"The Mustang Killer" - The German Me-262 Ace Who Wreaked Havoc on American P-51s 

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My grandfather brought down 50 Mustangs. I think he was the worst mechanic the American Air force ever had.

People don't appreciate just how good many Luftwaffe pilots were. Here are the top ten aces of history, followed by some stats of the best combat pilot, as well as best soldier, of the war on any side... Theodor Weissenberger - 208 kills Heinrich Ehrler - 208 kills Hermann Graf - 212 kills Heinz Bär - 220 kills Erich Rudorffer - 222 kills Willie Batz - 237 kills Otto Kittel - 267 kills Gunther Rall - 275 kills Gerhard Barkhorn - 301 kills Erich Hartmann - 352 kills Then there's Hans Ulrich Rudel, the most highly-decorated soldier on any side during WW2. His famous motto is "Only he who gives up on himself is lost." Rudel's record was so astounding, Hitler created a new level of Knight's Cross for him. He continued flying and fighting even after losing his lower right leg in 1945. 2,530 combat missions, during which he was shot down 30 times, rescued downed aircrews 6 times, and escaped from the Soviets while barefoot, covering 30 km in the winter. Alone. Unarmed. Soaking wet after swimming an ice-choked river. His record includes the following... 519+ tanks destroyed 800+ vehicles destroyed 150+ Anti-aircraft positions destroyed 51 air-to-air kills (9 of which were in Stukas against fighters) Also he sank a battleship, a cruiser, a destroyer, and 70 landing craft. After the war, Rudel became a mountain climber in the Andes. Yes, despite a prosthetic leg. His autobiography is called "Trotzdem" (Nevertheless). By far the most heroic soldier of the 20th century. But you'll never hear about him because Hollywood hates him. Why? He never apologized for Nazism.

The ME262 is still a beautiful jet , 80 years later !

Good video, here is some additional information. Georg-Peter Eder had 12 confirmed in the Me-262, another 12 unconfirmed. Kurt Welter had 30 claims as both a day and night fighter pilot in the Me-262. Walter Nowotny was actually not shot down. His Me-262 was damaged after he scored his third heavy bomber kill, but his right engine was damaged, smoking. As he came in to land, he was spotted by Edward R. "Buddy" Haydon of the 352nd FG who dropped down, skirting the treeline. Trying to avoid the German AA fire he saw Nowotny bank for his landing. Losing sight of him, Haydon lifted above the trees, the caught sight of him again. At that time, Ernest Fiebelkorn of the 20th FG also saw Nowotny and dived in firing, but he was too far away to get any hits. Haydon chopped power so to not overshoot the 262. He pulled within 50 feet of Nowotny, on his 9 o'clock left. Nowotny looked over, and Haydon said that he had a "surprised look on his face, like man I just screwed up." Haydon never fired, because Nowotony's jet stalled after losing all power, and plunged into the ground. Adolf Galland and Eder were a couple of hundred yards away and saw the event. I interviewed Haydon, Galland and Eder about the event. Haydon and Fiebelkorn (KIA in Korea) shared the kill, although not a single fighter round hit him. My book, "The Me-262 Stormbird" has all three accounts, and my latest book, "Above the Reich" has the full Haydon interview. My older book, "The German Aces Speak" has Galland's interview, where he also discussed the event. Franz Schall was officially credited with 14 kills in the jet with another 10 damaged/probables, Heinrich Baer with 16 confirmed kills, Erich Rudoerffer with 12 in the jet, and Hermann Buchner with 12. These pilots all had more claims, but these were the victories that could be confirmed.

In high school, I had a social studies teacher who had been navigator on a Lancaster bomber. He described how they had just bombed Hamburg for the 3rd time, and after that they called it Hamburger. So while the crews were gathering around waiting for debriefing he went up to a friend from another bomber crew, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "wasn't that a piece of cake". He said the guy turned around with a face white as a sheet and said, "what do you mean a piece of cake?". He found out after that his friends aircraft was the only surviving bomber from a flight of six that a ME262 made one pass upon. According to my teacher, that ME262 shot down 5 of the 6 Lancaster bombers on that single pass. Now, I'm going to be told that's impossible, never happened, no way 1 fighter could shoot down 5 of 6 Lancaster bombers on a single strafing run, but I swear, that's exactly how I heard it out of my social study teachers mouth.

