Messerschmitt Me 210
Description
Role	Heavy fighter
Crew	two, pilot and gunner
Dimensions
Length	40 ft 3in	9.83 m
Wingspan	53 ft 1 1/4in	13.72 m
Height	14 ft 1/2in
Wing area	390 ft²	36.2 m²
Weights
Empty	12,000 lb	5,440 kg
Maximum take-off	17,857 lb	8100 kg
Powerplant
Engines	2 x Daimler-Benz DB 601F
Power	2 x 1,350 hp	2 x 993 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	385 mph	620 km/h
Combat range	1,491 mi	2400 km
Ferry range
Service ceiling	22,967 ft	7,000 m
Armament
Guns	2 x 20 mm MG 151/20 2 x 7,92 mm MG 17 2 x 13 mm MG 131 for defense
Bombs	2,200 lb	1000 kg

The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a heavy fighter designed before the start of World War II to replace the Bf 110 in that role. The first examples of the Me 210 were ready in 1939 but they proved to have terrible handling, and remedying the problem took so long that everyone involved tried to distance themselves from the project. A new version finally cured the problems after two years, but was referred to as the Messerschmitt Me 410 due to the 210's bad reputation. Image File history File links Messerschmitt Me 410 This work is copyrighted. ... The Daimler-Benz DB 601 was a German aircraft engine built during World War II. It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109, among others. ... The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm cannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. ... The MG 17 was a 7. ... The MG 131 was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. ... Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. ... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... The Messerschmitt Bf 110 (later Me 110) was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Later in the war it was changed to fighter-bomber and night fighter operations, and it became the major night fighter type of the Luftwaffe. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) was a Luftwaffe heavy fighter and Schnellbomber of World War II developed from the badly flawed Me 210. ...

Messerschmitt designers had started working on an upgrade to the Bf 110 in 1937, before the production version had even flown. In late 1938 the 110 was just entering service when the RLM also started looking for its replacement. Messerschmitt sent in their modifed 110 as the Me 210, and Arado responded with their all-new Arado Ar 240. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry / German Air Ministry / German Aviation Administration) Note: If you are looking for the RLM-GL/C list, please go to List of RLM aircraft designations The Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM), was a German civil service organization in charge of development and production of aircraft... Arado may mean: Arado Flugzeugwerke - A German aircraft company Arwad - An ancient city in Syria This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Arado Ar 240 was a twin-engine multi-role heavy fighter aircraft developed for the Luftwaffe during World War II by Arado Flugzeugwerke. ...

The Me 210 was a straightforward cleanup of the 110 and used many of the same parts. The main differences were a modified nose area that was much shorter and located over the center of gravity, and an all-new wing designed for higher cruise speeds. On paper the 210 looked fantastic. It could reach 385 mph (620 km/h) on two 1,350 hp (993 kW) DB 601F engines, making it about 50 mph (80 km/h) faster than the 110, and as fast as single-engine fighters of the era. It had a huge bomb-bay in the nose, which could hold up to 1000 kg of bombs, or alternately up to four 20 mm cannon, with dive brakes fitted on the tops of the wings and a Stuvi 5B bomb sight in the nose for dive bombing. For defense it mounted clever remote-controlled guns in half-teardrop-shaped turrets on the side of the plane, and the cockpit had a bulged canopy to allow the gunner to see (and aim) down and to the rear. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The Daimler-Benz DB 601 was a German aircraft engine built during World War II. It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109, among others. ... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ...

An order for 1,000 was placed even before the prototype had flown. In time this would prove to be unwise. The first prototype 210 flew with 601B engines in September 1939 and was considered unflyable. Stability was bad in turns, and it tended to "snake" even while flying level. At first the designers concentrated on the twin-rudder arrangement that had been taken from the 110, and replaced it with a new and much larger vertical stabilizer. However this had almost no real effect, and the plane continued to snake. The plane also had terrible stalls, and with the nose up or in a turn the stalls whipped into spins when the leading-edge slats opened. V2 was lost this way the next September when the pilot could not get out of the resulting spin and had to jump. The chief test pilot commented that the Me 210 had "all the least desirable attributes an aeroplane could possess." Nevertheless, the RLM was desperate to replace the 6,000 110's currently in service, and ordered full production in the spring of 1941. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The vertical stabilizer or fin of an aircraft is found on its tail, generally pointing straight upward. ...

One possible cause for the Me 210's terrible handling characteristics might have been the double-angle wing leading edge sweepback (smaller angle on the inboard wing section, with a greater angle towards the tips) that it had originally been designed with-the later Me 410 Hornisse eliminated the greater angle on the outer panels, and made the entire wing leading edge the same angle from root to tip. The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) was a Luftwaffe heavy fighter and Schnellbomber of World War II developed from the badly flawed Me 210. ...

Deliveries to front-line units started in April 1942 and the plane proved to be even less popular with pilots. Production was stopped at the end of the month, by which time only 90 had been delivered. Another 320 were simply left unfinished on the factory floor. In its place the 110 went back into production, now hopelessly outclassed even when equipped with the newer DB 605B engines. This article is about the year. ... Developed from the Diamler-Benz DB 600 first produced in 1937, the 600 series of engines was used mainly in Germanys Messerschmitt Bf 109 and 110 fighters. ...

Meanwhile Hungary, satisfied with the plane in its current state, purchased a production licence for the type as well as for its DB 605 engines; for start-up of the manufacture, it received several airframes from Germany and completed them in their own factories and then began production of their own, known as the 210C with the DB 605B engine, under an agreement where the Luftwaffe got two of every three produced. The Luftwaffe started receiving their planes in April 1943, but the Hungarians didn't get their own until 1944; however, when they did enter service they were more than happy with them. Production ended in March 1944, when the factory switched over to produce the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G version. By that time, a total of 267 Me 210C had been built, 108 of them had been given to the Luftwaffe. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. ...

In practice, the Hungarian Me 210C were so superior to the German Me 210A, that it was planned to adopt its design refinements into a new Me 210D model, that was eventually developed into the Messerschmitt Me 410. The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) was a Luftwaffe heavy fighter and Schnellbomber of World War II developed from the badly flawed Me 210. ...

In last days of war, the Japanese Army ordered the design of an anti tank/strike plane. The Rikugun/Kokukosho Company, used the design of Me 210 A-2 (with features from the Me 410 A-2 modifications) to produce the Rikugun/Kokukosho ki-93 twin- engined anti-tank/ground attack aircraft.

Operators

• Germany, Hungary,