BF-261V-2 ADOLFINE

The Messerschmitt Me 261 Adolfine was a German long-range prototype metal reconnaissance aircraft from the Second World War. The Me-261 V 3 was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB610A / B engines with a capacity of 2900 KM each. The flight of the prototype took place in December 1940, but the plane never entered mass production. The machine did not have on-board weapons. Originally, the Messerschmitt Me 261 was developed for an unusual task - transporting the Olympic fire from Berlin to Tokyo for the Olympic Games planned for 1940 there. Work on Me 261 began at the beginning of 1939, but the outbreak of war effectively slowed it down. However, in 1940, the first prototype was tested (Me 261 V 2), and in 1941 - the second (Me 261 V 2). The great range of the machine, reaching 11,000 kilometers, prompted the designers to try to convert it into a reconnaissance machine, but these attempts ended in a fiasco. After the flight of the third prototype (Me 261 V 3) in 1943, no more machines of this type were built, and those already built were used for calibration and testing of radio and electronic devices.