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The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow") was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. The Messerschmitt Me 262 was clearly the best fighter plane of World War II, bristling with firepower and capable of flying 120 miles per hour faster than America's outstanding P-51 Mustang. In the hands of a skilled pilot, the Me-262 would have been untouchable.
The Me 262 was already being developed as Projekt P.1065 before the start of World War II. Plans were first drawn up in April 1939, and the original design was very similar to the plane that eventually entered service. The progression of the original design into service was delayed greatly by technical issues involving the new jet engines. Funding for the jet program was also initially lacking as many high-ranking officials thought the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft. By 1943, problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably.
The Messerschmitt Me 262 was delayed because the Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine that powered it did not reach quantity production until the spring of 1944. The real failure lies with the German Air Ministry, which did not recognize the potential of the jet engine and did not -- as it easily could have -- assign the priorities necessary to put reliable jet engines into production.
In mid-1943 Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as an offensive ground-attack/bomber rather than a defensive interceptor, as a high speed, light payload Schnellbomber ("Fast Bomber"), to penetrate Allied air superiority during the expected invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. It is debatable to what extent Hitler's interference extended the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation. Albert Speer, then Minister of Armaments and War Production, claimed in his memoirs that Hitler originally blocked mass-production of the Me 262 before agreeing to production in early 1944. He rejected arguments that the plane would be more effective as a fighter against Allied bombers then destroying large parts of Germany and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer Hitler had felt that its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant that it couldn't be attacked and so had preferred it for high altitude straight flying.
Although it is often stated the Me 262 is a "swept wing" design, the production Me 262 had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5°. This was done after the initial design of the aircraft, when the engines proved to be heavier than originally expected, primarily to position the center of lift properly relative to the centre of mass, not for the aerodynamic benefit of increasing the critical Mach number of the wing, where the sweep was too slight to achieve any significant advantage. On 1 March 1940, instead of moving the wing forward on its mount, the outer wing was repositioned slightly aft. The trailing edge of the mid-section of the wing remained unswept. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and windtunnel results, the middle section's leading edge was later swept to the same angle as the outer panels.
Turbojet engines have less thrust at low speed than propellers, and as a result, low-speed acceleration is relatively poor. It was more noticeable for the Me 262 as early jet engines (before the invention of afterburners) responded slowly to throttle changes. The introduction of a primitive autothrottle late in the war only helped slightly. Conversely, the higher power of jet engines at higher speeds meant the Me 262 enjoyed a much higher rate of climb. Used tactically, this gave the jet fighter an even greater speed advantage in climb rate than level flight at top speed.
With one engine out, the Me 262 still flew well, with speeds of 450–500 km/h (280-310 mph), but pilots were warned never to fly slower than 300 km/h (190 mph) on one engine, as the asymmetrical thrust would cause serious problems.
Operationally, the Me 262 had an endurance of 60 to 90 minutes.
While Germany was bombed intensively, production of the Me 262 was dispersed into low-profile production facilities, sometimes little more than clearings in the forests of Germany and occupied nations. Through the end of February to the end of March 1945, approximately 60 Me 262s were destroyed in attacks on Obertraubling and 30 at Leipheim (the Neuberg jet plant was bombed on 19 March.) Large, heavily protected underground factories were constructed to take up production of the Me 262, safe from bomb attacks, but the war ended before they could be completed.
The Me 262 was so fast that new tactics had to be devised to attack American bombers. In the head-on attack, the closing speed, of about 350 yd per second (320 m), was too high for accurate shooting. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great for the short-ranged 30 mm cannon to be used to maximum effect. Therefore, a roller-coaster attack was devised. The 262s approached from astern and about 6,000 ft higher (1,800 m) than the bombers. From about 3 mi behind (4.8 km), they went into a shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1 mi astern (1.6 km) and 1,500 feet (460 m) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce their excess speed. On levelling off, they were 1,000 yd astern (0.91 km) and overtaking the bombers at about 100 mph (160 km/h), well placed to attack them. Since 30 mm cannon were not accurate above 650 yd (590 m), and since it was necessary to break off at 200 yd (180 m) to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots would normally commence firing at 550 yd (500 m). Allied bomber gunners found their electric gun turrets had problems tracking the jets. Target acquisition was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile.
