Saw this & was taken aback. I thought the jet motors were too heavy & didn't cut the wind very well which would render the a/c as not all that maneuverable in comparison to prop jobs.
The He280 instead had similar maneuverability like the Fw190A (wingload 4125kg : 21.5m2 = 191kg/m2, less than Fw190D!) and was
with its speed advantage and good armament most probably the best dogfighter of World War 2, especially in hit-and-run tactics.
The HeS08 and BMW109-003 engines had better handling and provided better acceleration than the Jumo109-004.
This leads to a multiple mission profile I´ve developed for it in the last time; Spring 1944, beginning of effective 8th AF fighter escort
( Two He280 wings in France, two northwest of the Ruhr area and one in the line Bremen-Hamburg, defended by 20mm and 37mm AAA.
Stronger armour plating to protect the pilot against 0.5" M2 machine guns.)
3. Interception of recon planes (Mosquito PR XVI, Spitfire XI, F-5 Lightning, F-6 Mustang) in Rotte formation (2 planes) by the wing staffs
4. Interception of medium to heavy bombers with R4M rockets with hit-once-and-run tactic at group strength
(the deadly R4M was actually developed in late 1944, but so simple that it could have been operational years earlier; the 8th AF just had luck.)
5. Interception of P-51 fighters that follow the bomber formations with a delay as cover for the phase deep in enemy´s land (in group strength).
(Interception at that time forces the P-51 to decide between dropping all external tanks (and give no cover) or to be shot down.)
6. Interception of fighter-bombers and light bombers near the own airfield (self-protection & forcing them to release bombs and abort mission).
Behind this cover (if after the R4M Orkan salvos necessary anymore) heavily armed and armoured fighters could have attacked the B-17 and B-24
without great danger by escort fighters; the same situation as before introduction of the P-51B and the only situation where the low quality of german
fighter pilot training wouldn´t have hurt. The allied capability for doing air reconnaissance would have been over germany as low as the german over
england, a decisive factor for long-range operations. In such good fighters, the losses of expert and veteran pilots wold have been small and the
Luftwaffe would have been able to repel attacks or even the complete strategic daylight bombing campaign even against the P-51!
If you think there´s anything political ar patriotic behind these lines, you should read
my critic on USAAF´s strategic air war against the "Third Reich" carefully.
But, I could be wrong. Thoughts?
