Tango Tango Takes To Skies Over Munich
Aero-News has learned that Tango Tango -- the second flying
reproduction of the groundbreaking Messerschmidt Me262 WWII jet
fighter -- took to the skies over Germany earlier this week. The
historic flight marked the first time that an Me262 has flown over
Germany since 1945.
Tango Tango successfully completed its April 25 test flight near
Munich. Test pilot Horst Philipp -- also the test pilot for the
company's Flug Werk FW-190 project, more on that in a minute --
reported that there were no problems during the gear-down flight,
which stayed in the airport vicinity.
Upon successful flight testing, the Me262 Project plans to fly
and display Tango Tango at the Berlin ILA 2006 Airshow, May
16-21.
As the second Me262 nears flight test in Germany, the third of
five flying reproduction Me262 fighter jets has made a major step
towards completion. As Aero-News reported two weeks
ago, the wing has now been joined to the fuselage on
White 3 as steady work continues on the cockpits of the historic
aircraft.
A lot has been done since then. Last week, the
airplane was placed on it's landing gear, and was rolled out of the
hangar for the first time. The aircraft is now 80% complete, and is
in the process of having operational systems installed. Work also
continues on the fourth airframe -- also a flying example --
with the fifth Me262 being marketed as a museum static.
The Me 262 Project was launched in 1993 with a single objective:
to reproduce flying examples of the legendary Me 262. Classic
Fighter Industries, Incorporated (CFII) was incorporated
specifically to administer this effort, and exercised direct
control over the project from 1993 until early 2001, when all
assets were transferred to the owner's group in preparation for
final assembly, the test flight programs, and delivery.
Production has been strictly limited to five aircraft: once
these five are complete, no more will ever be produced, now or in
the future. The airplanes are being manufactured as a continuation
of the basic Me 262 design -- in fact, they have even been assigned
factory serial numbers drawn from the werknummern sequences used on
the original 1945 production lines.
Meanwhile, Bob Hammer and the team at Legend Flyers "Me262
Project" in Everett, WA have received the first shipment of
Messerschmitt Bf-109 parts to begin the restoration of two Bf-109
"F" fighters to flying condition for Air Assets
International/Warbird Recovery. According to Legend Flyers, the
109s should be much easier to put together, due to the smaller size
compared to the Me262 fighter jet.
The challenge, Legend Flyers says, will be rebuilding the
Daimler-Benz inverted V-12 engine -- which is truly as rare as the
109.
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