The jet boasted a top speed of approximately 540 miles per hour, far surpassing the fastest Allied piston-engine fighters. There can be little doubt that, at least when the Second World War began, ...

Click to open image viewer. Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 ...

For as long as aviation technology has allowed, some of warfare's most decisive battles have been fought (at least partially) in the air. World War II's Battle of Britain, for instance, which raged ...

In summer 1944, the Nazis debuted one of the many advanced weapons they devised during World War II: the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Me 262 was the first operational fighter jet in history, and while it ...

The Messerschmitt Me-262A-1 "Schwalbe" ("Swallow") was the first mass produced jet fighter in the world that entered combat. With its maximum speed of 540 mph this sleek bird outran every allied ...

While it wasn't the first jet-engined aircraft that flew, the ME-262 was the first operational jet-fighter. So many technical and political troubles struck its development that it began its career as ...

Pilots nicknamed early-model P-47 Thunderbolts the “Razorback,” a reference to the chunky fighter plane’s angular canopy. However, the name was more generally appropriate—like a wild boar, the hulking ...

The first flyable replica Messerschmidt Me 262 has been damaged in a landing incident at the end of its second test flight. Project engineers are assessing damage caused by the collapse of the left ...

The Me-262 is a jet that needs no introduction. Perhaps no German WWII fighter on this side of the Bf-109 and possibly the Fokke Wulf Fw-190 is as recognizable as the Me-262 jet. But for how ...

Preface signed Michael S. Rice. "ME-262 A-1 pilot's handbook, by F.D. Van Wart, 1946": p.1-30.

The most intriguing question, of course, is whether Japanese jets could have changed the outcome of the Pacific War had they been fielded in time. The best answer is to look at what happened to ...