Eventually, new combat tactics were developed to counter the Allied bombers' defences. Me 262s, equipped with R4M rockets, would approach from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the 12.7 mm (.50 in) guns, fire a salvo of rockets. The high explosive warhead of only one or two of these rockets was capable of downing even the famously rugged B-17; a strike on an enemy aircraft meant its total annihilation. Although this tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war. This method of attacking bombers became the standard until the invention and mass deployment of guided missiles. Some nicknamed this tactic the "Luftwaffe's Wolf Pack", as the fighters would often make runs in groups of two or three, fire their rockets, then return to base.
The Me 262 was difficult for its opponents to counter, once in the air, and in fact almost untouchable if flown correctly by an experienced pilot, mostly because of its high speed and rate of climb which made it extremely hard to intercept. But like any other aircraft, the Me 262 had its shortcomings. For example, as with all other early jets, the Me 262's engines did not provide a lot of thrust at low air speeds (a key criterion for good turn performance), and throttle response was slow. Another disadvantage shared by all early jet engines was the relatively high risk of so-called “flame outs” if the throttle was used too aggressively (such as was common in a dogfight). Pilots were therefore instructed to operate the throttle gently and avoid quick changes in setting. Later in the war, an automatic throttle regulator was introduced to try to solve this, but it only partly alleviated the problem. On the plus side, thrust at high speed was much greater than on propeller-driven aircraft.
Furthermore the Me 262 had, by contemporary standards, quite a high wing loading (60.2 lbs/ft2, 294.0 kg/m2) and its turn radius at low speeds was therefore correspondingly wide. This coupled with the slow throttle response and high chance of a flame out, resulted in Me 262 pilots being told to avoid low speed dogfights with the Allied piston engine fighters. The high speed of the Me 262 also presented its own problems when it came to engaging enemy aircraft, the high speed convergence allowing Me 262 pilots precious little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropriate amount of deflection. This is a problem which faces any aircraft which is much faster than its competition, as any aircraft approaching another one from behind at much higher speed will experience that the slower going aircraft in front will always be able to pull a tighter smaller-radius turn, forcing the faster aircraft to overshoot. This was a problem the Me 262 faced a lot, as its cruising speed alone was up to 200 km/h (120 mph) faster than that of any piston-engine fighter of the period. Oberst Johannes Steinhoff experienced this exact problem, himself, once when he encountered a dozen Russian fighters early in 1945, the much higher speed of his Me 262 making it extremely difficult for him to get his guns on the small Russian fighters. He recalled:
“I passed one that looked as if it was hanging motionless in the air (I am too fast!). The one above me went into a steep right-hand turn, his pale blue underside standing out against the purple sky. Another banked right in front of the Me's nose. Violent jolt as I flew through his airscrew eddies. Maybe a wing's length away. That one in the gentle left-hand curve! Swing her round. I was coming from underneath, eye glued to the sight (pull her tighter!). A throbbing in the wings as my cannon pounded briefly. Missed him. Way behind his tail. It was exasperating. I would never be able to shoot one down like this. They were like a sack of fleas. A prick of doubt: is this really such a good fighter? Could one in fact successfully attack a group of erratically banking fighters with the Me 262?”
