PHOTO GALLERY 5
A virtual tour of the Me 262 Project's Paine Field production facility.
Over the past several months, we have been busy receiving truckloads of sub-assemblies, inventorying parts, and inspecting the airframes; meanwhile, we have continued to experience a flood of inquiries from the public concerning the effort.
Today, despite our best efforts to accommodate visitors at Paine Field, the fact remains that most people simply cannot make the trip to the Seattle area to see the project firsthand. Now, the Me 262 Project invites you to take a photographic tour of the production line. The facilities, the major assemblies, the parts bins, the components ... see them all in our "virtual tour" feature.
All images have been thumbnailed. Click on any photograph to view an enlarged version.
A flightline view of the CFII facility at Paine Field, WA. This two-bay hangar houses the airframes, tooling and all component storage associated with the new Me 262 production program.
Another view of the project's facilities. The plane parked on the ramp is Bob Hammer's award winning Sea Fire. We'll look into the hangar area immediately behind the Sea Fire first ...
An overall perspective of the first (left side) hangar bay. This area is being used as a holding point for several major components, as well as the majority of the incomplete Me 262 airframes.
The left front corner of the hangar bay, where a number of parts come into view -- including lower engine cowlings and vertical tail fins -- stacked in the foreground.
As we follow the left wall of the hangar bay, we again see the vertical fins, and -- to the right -- horizontal stabilizers and other flight surfaces, including tail rudder assemblies.
Continuing to the back of the hangar, we get a better view of the rudders and flight surfaces to the left, and the aft section of the Red Nose airplane. This jet, werknummer 501243, is an A-1c / B-1c convertible model.
Looking into the left corner of the bay, the Red Nose jet is fully revealed, as is one of it's stablemates: the White Nose werknummer 501244. (A third jet can almost be made out behind this aircraft).
Another general view of this area. The light-colored conical part on the ground beneath the tail section is an aft exhaust cowling. Other parts in view include several windscreen and canopy sections.
Moving toward the noses of these fuselages, we see a third airframe (Yellow Nose) tucked in behind the other two machines. High in the foreground is the tail of the original Me 262B-1a.
Alone on it's stand in the far corner of the bay, the original Willow Grove / Navy aircraft is revealed wearing a neutral primer coat. In a very real sense, this is the jet which made the entire project possible.
© 2001 Sabre Design Group. All rights reserved.