The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse ("Hornet") was a Luftwaffe heavy fighter and Schnellbomber of World War II developed from the badly flawed Me 210. Essentially a straightforward development of that type, the 210 had garnered such a bad reputation that it was renamed the Me 410 to avoid disdain. Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. ... The   Luftwaffe? (German: air force, IPA: [luftvafÉ™]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... A Schnellbomber (German, literally fast bomber) was a specialized high-speed bomber aircraft. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a heavy fighter designed before the start of World War II to replace the Bf 110 in that role. ...

Messerschmitt Me 410A-1

The larger engines and longer tail are evident

The Me 210C models produced for export to Hungary were so much better than the previous marks in German service that there was talk of producing a 210D in Germany which would have been identical to the Hungarian version. However by this time a complete detail redesign the plane resulted in the "new" Me 410. The new version included a lengthened fuselage and new leading-edge slats, both of which had been tested on leftover 210s and had dramatically improved handling. It also included 1,750 hp (1.287 kW) DB603A engines, whose performance increased up to 1,850 hp at higher altitude. These drove the Me 410 to 390 mph (628 km/h) and greatly improved climb rates, service ceiling, and most notably the cruise speed which jumped to 360 mph (579 km/h) even though the new design added 1,500 lb (680 kg) to the original. Shackles under the wings for four 50 kg bombs were also added, as the new plane could lift a load larger than could be fitted into the internal bay. Messerschmitt Me 410A-1 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

The 410 was the plane that the 210 should have been, and finally started deliveries in mid 1943, over two years later than the original plan. When it arrived it was greatly liked by its crews, even though its improved performance was no longer enough to protect it from the swarms of high performance Allied fighters they faced. The Me 410, nevertheless, proved to be something of a shock to the British, when in February 1944 they started flying over England, after a year of shooting down anything that approached the island.

The basic A-series planes were armed with two 7.92 mmMG 17 and two 20 mm MG 151/20 in the nose and delivered as the Me 410A-1 light bomber and the Me 410A-2 heavy fighter, the only real difference being the removal of the Stuvi bombsight and external bomb shackles in the A-2 version. The Me 410A featured a bomb bay for carrying air-to-ground ordnance or for the installation of additional air-to-air weaponry or other equipment. Initially, three Umrüst-Bausätze (conversion kits) were available, U1 contained a palette of cameras for the photo-reconnaissance role, U2 two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon with 250 rounds each for the heavy fighter use, and U4 used the 50 mm BK5 cannon with 21 rounds to turn the aircraft into a dedicated bomber destroyer. The BK5 cannon, derived from a now outdated anti-tank weapon, allowed the 410s to shoot at their targets from over 1,000 yards, a distance at which the bombers' guns were useless for defense. The Me 410A-3 was later modified from the A-1/U1 with a deeper fuselage for additional cameras and fuel. The 410A-3 entered service in small numbers in early 1944, and equipped three long-range reconnaissance Staffeln (one on the Western Front and the other two on the Eastern Front). The MG 17 was a 7. ... The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm cannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. ... A light bomber is a military bomber aircraft which, when compared to other bombers, is relatively small and fast; such aircraft will probably not carry more than one ton of ordnance. ... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... Mixed reconaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... A bomber destroyer is a former type of fighter aircraft dedicated to destroying enemy bomber aircraft. ...

Messerschmitt Me 410A-1/U4

Note the new telescopic gunsight, protruding just above the cannon

The Me 410B-series was largely the same as the A-series, but replaced the 7.92 mm MG 17's with 13 mm MG 131. The use of the newer 1,900 hp (1.397 kW) DB 603G series engines with improved superchargers was planned but they were not available in numbers so many Me 410B used the DB603A. The DB603G would have increased the maximum speed to 392 mph (630 km/h), and cruising speed to 370 mph (595 km/h), although the weights increased once again. The versions were the same as with the A-series, the Me 410B-1, Me 410B-2 and Me 410B-3 filling the same roles as the earlier A-1, A-2 and A-3 versions. Messerschmitt Me 410A-1/U4 with BK50 cannon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The MG 131 was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. ... A supercharger (also known as a blower, a positive displacement pump or a centrifugal pumper) is a gas compressor used to pump air into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. ...

Several experimental models were also developed. The Me 410B-5 added shackles under the fuselage to carry a torpedo, and removed the MG131s in the nose to make room for the FuG 200 Hohentwiel ship-search radar. The bomb bay was not used in this version in order to make room for a 650 litre fuel tank, and the defensive gun barbettes were replaced by another 700 litre fuel tank for long-range missions. The Me 410B-6 was a similar anti-shipping conversion, but intended for the short-range coastal role only. For this mission it did not use a torpedo, and was instead a simple modification of the B-1 with the FuG 200 radar. The Me 410B-8 was an updated B-3 reconnaissance model that was built in very small numbers. A modern torpedo, historically called a self-propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ...

The Me 410C was a high-altitude version drawn up in early 1944, with two new wings designs that increased span to 60 ft or 67 ft (18.25 m or 20.45 m). The larger wings allowed the gear to retract directly to the rear. A new universal engine mount would allow for the use of any of the DB 603JZ or BMW 801J turbocharged engines or the Jumo 213E three-speed mechanically supercharged engines, driving a new four-bladed propeller with very wide blades. The 801 was air-cooled and the 213 used an annular radiator in the nose, so the normal under-wing radiators were removed and the DB powered versions would use the radiator from the 213's. None were ever built, as Me 410 production was cancelled before the engines matured. The Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine was a German aircraft engine used during World War 2. ... The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine’s cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm, giving a... Turbocharger Cut-away A turbocharger is a compressor used in internal-combustion engines to increase the power output of the engine by increasing the mass of oxygen entering the engine. ... The Jumo 213 was a World War II-era V-12 liquid cooled aircraft engine, a development of Junkers Motorens earlier design, the Jumo 211. ... A radiator is any device that emits a form of radiation. ...

The Me 410D was a simpler upgrade to the B-series to improve altitude performance, but not to the same degree as the C-series. It would be powered by the DB 603JZ engines, and had a revised forward fuselage to increase the field of view of the pilot reduce drag. It also replaced portions of the outer wing panels with ones made of wood to conserve strategic materials. Several were built, but like many other attempts at wood construction, the loss of the Tegofilm factory in a bombing raid meant the adhesives available were not strong enough, and the wooden portions failed.

Production was eventually cancelled to concentrate on Messerschmitt Me 109Gs in August 1944, after 1,160 Me 410s had been built. (Bf 109 was the official Reichsluftfahrtministerium designation, though some late-war aircraft actually carried the Me 109 designation stamped onto their aircraft type plates. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...