Pilots soon learned that the Me 262 was in fact, despite its high wing loading and lack of low speed thrust, quite maneuverable, especially if attention was drawn to its effective maneuvering speeds. The controls were light and effective right up to the max permissible speed and perfectly harmonized. The addition of full span leading edge slats helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 25 to 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, greatly improving the aircraft turn performance as well as its landing and take off characteristics over what the high wing loading would suggest.(The slats lowered the stalling speed of the aircraft to a respectable 160 to 170 km/h depending on load out.) And as many pilots soon found out, the Me 262's clean design also meant that it, like all jets, held its speed in tight turns much better than conventional propeller driven fighters, which was a great potential advantage in a dogfight as it meant better energy retention in maneuvers. Luftwaffe test pilot and flight instructor Hans Fey stated, "The 262 will turn much better at high than at slow speeds, and due to its clean design, will keep its speed in tight turns much longer than conventional type aircraft."
As a result, Me 262 pilots were relatively safe from the Allied fighters, as long as they did not allow themselves to get sucked into low speed turning contests and saved their maneuvering for higher speeds. Combatting the Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the US Navy fighters fought the more nimble, but slower, Japanese fighters in the Pacific.
Luftwaffe pilots did however eventually learn how to handle the Me 262's higher speed, and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter. One of the Me 262's top aces was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills which included six four-engine bombers and 10 P-51 Mustang fighters. Night fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day flying the Me 262. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved in standard radar-less aircraft, even though Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar. Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär, who claimed 16 enemy aircraft while flying the Me 262. Pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down 12 enemy fighters in the Me 262, 10 of them being American P-51 Mustangs. Other notable Me 262 aces included Georg-Peter Eder, also with 12 enemy fighters to his credit (including 9 P-51s), Walther Dahl with 11 (including three La-7s and six P-51s) and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with 6 (including 1 Spitfire and 2 P-51s) amongst many others.
After the end of the war, the Me 262 and other advanced German technologies were quickly swept up by the Americans (as part of the USAAF's Operation Lusty), British, and Soviets. Many Me 262s were found in readily-repairable condition and were confiscated.
During testing, the Me 262 was found to have advantages over the early models of the Gloster Meteor. It was faster, had better cockpit visibility to the sides and rear (mostly due to the canopy frame and the discoloration caused by the plastics used in the Meteor's construction), and was a superior gun platform, as the early Meteors had a tendency to snake at high speed and exhibited "weak" aileron response. The Me 262 did have a shorter combat range than the Meteor.
The USAAF compared the P-80 Shooting Star and Me 262 concluding, "Despite a difference in gross weight of nearly 907 kg (2,000 lb), the Me 262 was superior to the P-80 in acceleration, speed and approximately the same in climb performance. The Me 262 apparently has a higher critical Mach number, from a drag standpoint, than any current Army Air Force fighter." The Army Air Force also tested an example of the Me 262A-1a/U3 (US flight evaluation serial FE-4012), an unarmed photoreconnaissance version, which was fitted with a fighter nose and given an overall smooth finish. It was used for performance comparisons against the P-80. During testing between May and August 1946, the aircraft completed eight flights, lasting four hours and 40 minutes. Testing was discontinued after four engine changes were required during the course of the tests, culminating in two single-engine landings.
These aircraft were extensively studied, aiding development of early U.S. and Soviet jet fighters. The F-86 Sabre, designed by the engineer Edgar Schmued, used the Me 262 airfoil (Messerschmitt Wing A) and a slat design similar to that of the Me 262.
Had the Air Ministry done its job, the Messerschmitt Me 262 could have been in operation in great numbers by 1943, and the Allies would not have won the air superiority that made the June 6, 1944, D-day invasion possible.
Fortunately for the Allies, the delay in engine production delayed the Me 262's entrance into combat until the fall of 1944, by which time Germany no longer possessed the means to train pilots in the jet's use. Although some 1,433 Messerschmitt Me 262 fighters were delivered, only about 300 saw combat. There were probably never more than 36 in the air at a time when the Allies customarily put 1,000 bombers and 1,000 fighters over the ruins of Germany.
The great legacy of this classic airplane is that it inspired other air forces to adopt the jet fighter as standard, and moved engineers to utilize its layout -- swept wings and twin-pod engines -- for fighters and airliners.
