Data. Awesome.
I believe the original engines were good for ~200 hours between overhauls, before they were forced to sacrifice the much of the original alloys to the army tank program. One could imagine a different decision (which has different tradeoffs).
I do agree that shooting...
That seems totally fair. However the Luftwaffe was not completely without resources, and could allocate them to what it perceived to be it's best advantage, even in 1944.
I'm not arguing, just asking to be educated. Why could not a Me 262 drop a dive bomb? It was originally built as a bomber. And it would not take much to sink some of lighter invasion craft.
What would be key is the mind of the allied high command. If they think the Germans can sink enough...
It might seem to the German High Command that stopping the American Army from landing was a higher priority (or not). It would not be the craziest idea Hitler ever had, nor the dumbest strategy used by a major combatant in WWII.
An Me 262 uses at most 1,600 liters per mission. A few hundred Me 262s each needing 400 gallons per mission (including training missions) is hardly ASB-land. Any one of these *might* work, or you could use them in combination.
* They take it from the rest of the Reich, prioritizing stopping...
How many well fueled, well piloted, in place and ready to go Me 262s would have been needed to stop operation overlord?
It would seem that Overlord cannot happen without air superiority over the Channel. How many Me-262s would that take?