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.

In summer 1944, the Nazis debuted one of the many advanced weapons they devised during World War II: the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Me 262 was the first operational fighter jet in history, and while it ...

On this day in aviation history, 83 years ago (July 18, 1942), the Messerschmitt Me 262 prototype took to the skies for the first time under jet power. This historic flight marked the culmination of ...

The Me 262 – the World’s First Operational Jet-Powered Fighter – Design work on the Messerschmitt Me 262 began before the outbreak of the Second World War, but due to problems with the engine design, ...

Development on the Jumo 004 began in 1939 under the direction of Anselm Franz, whose experience with turbocompressors built on the pioneering turbojet work of Hans von Ohain. The model 004A flew for ...

In July 1942 a German Messerschmitt took off from Leipheim airfield in Bavaria…but it was no ordinary aircraft… It was an Me 262 - the world’s first operational jet fighter. Powered by two Junker Jumo ...