffe fighter pilots. By March 1944, Me-262 fighter units started to deliver large scale attackson Allied bomber formations. On March 18th 1945,37 Me-262s intercepted a force of 1,221 bombersand 632 escorting fighters. The Germans managed to shoot down 12 bombers and one fighter with theloss of three Me-262s. Equipped with the Jumo jet engine, the Me-262 possessed undesirable slow speedcharacteristics, which prohibited the fighter from low speed dogfighting with the Allied fighters. Thestandard attack approach started from the rear at a higher altitude. The jets would dive below the bombersto gain additional speed before climbing again to attack from beneath with their four 30mm cannons atthe 60Q-meter range.

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Allied bomber crews were fear-struck by this extremely fast"propeller-less" aircraft. Bomber gunners had a hard timetracking the jets due to their blinding speed. Targeting theMe- 262 proved difficult since the jets closed into attackrange very quickly and were in firing range for a very briefperiod. Allied fighting tactics to combat the Me-262 devel-oped quickly and found ways to shoot down the jets despitetheir great speed advantage. Allied P-51 Mustang fighterescorts flew above the bombers and dove down on the at-

tacking Me- 262s, reducing the speed advantage. Despitetheir tremendous technological advancements, the Me- 262

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was too little too late to turn the war in Germany's favor. Many Me-262s were easily destroyed on theground or shot down as a result of poor pilot training, lack of fuel or support resources. Maintenance andproduction ground to a halt as a result of continuous Allied bombing campaigns. Roughly"1,430 Me-262swere built, although only 300 ever saw combat. Today, no original Me-262's are left flying.

Aviation has been in the Werner families' blood since the dawn of aviation. E.L. Werner Sr. was a Squad-

ron Commander and Captain during WWI and flew the CurtisJN-4 "Jenny". E. Louis Werner Jr. servedin the Army and Army Reserves for 25 years, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. His first airplane ride was in a FordTri-Motor.This flight started his interest in aviation. In the early 1990's Lou had a vision to recreate thelegendary Me-262. In partnership with the Messerschmitt Foundation, the two worked corroborativelyto create a continuation Me-262 that benefitted from more modern engines and safety upgrades while

retaining the structure and construction techniques of the wartime Me-262. To authentically produce aMe-262 the Stormbird partnership used the US Navy's own two seat Me-262, that had been retained sinceits capture in WWII. Meticulous reverse engineering was used to authentically recreate the design. Mter14 years oflabor, there are now two flying Me-262's. A single seat 262 with the Messerschmitt Founda-tion and of course, Werner's original trainer-configured aircraft is in the United States carrying an originalcontinuation Work Number assigned by Messerschmitt. Lou Werner's aircraft became known as "White

1" modeled after a Me-262 that served with

Luftwaffe III I JG 6 during WWII. "White1" is the result of many years of true grit anddetermination. It is an aircraft that is a faith-

. ful continuation, bringing the aircraft backfrom extinction.

The Werner Me-2()2 will now join the Col-lings Foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour atselect national locations. Flying the Me- 262with the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Libera-tor, B-25 Mitchell and P-51 Mustang willfurther put into context the German war in-genuitythe Allied forces confronted. "Today,for most of 1:1S,it is inconceivable that Amer-ica was ever in the position to lose WWII,

but in truth it was never a slam dunk victory. We as a nation came to the brink of the abyss. The worldcould have been a very different place today if we as a nation didn't come together and make huge sacrificesduring the war. By having the US main bombers and the P-51 escort fighter together, we have been ableto honor our WWII Veterans and educate the younger generations. Until now it has been difficult to showpeople that we really were the technological underdogs; the Me-262 certainly drives that point home!"says Rob Collings, Executive Director" of the Collings Foundation. "We owe a great deal of thanks toJudge Werner for his magnificent contribution and his commitment and vision to see the project throughfrom concept to completion. I don't think that many of us can appreciate the imagination and determina-tion Lou brought to the table to make this dream a reality - truly blood, sweat and tears".

The Collings Foundation is excited to put this very generous donation from Judge E. Louis Werner Jr.to good use. In addition to flying with the national Wings of Freedom tour and attending air shows, theCollings Foundation will be offering the opportunity for private individuals to take part andfly in this leg-

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endary jet as part of the Messerschmitt Me- 262 flight training program. This is a very rare chance for bothpilots and non pilots to experience this legendary jet from the most thrilling vantage point. the cockpit!The Me-262 a is a dual control aircraft. Holding true to "understanding through experience" - participantswill be able to get some "stick.time"Lin this incredible jet fighter. The Collings Foundation wi:: also offeradvanced programs in which you can fly in both the P-51 Mustang and Me-262 for the unparalleled per-spective of a fighter pilot from both the Allied and Axis sides. The 2009 Me-262 tour and flighr trainingprograms will be available mid March. Check our web site or eNewsletter for updates.

Specifications4 1 feet, 0 inches

From the Collings Foundation and our members to the entire Werner familyThank You.

Wingspan Max. Speed 540 mph

Length 34 feet, 9 inches Service Ceiling 37,600 ft

Height 12 feet, 7 inches Range 650 miles

Empty weight 8,400 pounds Armament 4x 30mm MK108 cannons, 2x 250 kg bombs,24x R4M rockets.Max. weight 14,100 pounds

Powerplants 2x Junkers Jumo004 turbojets. Replaced with 2xGECJ-61 0 turbo jets.

Crew 1-2