Lockheed P-80A vs Messerschmitt Me 263A

The Me 263 never made a powered flight, let alone engage in combat. And it was designed to intercept bombers, not dogfight other fighter aircraft. But suppose it had fought the P-80. What would that fight have been like?

The Me 263 and the P-90 are very different aircraft in many ways. The Me 263's rocket engine gave it amazing speed and climb, but it also limited it to fifteen minutes of powered flight. However, since a dogfight seldom lasted more than a few minutes, that might not be a problem for the Me 263. Its loss of stability at its highest speeds could be a problem. If the P-80 could stay out of the Me 263's reach, it could easily out last it, but it could not out run it or out climb it. With its highly unstable fuels, the Me 263 would practically be a flying bomb, so any hit would likely be sufficient to destroy the aircraft. The P-80 might have a slight advantage in armament, but hardly a decisive one.

See the table below for a direct comparison of the specifications and performance of the actual aircraft.

Specifications	Lockheed P-80A	Messerschmitt Me 263A
Length	34 ft 6 in	25 ft 10.5 in
Wingspan	38 ft 10 in	31 ft 2 in
Height	11 ft 4 in	8 ft 10.25 in
Weight (empty)	7,920 lb	4,640 lb
Speed @33000 ft	512 mph	620 mph
Climb	4,580 ft/min	16,404 ft/min
Range:	780 miles	90 miles
Armament	Six .50 caliber machine guns	Two 30 mm cannons

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