Me 262 C-1a

Me 262 C-1a

Me 262 A-1a

Me 262 C-2b

Me 262 C-1a

Me 262 A-1a

Me 262 C-2b

Germany

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.3	7.3	7.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:53 000

Purchase:300 000

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This page is about the German jet fighter Me 262 C-1a. For other uses, see Me 262 (Family).

Description

The Me 262 C-1a Heimatschützer I is a rank V German jet fighter with a battle rating of 7.3 (AB/RB) and 7.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.39.

The Me 262 C-1a Heimatschützer I is a Me 262 A-1a fitted with a rocket booster in its tail. It is intended as an interceptor, climbing very quickly under the power of the booster rocket combined with its two jet engines. However, the boosters have a small fuel supply and shut down minutes after takeoff. Without its booster rocket, the Heimatschützer functions very similarly to the Me 262 A-1a. It has the same armament as the Me 262 A-1.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
825	800	14,900	31.7	32.7	16.6	15.7	628
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	14,900	??.?	??.?	?.?	?.?	628

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
1050	450	520	~14	~7

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 500	< 600	< 680	> 250

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
0 m	910 kgf	No WEP

Survivability and armour

• 15 mm Steel - Behind pilot
• 15 mm Steel - Pilot's headrest
• 15 mm Steel - Between cockpit and fore fuel tank
• 15 mm Steel - Instrument panel plate
• 16 mm Steel x 2 - Ammunition protection plates
• 90 mm Bulletproof glass

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Me 262 C-1a is armed with:

• 4 x 30 mm MK 108 cannons (2 x 100 rpg top + 2 x 80 rpg bottom = 360 total)

The all four cannons are arranged in bundles of two mounted on the underside of the upper mounted in the nose of the aircraft. Two are outfitted with 100 rpg, while the other two have 30 rpg.

Usage in the battles

The Heimatschutzer I's cannon armament consists of four nose-mounted 30 mm Mk 108 autocannons. It has the same armament as the Me 262 A-1a. The Me 262 A-1a and the Me262 C-1a Heimatschützer have the same burst mass of 14.52 kg/s (32.01 lbs/s).

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair		Offensive 30 mm
II	Compressor	Air Frame
III	Wing Repair		New 30 mm Cannons
IV	Engine	Cover

The biggest issue of the Heimatschützer I is it's poor acceleration across all speeds when the boosters are out of fuel. Thus, the "Compressor" and "New Engine" modifications should have the highest priority. The default ammo belts are decent, but the high explosive content increases with the new ammo. Because of this, researching the 30 mm Belts modification is not a bad idea. The "New Cannons" modification can also be researched to improve the accuracy and reliability of the 30 mm cannons.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Heavy armament of four 30 mm cannons
• 2nd highest cannon burst mass compared to other aircraft in the game
• Decent energy retention
• It has a rocket engine, allowing a climb to about 4000 m (13000 ft) within 1.5 minutes

Cons:

• Slow in comparison to other jets it may encounter
• It's rocket
• Its 30 mm guns are not optimal for jet combat, with a low muzzle velocity and effective range
• Without it's booster, it is a fairly slow climber

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.
• Skins and camouflages for the Me 262 from live.warthunder.com. All Me 262A-1a skins are compatible with the C-1a variant. There are however camouflages made specifically for the C-1a. These can be found here.