The Me 262 was already being developed as Projekt P.1065 before the start of World War II. Plans were first drawn up in April 1939, and the original design was very similar to the plane that eventually entered service. The progression of the original design into service was delayed greatly by technical issues involving the new jet engines. Funding for the jet program was also initially lacking as many high-ranking officials thought the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft. By 1943, problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably.
The Messerschmitt Me 262 was delayed because the Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine that powered it did not reach quantity production until the spring of 1944. The real failure lies with the German Air Ministry, which did not recognize the potential of the jet engine and did not -- as it easily could have -- assign the priorities necessary to put reliable jet engines into production.
In mid-1943 Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as an offensive ground-attack/bomber rather than a defensive interceptor, as a high speed, light payload Schnellbomber ("Fast Bomber"), to penetrate Allied air superiority during the expected invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. It is debatable to what extent Hitler's interference extended the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation. Albert Speer, then Minister of Armaments and War Production, claimed in his memoirs that Hitler originally blocked mass-production of the Me 262 before agreeing to production in early 1944. He rejected arguments that the plane would be more effective as a fighter against Allied bombers then destroying large parts of Germany and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer Hitler had felt that its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant that it couldn't be attacked and so had preferred it for high altitude straight flying.
Although it is often stated the Me 262 is a "swept wing" design, the production Me 262 had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5°. This was done after the initial design of the aircraft, when the engines proved to be heavier than originally expected, primarily to position the center of lift properly relative to the centre of mass, not for the aerodynamic benefit of increasing the critical Mach number of the wing, where the sweep was too slight to achieve any significant advantage. On 1 March 1940, instead of moving the wing forward on its mount, the outer wing was repositioned slightly aft. The trailing edge of the mid-section of the wing remained unswept. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and windtunnel results, the middle section's leading edge was later swept to the same angle as the outer panels.
Turbojet engines have less thrust at low speed than propellers, and as a result, low-speed acceleration is relatively poor. It was more noticeable for the Me 262 as early jet engines (before the invention of afterburners) responded slowly to throttle changes. The introduction of a primitive autothrottle late in the war only helped slightly. Conversely, the higher power of jet engines at higher speeds meant the Me 262 enjoyed a much higher rate of climb. Used tactically, this gave the jet fighter an even greater speed advantage in climb rate than level flight at top speed.
With one engine out, the Me 262 still flew well, with speeds of 450–500 km/h (280-310 mph), but pilots were warned never to fly slower than 300 km/h (190 mph) on one engine, as the asymmetrical thrust would cause serious problems.
Operationally, the Me 262 had an endurance of 60 to 90 minutes.
While Germany was bombed intensively, production of the Me 262 was dispersed into low-profile production facilities, sometimes little more than clearings in the forests of Germany and occupied nations. Through the end of February to the end of March 1945, approximately 60 Me 262s were destroyed in attacks on Obertraubling and 30 at Leipheim (the Neuberg jet plant was bombed on 19 March.) Large, heavily protected underground factories were constructed to take up production of the Me 262, safe from bomb attacks, but the war ended before they could be completed.
The Me 262 was so fast that new tactics had to be devised to attack American bombers. In the head-on attack, the closing speed, of about 350 yd per second (320 m), was too high for accurate shooting. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great for the short-ranged 30 mm cannon to be used to maximum effect. Therefore, a roller-coaster attack was devised. The 262s approached from astern and about 6,000 ft higher (1,800 m) than the bombers. From about 3 mi behind (4.8 km), they went into a shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about 1 mi astern (1.6 km) and 1,500 feet (460 m) below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce their excess speed. On levelling off, they were 1,000 yd astern (0.91 km) and overtaking the bombers at about 100 mph (160 km/h), well placed to attack them. Since 30 mm cannon were not accurate above 650 yd (590 m), and since it was necessary to break off at 200 yd (180 m) to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots would normally commence firing at 550 yd (500 m). Allied bomber gunners found their electric gun turrets had problems tracking the jets. Target acquisition was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile.