I live in Parchim. I visit his grave quite often. It is located just a few meters from my family grave. I think only a few people know who was actually buried there. Which surprises me very much. Sometimes there are a few flowers there, I will continue to visit and remember him.

I attended an aircraft mechanic school in Tulsa. They had a cutaway Jumo engine displayed in a classroom. I liked to stand there and spin the turbine while I contemplated.

Another highly experienced Me 262 pilot (R.I.P. Alfred Ambs) told me, that they were always overwhelming outnumbered by allied fighters. After achieving the last of his 8 aerial victories - of which 7 were confirmed - he was jumped by a P-51 from above and behind and badly hit and wounded. Alfred told me, that he didn't notice the Mustang 'til it was too late. Luckily he was able to bail out and spent the last days of war in hospital. Lt. Alfred Ambs was a member of 11./JG 7 and flew Me 262 "Yellow 5".

Everyone that lived through WW2 has a story, we get to see and hear them one at a time on TJ3 and it never fails to deliver. Thank you for you service.

137 kills before a tragic accident while hitting a bombed out runway hole during landing. Schall was a Me 262 Jet Luftwaffe Ace and it seems a brilliant tactician during air combat. Too bad he didn't survive. A movie should be made on him by Hollywood. Respects from India.

Me 262 still has a modern design even nowadays.

Probably my great granduncle would have flown the Me262 top, he was a Pilot since day one and also combat experienced, 5 Kills and I think also the flight clasp in silver or nearly silver. Sadly died defending civilians from USAAF bombing raids in 1944 over Munich. I will never forget him.

The only thing that bothers me, is the fact that the german wikipedia doesn't contain an article about franz schall, he isn't even mentioned in the list of german flying aces from WWII. But O.K. he seems to have existed. Because I found him in the List of Knights-Cross recipents. And there he stands with everything you claimed in your you-tube video. So good work, no idea why he was forgotten by the german wikipedia.

These old dogfights must be the most brutal and bizarre combat in history.

Watched a show that had a gentleman from England. Built a full scale replica, but with modern engines. Looked like a joy to fly.

I love Luftwaffe aces!

The total 262 kills from all units was 742 aircraft of which 182 were p51 mustangs. That is the official total.

Along with the Saab 35 "Draken" the Me 262 is the most beautiful jet ever made.

The likes of Heinz Bar, Otto Kittel and Wilhelm Schnaufer would have graced the air force post WW2. They were absolute legends. The Me262 was a breathtaking aircraft. Face to face at Smithsonian in 2012

I enjoyed this video. With the 262 being such a new platform, it would have been of interest in knowing what tactics the german pilots learned on their way to becoming an ace.

This channel is great, and the animations are fantastic !!

You never used the word "kill" talking to German Aces, they used the word "victory". I talked to several including Dolfo Galland and was friends with Max Steinhoff for years. Both flew 262s

Just watched a couple of videos from you I really enjoy them so I just subscribed to you keep up the great work

Would like to have learned something about his tactics. The Me-262 made a huge circle when turning at speeds near 600mph. So they were not turn fighters by any stretch. They were energy fighters being able to swoop in kill or miss and zoom away because nothing else could catch them. If they had to turn much at all they would find themselves below 400mph and vulnerable to these same P51's at bomber altitudes. If they pulled a hard turn they would find themselves in the area of 300mph which left them vulnerable to a lot of planes that could both fly and maneuver much better than the Me-262 at that speed. They could zoom up losing speed all the time and then zoom back down recovering the speed and energy they lost climbing, make their attack and either speed away or zoom back up for another try. Would really liked to have heard what his tactics were instead of the stats.

Thanks for watching everyone, hope you enjoyed!

New subscriber! Thank you for your informative documentaries!

Excellent video, thanks!

Me-262 a beautiful aircraft.

Schall shot down a Lancaster from my dad's squadron (61) on the 9th of April 1945 but escorting P51's from Polish squadrons claimed 4 ME262's.

Awesome. I know I have said it before but, I LOVE your new channel. Thanks Brother.

This is awesome! Keep up the great work!

"Luftwaffe pilots eventually learned how to handle the Me 262's higher speed and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter, with pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down seventeen enemy fighters in the Me 262, ten of them American P-51 Mustangs."

