Top speed 760 km/h Length 9.72 m | Wingspan 16 m Manufacturer Messerschmitt | |
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The Messerschmitt Me 609 was a short-lived World War II German project which joined two fuselages of the Me 309 fighter prototype together to form a heavy fighter.
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Design and development
The project was initiated in response to a 1941 Reich Air Ministry requirement for a new Zerstörer (destroyer) to replace the Bf 110 in a minimum time and with a minimum of new parts. Messerschmitt's response was the Me 609, which would use the failed Me 309 project to form the basis of the new fighter.
The Me 609 would have joined the two Me 309 fuselages with a new centre wing section into which the two inboard wheels of the landing gear would retract. The Me 609 kept the Me 309's tricycle undercarriage which resulted in an ungainly six-wheel arrangement. The Me 609 would have had its cockpit in the port fuselage, the starboard being smoothed over.
Two versions were planned: a heavy fighter with four or six 30 mm MK 108 cannons, and a Schnellbomber (light bomber) variant with two 30 mm MK 108 cannons and a bomb load of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) carried beneath the fuselages.
By the time designs were being ironed out, the revolutionary Me 262 turbojet negated the need for further piston-engined fighter design.
Specifications (Me 609, as designed)
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General characteristics
Performance
Armament