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, ...

The appearance of the bombers in mass was the turning point in the aerial warfare of World War II. The era of sportsmanlike, ...

Click to open image viewer. CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter.

The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the first German jet fighter used in World War II. Photo: Bettmann / Corbis 1942: The third prototype of the Messerschmitt 262 becomes the first true operational ...

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 ...

This article, originally titled "On the Road," is from the Fall 2025 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and ...

In the months following the end of World War II, Americans were eager to put the war behind them. The military was quickly disposing of the machines it had used to defeat the Axis powers. Tanks, ...

"It was as if an angel was pushing." So Adolf Galland, absolute icon of the German, described the Messerschmitt 262 "Schwalbe" record holders first fighter in history with jet engine to enter into ...

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 ...

Click to open image viewer. CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter.