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 jet plane when it takes to the skies over Bavaria at the height of World War II.

Engine problems, other teething difficulties and political bungling delayed its debut as a combat aircraft until 1944, but when it arrived, the twin-jet Me 262 showed that with an experienced pilot at the controls, it was more than a match for the best Allied fighters, including Britain's own jet, the Gloster Meteor.

In truth, the Me 262 should have been ready for front-line service much earlier. The original design, which, in the end, looked a lot like the finished product, existed as early as April 1939. But high costs and the belief of many high-ranking Luftwaffe officers that conventional aircraft could win the war prevented Germany from making the Me 262 a priority.

The first prototype flew in 1941, but the BMW-made turbojets weren't ready, so the first Me 262 went aloft equipped with 700-horsepower Jumo 210G piston engines.

Like the Type XXI U-boat, the Me 262 appeared too late in the war to help Germany stave off defeat. History will remember it as the world's first operational jet plane, but the Me 262's true legacy is the influence it had on the design of a new generation of warplanes.

(Source: Warbird Alley)

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