Messerschmitt Me.262. Part four. - Foreign users part two

We keep covering more foreign users of the mighty Me.262. Now it's the turn for:

• United Kingdom: The British forces managed to capture a Me.262 in Faßberg, located northern-central Germany on 6th May 1945 when the war in Europe was almost over. Some few days after, when the war was already over, it was moved to Lubeck, occupied by British troops, in order to test it. The New Zealander Warren Edward Schrader was the first one to test it on 29th May. The fate of this Me.262 is unknown, but, more likely, it was moved into the United Kingdom and eventually shown in some museum there.
• France: The French got some Me.262s when American troops captured the airfield of Lechfeld, in Bavaria. Initially it was handed over to the Frenchs who tested it from June until September 1945 and then, according to some sources it was either destroyed (most unlikely due to the advanced nature of the aircraft) or given to the Americans who tested the machine further. (See our previous post about the foreign users of the Me.262 where we wrote about the Me.262 in American hands)
  Anyway, it's known that two years after the war, in 1947, the Frenchs were still testing one Me.262 at CEV Bretigny.

As it was the first jet fighter, we also couldn't resist the temptation of how it would look like with some German allies like Hungary or the Italian Social Republic. Those two drawings are purely fictional as the Me.262 wasn't exported whatsoever.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262

2. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/whats-going-on/news/me-262-rejoins-cosford-s-german-aircraft-collectio/

3. http://www.traditions-air.fr/index.htm (translated)

4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Savoia-Marchetti SM.92

Even if the preceding SM.91 showed satisfactory results when tested, the engineers of Savoia-Marchetti wanted to improve the performance of the aircraft. Given that it wasn't possible to increase the power output of the engines, as the Daimler-Benz DB 603 with a power of 1550hp wasn't yet available for Italian manufacture, the only possible way of achieving such improvement seemed the weight reduction.
By keeping the same engine types of the SM.91, the wing and the vertical stabilizers, the central gondola was discarded and moved it to the left fuselage giving that way an asymmetric looking to the aircraft.
It was armed with two 20mm MG.151/20 placed at the main central wing, a third one placed at the leading left-wing edge and two synchronised 12,7mm Breda-SAFAT machine-guns placed under each engine.
Unlike the SM.91, the landing gear at the back could be retracted and was placed in two nacelles, one in each fuselage. A third Breda-SAFAT was placed at the rear horizontal stablizer, between the two vertical stabilizers. This machine gun was remote-controlled by the second crew member.
It could carry a payload of up to 2000Kg. (4400lb) under the inner wing and an extra 160kg (350lb) could also be carried under the outer wings.
The prototype was tested two months after the Italian armistice, during the German occupation. It flew for the first time on 12th November 1943 with Comandante Aldo Moggi at the commands and with motorist Carlo Balzarini on board as the second crew member at the Vergiate airfield, in Lombardia. Both of them received the Luftwaffe's Cross of Iron.
Testing continued until the next year when, due to an identification fault, it was attacked by a Macchi C.205 of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (National Republican Air Force) piloted by Lieutenant Mazzei belonging to the Squadriglia "Montefusco", who had mistaken the aircraft with an American P-38 Lightning.
Due to the damage that the SM.92 took in the attack, the pilot had to perform a force-landing at Campo della Promessa (Promessa's airfield), close to Lonate-Pozzolo, where Moggi managed to minimized the damage done to the prototype. After the pertinent reparations made to the prototype, it flew again in June 1944 with a total of 21 flight-hours.
The only prototype was destroyed, together with the SM.91, by an American bombardment on 27th December 1944 which damaged seriously the installations of Savoia-Marchetti and the village of Vergiate.

Sources:
1. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia-Marchetti_S.M.92 (translated)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia-Marchetti_SM.92
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters