May 1
Messerschmitt engineers and mechanics, led by Gerhard Caroli (centre), converse after one of the test flights of the prototype of the four-engine Me 264 V1 (RE+EN) bomber in Augsburg, 1943. The Me 264 was part of the Amerikabomber programme, had been developed to bring aerial warfare to the United States and attack cities on the East Coast. Note the oil trails on the cowlings of the heavy Jumo 211J engines and the aircraft's low ground clearance, thanks to its tricycle landing gear and the engineers' meticulous efforts to minimise its profile. The man leaning out of the cockpit is Messerschmitt chief test pilot, Flugkäpitänn Karl Baur. Construction on three was begun however V3 was never completed
