Messerschmitt Me-262: Birth of the Jet

On July 26 1944, the Allied powers got their first brief taste of a new kind of airplane. Germany had beaten all the other Allied powers to the successful development and deployment of the world's first operational jet fighter: the Me-262 Schwalbe (German for 'sparrow'). While the Allies would deploy their first jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, just one day later, the Germans are credited for revolutionizing the air war for the next seven decades and beyond.

The Me-262 was originally drawn up in 1939. The design process might've gone on much faster had there not been significant delays due to the lack of reliable jet engines.The first test flight of the plane wasn't until 1941, but this was only the most basic problem. Hitler wanted the 262 to be a high-speed bomber (Shnellbomber), rather than a defensive interceptor as initially designed. While it is not known how badly this delayed production of the 262, it certainly put the Allies that much closer to Germany while their jet was still grounded.

The Me-262 is easily recognized by its swept wing design (the wings taper backward instead of going strait out from the body of the plane). This gave the 262 improved airflow over the wings at high speeds. However, the issue of the engine still plagued the plane's development. It wasn't that jet engines didn't exist, but there was a severe shortage of materials that could withstand the high temperatures inside the engine. Without these materials, the engines were prohibitively unreliable.

However, despite these setbacks, the Me-262 did eventually get deployed into combat. The Allies were at a loss in the beginning as to how to combat this new plane; the 262 could go at least 100mph faster than any plane the Allies had at the time. However, it was soon learned that when the 262 was either taking off or landing, it did not have excessive speed and could be taken down.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of Me-262s destroyed were not in the air. As the war progressed, it was seen that the 262 used up huge amounts of fuel. With the need to prioritize fuel allocation, the 262s were often grounded, and destroyed on the ground by Allied planes on strafing missions.

After the end of the war, with the mad dash to get any and all advanced German technology, the Allies acquired a number of Me-262s. By studying the design, the US was able to construct such planes as the B-47 bomber and the F-86 Sabre fighter, a plane which would make a name for itself in the Korean War. Also, the Me-262 continued to be made after the war. Since the main production facilities were in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak Air Force used Me-262s up until the 1950s, where they were replaced by Soviet-designed planes.

Today, surviving examples of the Me-262 can be found in many museums across the world. They are a fitting testament to a revolution in aerial warfare. Until next time, take care, and thank you.