Eventually, new combat tactics were developed to counter the Allied bombers' defences. Me 262s, equipped with R4M rockets, would approach from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the 12.7 mm (.50 in) guns, fire a salvo of rockets. The high explosive warhead of only one or two of these rockets was capable of downing even the famously rugged B-17; a strike on an enemy aircraft meant its total annihilation. Although this tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war. This method of attacking bombers became the standard until the invention and mass deployment of guided missiles. Some nicknamed this tactic the "Luftwaffe's Wolf Pack", as the fighters would often make runs in groups of two or three, fire their rockets, then return to base.
The Me 262 was difficult for its opponents to counter, once in the air, and in fact almost untouchable if flown correctly by an experienced pilot, mostly because of its high speed and rate of climb which made it extremely hard to intercept. But like any other aircraft, the Me 262 had its shortcomings. For example, as with all other early jets, the Me 262's engines did not provide a lot of thrust at low air speeds (a key criterion for good turn performance), and throttle response was slow. Another disadvantage shared by all early jet engines was the relatively high risk of so-called “flame outs” if the throttle was used too aggressively (such as was common in a dogfight). Pilots were therefore instructed to operate the throttle gently and avoid quick changes in setting. Later in the war, an automatic throttle regulator was introduced to try to solve this, but it only partly alleviated the problem. On the plus side, thrust at high speed was much greater than on propeller-driven aircraft.
Furthermore the Me 262 had, by contemporary standards, quite a high wing loading (60.2 lbs/ft2, 294.0 kg/m2) and its turn radius at low speeds was therefore correspondingly wide. This coupled with the slow throttle response and high chance of a flame out, resulted in Me 262 pilots being told to avoid low speed dogfights with the Allied piston engine fighters. The high speed of the Me 262 also presented its own problems when it came to engaging enemy aircraft, the high speed convergence allowing Me 262 pilots precious little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropriate amount of deflection. This is a problem which faces any aircraft which is much faster than its competition, as any aircraft approaching another one from behind at much higher speed will experience that the slower going aircraft in front will always be able to pull a tighter smaller-radius turn, forcing the faster aircraft to overshoot. This was a problem the Me 262 faced a lot, as its cruising speed alone was up to 200 km/h (120 mph) faster than that of any piston-engine fighter of the period. Oberst Johannes Steinhoff experienced this exact problem, himself, once when he encountered a dozen Russian fighters early in 1945, the much higher speed of his Me 262 making it extremely difficult for him to get his guns on the small Russian fighters. He recalled:
“I passed one that looked as if it was hanging motionless in the air (I am too fast!). The one above me went into a steep right-hand turn, his pale blue underside standing out against the purple sky. Another banked right in front of the Me's nose. Violent jolt as I flew through his airscrew eddies. Maybe a wing's length away. That one in the gentle left-hand curve! Swing her round. I was coming from underneath, eye glued to the sight (pull her tighter!). A throbbing in the wings as my cannon pounded briefly. Missed him. Way behind his tail. It was exasperating. I would never be able to shoot one down like this. They were like a sack of fleas. A prick of doubt: is this really such a good fighter? Could one in fact successfully attack a group of erratically banking fighters with the Me 262?”
Pilots soon learned that the Me 262 was in fact, despite its high wing loading and lack of low speed thrust, quite maneuverable, especially if attention was drawn to its effective maneuvering speeds. The controls were light and effective right up to the max permissible speed and perfectly harmonized. The addition of full span leading edge slats helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 25 to 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, greatly improving the aircraft turn performance as well as its landing and take off characteristics over what the high wing loading would suggest.(The slats lowered the stalling speed of the aircraft to a respectable 160 to 170 km/h depending on load out.) And as many pilots soon found out, the Me 262's clean design also meant that it, like all jets, held its speed in tight turns much better than conventional propeller driven fighters, which was a great potential advantage in a dogfight as it meant better energy retention in maneuvers. Luftwaffe test pilot and flight instructor Hans Fey stated, "The 262 will turn much better at high than at slow speeds, and due to its clean design, will keep its speed in tight turns much longer than conventional type aircraft."
