Com-Central.net

From the beginning, there was little interest in creating a plane that only looked like a Me 262; the objective was to create precision duplicates of the jet. There were significant technical challenges to overcome: surviving airframes were rare indeed and technical drawings were incomplete -- not to mention scattered across two continents.

Without a master pattern to follow, it simply could not be done. What was desperately needed was an original Me 262 that could be torn apart, analyzed, and duplicated, piece by piece. Nothing less would work. Could such a plane be found?

The ideal candidate aircraft was found in an unlikely setting: a solitary example of an un-restored and original Me 262 was sitting outside of Willow Grove Naval Air Station in eastern Pennsylvania. The aircraft, once known as "White 35," was a rare Luftwaffe trainer, complete with dual-controls. Having spent decades on outdoor display, the jet was deteriorating rapidly. Unless it could be properly restored, its days were clearly numbered. This made it the single best hope for use in a restoration/reproduction project. It was soon discovered that the U.S. Navy owned the aircraft, but lacked the resources to give the old B-1a a quality restoration.

Recognizing the possibilities, Snyder entered into a two year negotiation process with the Navy. The Navy was offered an attractive proposal: permit the old warbird to be dismantled and used as a template, and they would get back a fully restored aircraft at no cost to the government. The Navy accepted the deal, and the search for a suitable fabricator was mounted.

- NS38th_Aristaeus

~S~ All
I have been reading about these planes for a few years now and from what I have learned the first plane crashed after only a couple flights.
The ME262 they used belongs to the U.S. Navy which is on loan to them for the purpose of restoring it back to static display status and at the same time makeing the blueprints for the new birds.
They didn't find an ME262 in a junkyard. lol
No one has complete blueprints to the ME262 which is why the company made the deal with the U.S. Navy.