The Me 210 was the result of a call to Messerschmitt to create a successor to the popular and effective Bf 110 long range fighter and bomber destroyer. The first prototype flew on September 5, 1939.
The Me210 development program was supposed to take what was learned from the many years of service from the Bf 110, and provide the Luftwaffe with a versatile heavy twin aircraft to survive in the modern battlefield. Unfortunately, the Me210 program was riddled with serious problems, not the least of which having vicious stall and spin characteristics. The Me210 would literally flip on it's back w/o warning to the pilot. Many problems caused the Me210 to spend many years in development while the aging Bf 110 continued to face faster and more powerful allied aircraft. Pressure continued to mount on Messerschmitt to create a worthy successor.
Almost 4 years after the first Me210 prototype flew, and with the major issues addressed, the Me410 finally made its appearance over Britain on June, 1943. As a result of the problematic development of it's predecessor (Me210), the Me410 was probably the most thoroughly tested combat aircraft to enter the Luftwaffe's service inventory. The Me 410 proved to be a solid performer, and through many variants, gave the Luftwaffe a formidable heavy bomber interceptor, and ground attack platform.
The four Me410 variants modeled in FirePower are below (each variant comes with it’s own certified flight model):
Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1 Schnellbomber:
Two MG 17 machine guns
Two MG 151 cannon
Two trainable MG 131 rear-ward left and right machine guns
50, 250, and 500kg bombs carried in bombay and inner wing-root hard points
WGr21 Rockets carried on outer wing hard points
Torpedo carried in fuselage hard point
Long range drop tanks
Messerschmitt Me 410 B-2/R3 Zerstörer:
Two 30mm cannons
Two 20mm cannons
Two 13mm machine guns
Two trainable 13mm machine guns
for defense
Messerschmitt Me 410 B-2/U2/R4 Zerstörer:
Six 20mm cannon
Two 13mm machine guns
Two trainable 13mm machine guns
for defense
Messerschmitt Me 410 B-2/U4 Zerstörer:
Two 13mm machine guns
Two 20mm cannon
One 50mm cannon
Two 13mm trainable machine
guns for defensive use
DOWNLOAD MOVIE:
Showing the different variants in action, including the BK5 50mm cannon (20MB):
http://www.fragland.net/index.php?page= ... s&did=1026
Dial-up friendly (7MB):
http://208.50.7.66/shockwave/firepower/ ... -small.zip
DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS:
http://www.shockwaveproductions.net/fir ... /me410.htm
Scott