The Messerschmitt Me 261 Adolfine was long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft designed in the late 1930s. It looked like an enlarged version of the Messerschmitt Bf 110. It was not put into production.The construction of three prototypes began at Messerschmitts Augsburg works during the spring of 1939, but progress was slow due to the realisation that war would probably soon break out and the 1940 Summer Olympics would be cancelled. The Me 261s original design brief as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft had been forgotten and it was viewed as non-strategic and was nearly abandoned, with all work stopping in August 1939.However, the Air Ministry realised that it could be a useful vehicle for evaluating long-range operations and work resumed in the summer of 1940.