As a result, Me 262 pilots were relatively safe from the Allied fighters, as long as they did not allow themselves to get sucked into low speed turning contests and saved their maneuvering for higher speeds. Combatting the Allied fighters could be effectively done the same way as the US Navy fighters fought the more nimble, but slower, Japanese fighters in the Pacific.
Luftwaffe pilots did however eventually learn how to handle the Me 262's higher speed, and the Me 262 soon proved a formidable air superiority fighter. One of the Me 262's top aces was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills which included six four-engine bombers and 10 P-51 Mustang fighters. Night fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day flying the Me 262. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved in standard radar-less aircraft, even though Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar. Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär, who claimed 16 enemy aircraft while flying the Me 262. Pilots such as Franz Schall managing to shoot down 12 enemy fighters in the Me 262, 10 of them being American P-51 Mustangs. Other notable Me 262 aces included Georg-Peter Eder, also with 12 enemy fighters to his credit (including 9 P-51s), Walther Dahl with 11 (including three La-7s and six P-51s) and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with 6 (including 1 Spitfire and 2 P-51s) amongst many others.
After the end of the war, the Me 262 and other advanced German technologies were quickly swept up by the Americans (as part of the USAAF's Operation Lusty), British, and Soviets. Many Me 262s were found in readily-repairable condition and were confiscated.
During testing, the Me 262 was found to have advantages over the early models of the Gloster Meteor. It was faster, had better cockpit visibility to the sides and rear (mostly due to the canopy frame and the discoloration caused by the plastics used in the Meteor's construction), and was a superior gun platform, as the early Meteors had a tendency to snake at high speed and exhibited "weak" aileron response. The Me 262 did have a shorter combat range than the Meteor.
The USAAF compared the P-80 Shooting Star and Me 262 concluding, "Despite a difference in gross weight of nearly 907 kg (2,000 lb), the Me 262 was superior to the P-80 in acceleration, speed and approximately the same in climb performance. The Me 262 apparently has a higher critical Mach number, from a drag standpoint, than any current Army Air Force fighter." The Army Air Force also tested an example of the Me 262A-1a/U3 (US flight evaluation serial FE-4012), an unarmed photoreconnaissance version, which was fitted with a fighter nose and given an overall smooth finish. It was used for performance comparisons against the P-80. During testing between May and August 1946, the aircraft completed eight flights, lasting four hours and 40 minutes. Testing was discontinued after four engine changes were required during the course of the tests, culminating in two single-engine landings.
These aircraft were extensively studied, aiding development of early U.S. and Soviet jet fighters. The F-86 Sabre, designed by the engineer Edgar Schmued, used the Me 262 airfoil (Messerschmitt Wing A) and a slat design similar to that of the Me 262.
Had the Air Ministry done its job, the Messerschmitt Me 262 could have been in operation in great numbers by 1943, and the Allies would not have won the air superiority that made the June 6, 1944, D-day invasion possible.
Fortunately for the Allies, the delay in engine production delayed the Me 262's entrance into combat until the fall of 1944, by which time Germany no longer possessed the means to train pilots in the jet's use. Although some 1,433 Messerschmitt Me 262 fighters were delivered, only about 300 saw combat. There were probably never more than 36 in the air at a time when the Allies customarily put 1,000 bombers and 1,000 fighters over the ruins of Germany.
The great legacy of this classic airplane is that it inspired other air forces to adopt the jet fighter as standard, and moved engineers to utilize its layout -- swept wings and twin-pod engines -- for fighters and airliners.
.Every sane person knows that germans are the pioneers in defence sector and science.
