Messerschmitt Me 310
{{short description|German heavy fighter prototype}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name= Me 310
|image=
|caption=
|type=Heavy fighter
|manufacturer=Messerschmitt
|designer=
|first_flight=11 September 1943
|introduction=
|retired=
|status=
|primary_user=
|more_users=
|produced=
|number_built=1
|variants=
}}
The Messerschmitt Me 310 was a prototype German heavy fighter of World War II. It was a project to save the aerodynamically troubled Me 210.
Design and development
The armament was to be the same as the Me 210 A-1: two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns, and two remotely controlled, rearward-firing 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns.
A single aircraft was built by converting Me 210 V13 (code GI+SQ). It had a pressurised cockpit and was powered by two 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) Daimler-Benz DB 603A inline engines. The Me 310 first flew on 11 September 1943, but the project was cancelled later the same year, as it showed hardly any aerodynamic improvement over the Me 210. A subsequent prototype, the Me 410, showed sufficient improvement in its aerodynamics to be put into production.Mankau, Heinz. "Messerschmitt Bf 110, Me 210, Me 410: an illustrated history". Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-7643-1784-2}}
Specifications (Me 310)
{{aircraft specifications/switch
|plane or copter?=plane
|jet or prop?=prop
|crew=two (pilot and gunner)
|length alt=12.20 m
|length main= 39 ft 8 in
|span alt=17.90 m
|span main=58 ft 9 in
|height alt=4.30 m
|height main=14 ft 1 in
|area alt=37.7 m2
|area main=406 ft2
|empty weight main=
|empty weight alt=
|loaded weight alt=11,050 kg
|loaded weight main= 24,360 lb
|max takeoff weight main=
|max takeoff weight alt=
|engine (prop)=Daimler-Benz DB 603A
|type of prop=
|number of props=2
|power alt=1,380 kW
|power main=1,850 hp
|max speed alt=655 km/h
|max speed main=408 mph
|range alt=1,900 km
|range main=1,185 mi
|ceiling alt=11,000 m
|ceiling main=36,000 ft
|climb rate main=
|climb rate alt=
|loading main=
|loading alt=
|power/mass main=
|power/mass alt=
|guns=*2 × fixed, forward-firing 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons
- 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns
- 2 × rearward-firing 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns in remote-controlled barbettes
}}
See also
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|related=
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References
{{reflist}}
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_me_310.html
{{Messerschmitt aircraft}}
{{RLM aircraft designations}}
Category:1940s German fighter aircraft
Category:Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany