Despite the project's "no-go", work still progressed to a limited extent. A four-engine, pulsejet-powered bomber variant was brainstormed but, like the parasite fighter before it, never realized. Like most other outlandish super weapon ideas, Adolf Hitler himself endorsed the Messerschmitt project but much stood in the way of realization for the diminutive Me 328. War materials and manpower were of short supply as Germany now fought a defensive war along multiple fronts and not everyone in power shared Hitler's enthusiasm on such schemes, believing resources could be best served elsewhere.
The Me 328 was later conceived for role such as that of a navalized fighter being launched by a U-Boat submarine. In a ground-launched form, the Me 328 would have been a cheap point defense interceptor to be used in much the same way as the rocket-powered Me 163 "Komet". The Me 328 was also to have fulfilled the role of ground attack fighter. Alas, as with the previously defined roles, all these visions proved equally fruitless.
Walk-Around
In her completed forms, the Me 328 took the appearance of a conventional aircraft design. She was smaller in size when compared to the jet-powered Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager" ("People's Fighter"). The He 162 was built in some number by the end of the war and intended to defend Germany proper to the last man, built along the cheap and expected to be flown by German youth with little training. Likewise, the Me 328 was a relatively simple little beast with a stubby forward nose cone followed by a multi-piece canopy with framing. The aircraft was to be crewed by a single personnel and controls would have most likely been rudimentary. A raised "spine" along the fuselage top made views to the rear rather poor but other views could generally be considered good. There was a short empennage featuring a rounded vertical tailfin with smallish horizontal planes offset to either fin side. The vertical tail fin sported sweep only along the leading edge. The base of the empennage swept upwards towards the tail fin. The main wing assemblies were high-mounted affairs fitted to either side of the cockpit walls. There was some sweep on both the leading and trailing edges giving a tapered look. Each wing sported dihedral (upward angle) away from the fuselage. The pulsejet engines were underslung along each wing, extended out passed the wing trailing edges. These engines were relatively featureless, sporting a bulbous forward compartment and a smooth tubular rear housing.
The Me 328 measured in at 27 feet, 7 inches in length with a 20 foot, 6 inch wingspan. She measured 7 feet in height. Weights were listed at 4,056lbs empty and 5,896lbs when fully loaded. Power was to be supplied from a pair of Argus As 014 series pulsejets delivering up to 1,320lbf of total thrust. Maximum speed would have topped 375 miles per hour with a service ceiling of 30,500 feet - certainly on par with Allied fighters of the time. Range was restricted to just 352 miles but that was negligible considering the nature of the aircraft.
Last Chance
As a finale stroke, the Me 328 was once again envisioned to fulfill yet another role - this time that of a manned flying bomb. In this macabre role, the German pilot would be ferrying a 2,000lb warhead to the designated target and drive his entire aircraft - payload and all - into said target. In its original form, the design was to be based on the ill-fated Me 328B proposed bomber model. The paper design was refined with a Junkers Jumo 004 series turbojet engine to become the Me 328C. As can be surmised, even the promising jet-powered Me 328C was not to be. The manned flying bomb project did progress, however, with the focus falling to the Fieseler Fi 103R ("Reichenberg") design - a manned version of the V-1 terror weapon. These were to be used by the suicidal "Leonidas" Squadron (ala the Japanese "kamikaze"). The Leonidas Squadron operated from April 17th to April 20th in 1945 with some thirty-five German pilots committing suicide for the Fatherland against Russian foes at the Oder River. Little impact (other than psychological) of these efforts was noted.
Like many of the German wonder projects of World War 2, the Me 328 went down as a footnote in Luftwaffe lore. The pulse engine technology as it stood was never fully capable for the particular Me 328 airframe. As before - and well after - the parasite concept proved too complicated to ever become a serious battlefield component and Germany's war machine was slowly grounded to a halt from all angles until its eventual capitulation in May of 1945.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.