German aces were mentally prepared... & fearless 😎

Awesome content and thank for the knowledge

This is quite interesting in various ways, but especially for me in the discussion of how the weapon (the plane) and the bearer of the weapon (the pilot) had to be successfully joined. That is, the ME-262 was a potentially terrifying weapon, but - not in everybody's hands; not everybody reached the level of being able to wield that particular weapon particularly successfully. Which in turn makes me reflect upon how the greatest aces of all time (Erich Hartmann; Wehrner Moelders; etc.) continued to rack up amazing victory scores in planes that already were surpassed and outclassed, at least in terms of the planes themselves: but the melding of the particular pilot with the particular plane was never surpassed, and the pilots who knew how to use those particular weapons with devastating effectiveness remain at the top of the all-time list of aces as such. [Granted, had even brilliant pilots been thrown against vast numbers of adequately trained pilots in superior aircraft at the end of the war, their luck ultimately would have run out - sort of like Wehrner Voss in the First World War, when he fought alone against half a dozen Sopwith Camels with decent pilots, though inferior to him in flying and fighting skills, and ultimately got shot down.] There likely are other examples, from various different military cultures, of pilots who fit particular planes particularly well, even if those planes might have been rated below their typical adversaries. Among these: I was interested to find, recently, the story of one of the top Italian aces of World War II, who flew on the Axis side very successfully before later flying on the Allied side very successfully, all in the same Fiat model, which, like most fighter types of the pre-war years, was under-armed compared to the job it would need to do later in actual aerial combat. [The typical armament of maybe, hopefully, at least one 20-mm cannon and 2 .30-caliber machine guns.] In this pilot's capable hands, that lesser-than-adequate armament translated into a very high rate of kills. A similar example that I recently encountered is of "The White Lily of Stalingrad," one of the first successful female fighter pilots for the Soviet Union, who flew an under-armed if agile early Yakolev type and bested better-armed and more experienced German pilots in advanced Bf-109's, partly because she was a daring and capable pilot, but also perhaps because she was melded with her machine in a way some other pilots never could be. [Here, I'm thinking of some reading I've done recently on an entirely different topic, but anyway: the science of cybernetics concerns the combining of humans with machines (usually in the context of computers) - but, I'm thinking that perhaps especially with fighter pilots and their aircraft (a single person and a machine, unlike bombers with entire crews), the blending of particular pilot and particular machine might have been along the lines of cybernetics. [And that might be true for some other examples, like, perhaps, Saburo Sakai in his Mitsubishi Zero, or perhaps even American ranking ace Richard Bong in his Lockheed P-37 Lightning. Other pilots noted, for instance, that Bong was no master of deflection shooting, as you'd need to be in a P-51 or earlier types; he "flew right up the enemy's ass" - but he brought them down, and he knew how to do so, rather lethally - but that partly (perhaps?) the blending of the particular pilot with the particular aircraft type, in cybernetic fashion.]

from the history, the me262 brought in the new challenge in the airwar. The introduction caused the reconsideration of tactics. The pilots figured out the ways to push back, The observation of the 262, and shooting in front of their path. As was said, hiltler's decision and the point counterpoint in this part of the air war too.

Perhaps personal talley's were unconfirmed. I was surprised that Schall was the highest scoring 262 ace. I thought that title went to Heinz Bar (Red 13) I will brush up on my research. Thanks for the amazing video TJ3! Keep up the great work

Never heard of this pilot. Danke!

Hmmm, I always thought the record for jet air of WW2 went to Heinz Bar of JG7 w 16 kills in the 262 and 220 in total. Schall’s 18 is new information; maybe some were unconfirmed? Also Welter “claimed” many Mosquitoes and other night victories that were unconfirmed (20+), but he has been largely discredited! Great video! 👍

Hello TJ. I do appreciate your computer graphics. Especially your leading of the target. Very well done. It is a dangerous truth that had the ME-262 been introduced a year earlier it could have changed the course of WWII. But as you know the delay in its introduction was not because of Hitler and his obsession of it becoming a fighter bomber. It was the engine that slated its doom. It had a problem with flameing out with abrupt throttle changes. And pilots get excited during combat. But also the lack of resources to machine titanium turbine blades in a vacuum and advanced ceramic ball bearings. Capt. Tamre' Colby

Gen ChuckYeager said that mustangs didn't have the speed of the 262s,but he always would follow them back to their bases where they would glide in for a landing and then blow them out if the sky.Once allied pilots found out about their glide tactics,they were easy prey!Thank you for this great video.

Well done ,i love those stories .

