Messerschmitt Me 609

Me 609
A model of the Me 609.
Role	Heavy fighter
Manufacturer	Messerschmitt
Status	Unrealised project
Developed from	Messerschmitt Me 309

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. The project was initiated in response to a 1941 Reich Air Ministry requirement for a new Zerstörer (heavy fighter) to replace the Bf 110 in a minimum time and with minimum 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 company had actually contemplated numerous twin-boom adaptations of its Bf 109 line including the Bf 109Z (which joined two Bf 109s) and the Me 409 (which used two Me 209-II aircraft).

The Me 609 would have joined the two Me 309 fuselages with a new center 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.

The finished project would have been used as both a heavy fighter and Schnellbomber, but 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)

Data from^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 9.72 m (31 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 15.75 m (52 ft 6 in)
• Height: 3.43 m (11 ft 3 in)
• Empty weight: 5,247 kg (11,660 lb)
• Loaded weight: 6,534 kg (14,520 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603, () each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 760 km/h (472 mph)

Armament

• Guns: 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannons
• 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons
• Bombs: 500 kg (1,102 lb) of bombs

See also

Related development

• Bf 109
• Me 209
• Me 209-II
• Me 309
• Me 409
• Me 509
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• P-82 Twin Mustang
• Heinkel He 111Z Zwilling ("Twins")
  

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
  

External links

• Me 609 at Luft46