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.

FMI: www.warbirdrecovery.com, www.airassets.com