There were many great aces in the Luftwaffe. They had no rotations, no time off to recharge, under pressure non stop, and they ended up being the best fighter pilots in history to date. Amazing pilots with amazing skills and a deep passion for aviation rooted in their hearts. Some of became double or triple ace in a day! The amount of ingenuity, quick thinking and accuracy was second to none. The only time off they would have ,would be when they were wounded,or other extreme situations. Imagine bailing out once, cheating death and having to go back up at some point..Soon..Now, x30..The mental fortitude required to perform at this level is just beyond words. You did a good job , capturing the The pilot, the planes, and the history behind a remarquable pilot. The tally sounds a bit on the high end but I enjoyed the dynamic of the video. Keep them coming ! You're good at this!

I'd love to see a video about the most successful 4-engine bomber-killers Anton Hackl or Georg-Peter Eder, seems very interesting to me!

There were 1400 ME 262 produced. Enough to make an impact. The main problem was there was almost no fuel to fly them.

Great account and excellent graphics!

Just got mine for $219. Lovin' it. Bought as a project guitar, will put Mustaine actives in it & probably tuners & maybe a gold metal pickguard to help with neck dive. Overall a great guitar for that kind of money.

What a bad ass looking plane ! Who knows the outcome of dogfights if that plane came in earlier during the War ! One problem though after so many miles the turbine engine had to be rebuilt...or replaced. But still it was one heck of a plane !

The 8th Air Force recognized they had a problem in February of 1945 when they lost 45 bombers and 15 fighters to Me 262s. But it was the results of April 7, 1945 when it was noted that the Me 262 had changed tactics and went after the fighter escorts shooting down 28 Mustangs as well as 7 bombers. The 8th decided to take action and on 4/10/1945 they sent 1200 bombers out to blow up the Me 262 bases ending the problem.

Thank you for the video.

Brilliant we want More!!

The German picked the wrong jet to go with they should have picked the He-280 first in 1942 and would have had a jet earlier to slow the US bombers then the Me262 would come later once the Jumo 004 engines were perfected. Germany would've had operational jet fighters with difference characteristics. Would love to see an He-280 vs. P-51

It’s amazing what Schall achieved in only the 2nd half of the war and also sad that he was killed just a matter of weeks before VE-Day.

Incredible score

Me-262 training program had a 5% wash out rate for veteran pilots retraining for this new platform, retraining in a week. Looking at the 18°wing sweep, probably was beneficial for training and or conversion for veteran pilots. Throttle coaxing also was something to be patient with, the jet had to go through a progression to attain full speed. The Me-262 35° wing sweep, (not used) probably would have required more in depth flight training for pilots converting from propeller. It would have been a beast of epic proportions at about 850km/hr in the air war had it been accepted into production. Both the MiG15 and F-86 utilized that same 35° wing sweep with historic results, and against each other as opponents.

One of my patients happened to be a testpilot who had also flown the ME262. He said it was a very tricky aircraft that claimed many pilot's lives.

Just want to mention: nearly every me262 was shot down during landing and take off. In the air it was nearly impossible shoot down this plane.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schmued Edgar O. "Ed" Schmued (Schmüd), German-American aircraft designer (1899-1985) was famed for his design of the iconic North American P-51 Mustang and, later, the F-86 Sabre while at North American Aviation. He later worked on other aircraft designs as an aviation consultant.

Excellent as ever

For all these that believe the Luftwafe was not efficient: By statistic the US lost 18000 airplanes in combat only (accidents in training and ferry not counted). Even though the Mustang came later in the war, more than 1000 Mustangs were lost in battle. This all on the western front while the Germans fought on multiple fronts.

So what did you think when you first saw German jets appear in the air? Chuck Yeager: Yeah well, the first time I saw a jet I shot it down.

I actually sat in the cockpit of a real German ME262 about 15 years ago at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Back then my Dad was a volunteer & once a year they had an employee appreciation dinner & opened up a number of planes to climb into, the ME262 was one of them so I climbed into the cockpit. I am told they no longer do this.

Great. Thank you.

Great video 👌🏻

Thank you for bringing the heroic story of this wonderful human being forth to the world. God bless.

We had need much more of those Me 262 and we had not such devastation and killed civilians. Our pilots were real heros!! 😎👍🇦🇹✌️👆💪😸🌞😎🐺

Great vídeo !! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Hello from France it was quiet a great performance when you know that dogfight with such a powerfull armament 4x 30 mn canon were not easy against fighter and much efficient on bombers...lack of fuel, parts and turbojet engin daimler benz 002 built not with the right kind of métal achied to reduce last Me 262 squadron to silence

But there another German pilot reported to have 24 kills but died few years later after WW2 had ended in train accident. To some he hold the record as highest jet ace pilot.

