Messerschmitt Me 210

what is it?

The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a German heavy fighter and ground-attack aircraft of World War II. Design started before the war, as a replacement for the Bf 110. The first examples were ready in 1939, but they proved to have unacceptably poor flight characteristics due to serious wing planform and fuselage design flaws. A large-scale operational testing program throughout 1941 and early 1942 did not cure the type's problems.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 16.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 580 km/htop speed
• range 1,818 kmwithout refuelling
• size 9,705 kgmax take-off weight
• built 702made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 16.3 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,818 km: 10× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1939-09-02

introduced

1941

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

702

role

ground attack aircraft

origin

German Reich

makers

Messerschmitt

engines

2× Daimler-Benz DB 605B / Daimler-Benz DB 605

length

12.2 m

wingspan

16.3 m

height

4.2 m

max take-off weight

9,705 kg

top speed

580 km/h

range

1,818 km

ceiling

8,900 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.