The Messerschmitt me 262 (Swallow)

Though best remembered as a late-war weapon, the design of the Messerschmitt Me 262 began prior to World War II in April 1939. Spurred by the success of the Heinkel He 178, the  world's first true jet which flew in August 1939, the German leadership  pressed for the new technology to be put to military use. Known as  Projekt P.1065, work moved forward in response to a request from the  Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM - Ministry of Aviation) for a jet  fighter capable of at least 530 mph with a flight endurance of one hour.  Design of the new aircraft was directed by Dr. Waldemar Voigt with  oversight from Messerschmitt's chief of development, Robert Lusser. In  1939 and 1940, Messerschmitt completed the initial design of the  aircraft and began building prototypes to test the airframe. 

While the first designs called for the Me 262's engines to be mounted in  the wing roots, issues with the power plant's development saw them  moved to pods on the wings. Due to this change and the increased weight  of the engines, the aircraft's wings were swept back to accommodate the  new center of gravity. Overall development was slowed due to continued  issues with the jet engines and administrative interference. The former  issue often was a result of the necessary high-temperature resistant  alloys being unavailable while the latter saw notable figures such as  Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Major General Adolf Galland, and Willy  Messerschmitt all oppose the aircraft at different times for political  and economic reasons. Additionally, the aircraft that would become the  world's first operational jet fighter received mixed support as many  influential Luftwaffe officers who felt that the approaching conflict  could be won by piston-engine aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109,  alone. Originally possessing a conventional landing gear design, this  was changed to a tricycle arrangement to improve control on the ground. 

On April 18, 1941, the prototype Me 262 V1 flew for the first time  powered by a nose-mounted Junkers Jumo 210 engine turning a propeller.  This use of a piston engine was the result of ongoing delays with the  aircraft's intended twin BMW 003 turbojets. The Jumo 210 was retained on  the prototype as a safety feature following the arrival of the BMW  003s. This proved fortuitous as both turbojets failed during their  initial flight, forcing the pilot to land using the piston engine.  Testing in this manner continued for over a year and it was not until  July 18, 1942, that the Me 262 (Prototype V3) flew as "pure" jet. 

Streaking above Leipheim, Messerschmitt test pilot Fritz Wendel's Me 262 beat the first Allied jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor,  into the skies by about nine months. Though Messerschmitt had succeeded  in out-pacing the Allies, its competitors at Heinkel had first flown  their own prototype jet fighter, the He 280 the previous year. Not backed by the Luftwaffe, the He 280 program  would be terminated in 1943. As the Me 262 was refined, the BMW 003  engines were abandoned due to poor performance and replaced by the  Junkers Jumo 004. Though an improvement, the early jet engines possessed  incredibly short operational lives, typically lasting only 12-25 hours.  Due to this issue, the early decision to move the engines from the wing  roots into pods proved fortuitous. Faster than any Allied fighter,  production of the Me 262 became a priority for the Luftwaffe. As a  result of Allied bombing, production was distributed to small factories  in German territory, with around 1,400 ultimately being built. 

Entering service in April 1944, the Me 262 was used in two primary  roles. The Me 262 A-1a "Schwalbe" (Swallow) was developed as a defensive  interceptor while the Me 262 A-2a "Sturmvogel" (Stormbird) was created  as a fighter-bomber. The Stormbird variant was designed at Hitler's  insistence. While over a thousand Me 262s were produced, only around  200-250 ever made it to frontline squadrons due to shortages in fuel,  pilots, and parts. The first unit to deploy the Me 262 was  Erprobungskommando 262 in April 1944. Taken over by Major Walter Nowotny  in July, it was renamed, Kommando Nowotny. 

Developing tactics for the new aircraft, Nowotny's men trained through  the summer of 1944 and first saw action in August. His squadron was  joined by others, however, only a few of the aircraft were available at  any given time. On August 28, the first Me 262 was lost to enemy action  when Major Joseph Myers and Second Lieutenant Manford Croy of the 78th  Fighter Group shot one down while flying P-47 Thunderbolts. After limited use during the fall, the Luftwaffe created several new Me 262 formations in the early months of 1945. 

Among those becoming operational was Jagdverband 44 led by the famed  Galland. A unit of select Luftwaffe pilots, JV 44 began flying in  February 1945. With the activation of additional squadrons, the  Luftwaffe was finally able to mount large Me 262 assaults on Allied  bomber formations. One effort on March 18 saw 37 Me 262s strike a  formation of 1,221 Allied bombers. In the fight, the Me 262s downed  twelve bombers in exchange for four jets. While attacks such as this  frequently proved successful, the relatively small number of available  Me 262s limited their overall effect and the losses they inflicted  generally represented a tiny percentage of the attacking force. 

Me 262 pilots developed several tactics for striking Allied bombers.  Among methods preferred by pilots were diving and attacking with the Me  262's four 30mm cannons and approaching from a bomber's side and firing  R4M rockets at long range. In most cases, the Me 262's high speed made  it nearly invulnerable to a bomber's guns. To cope with the new German  threat, the Allies developed a variety of anti-jet tactics. P-51 Mustang pilots quickly learned that the Me 262 was not as maneuverable as their  own planes and found that they could attack the jet as it turned. As a  practice, escorting fighters began flying high over the bombers so that  they could quickly dive on German jets. 

Also, as the Me-262 required concrete runways, Allied leaders singled  out jet bases for heavy bombing with the goal of destroying the aircraft  on the ground and eliminating its infrastructure. The most proven  method for dealing with the Me 262 was to attack it as it was taking off  or landing. This was largely due to the jet's poor performance at low  speeds. To counter this, the Luftwaffe constructed large flak batteries  along the approaches to their Me 262 bases. By war's end, the Me 262 had  accounted for 509 claimed Allied kills against approximately 100  losses. It is also believed that a Me 262 flown by Oberleutnant Fritz  Stehle scored the final aerial victory of the war for the Luftwaffe.