RIP great ace

Fantastic, thanks.

Great video

I've watched other videos about this the 262 had every advantage except for turn radius in which mustang pilots used to their advantage another advantage they had was flight time compared to the 262 the mustang could fly forever the mustang pilots would just wait around a German airfield for the 262's that come in because they were out of gas and were sitting ducks

The ME262 had the most powerful 30mm cannons in its nose & the first angled wings which added more speed to the ME262 Don’t forget about the ME-163 komet rocket powered fighter of WW2

I was surprised recently to learn the Brits also had a jet fighter in WW2, the Gloster Meteor. It was not used to counteract the ME262, what a great story that would have been. This cautious usage probably had many reasons, but I suspect the main one was that they were 'not really' in production at the time and any losses could not be replaced. It saw "limited action" altogether which included trying to shoot down V-1 buzzbomb weapons.

Enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up

Make a video on the 303 Squadron, bet you've never heard of them...

A competent pilot in a fully serviceable 262 was pretty much untoucheable until he needed to land.

The 262 became a death trap when P51 pilots learned it consumed fuel like a hog and turned like boat. Most 262 kills were surprise attacks. The trick was to just turn like a top until the 262 ran low on gas and had to turn back to base. The ratio of US fighters to Luftwaffe fighters got to be 50 to 1. The Luftwaffe had no chance towards the end and they knew it better than anyone. The last 5 months of the war veteran Luftwaffe pilots picked and chose victims, they did not go in head to head against such huge odds.

Nice mix of war thunder and IL-2

Dozens upon dozens of "aces" died in mishaps and accidents trying to fly that thing. Erich Hartmann was asked to join the jet squadrons by Galland. He took a long look at it and said thanks but no thanks, he knew better.

Just FYI, and for everyone watching, 'Ace' is a strictly British/Commonwealth and American term- the Germans never used it, the Soviets never used it, and the Japanese never used it. It's a completely arbitrary number that means nothing in particular- it was from early WWI, when shooting down 5 enemy planes was difficult. The Germans simply referred to a pilots with many victories as 'Expert'. It was also US and British/Commonwealth forces who called a destroyed enemy plane a 'kill'- the Germans simply called it a 'Luftsieg' or 'aerial victory'. So it's really rather inappropriate, historically speaking, to use 'ace' and 'kill' in a video about a Luftwaffe Expert. Better to use the proper terminology and take the opportunity to educate people on the different terms belligerents used.

Great video.

As he died in my hometown, I took his name as my online gaming avatar to honor him.

March 31 1945 my Uncle with the entire crew of the Halifax MZ922 where lost in a daylight bombing raid over the Ship yards in Hamburg Germany. The records stated MZ922 was shot down by an ME262. Gordon Justin Rude was a tail gunner and was 23 years old. We will Remember.

awesome video

Some sources point to Kurt Welter as the greatest ace of the Me262. And all victories were at night in the Me 262B-1a/U1 variant equipped with the Neptune radar.

All that heroism, ended in a cratered runway...

First comment Please make a video on Henry E Erwin who threw a bomb out of plane

Cool post ! I was surprised that you could start an Me 262 like a lawn mower. There was a pull cord in the nose of each engine.

Most beautiful plane ever!

The ME 262 proved beyond doubt , that future fighter aircraft would need at a minimum .0.5 calibre guns, and preferably 20mm cannons (or larger ) to compete in any future air war

5:25 Odd considering it was considered a very easy plane to learn with piston fighterpilots only needing one flight and several hours of education, and a bomber needing 3 flights and 2 days of education. Thats damn good.

In Secret Weapons Over Normandy This has been My ultimate weapon. How it ended up as one of my fighters for the allies? Capturing one.

Engine failure was a common problem, they only had 30 hours life for each engine before they had to be changed. The Germans didn't have the materials they needed to make a more reliable engine.

The Mustang killer landed on German airfield death trap that killed their OWN hero!

Tremendous VideoTJ3, Fantastic CGI. What are you using for the CGI, It really looks incredible?

In an ironic twist it was the bombers that ended up killing “the mustang killer”

Could you make a video about Brazilian aces Pierre Clostermann?? He has a very interesting story