Messerschmitt Me 262

The Me 262 was a German fighter aircraft flown during late World War II. It was the first jet to be used in war. It began test flights in 1942, but was not used in combat by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, until 1944. Very few were built because Germany's enemies were bombing factories. It saw little action because the war was nearly over. The jet engines of the new machine often caused problems, that's why a lot of machines had deathly accidents.

Me 262 Schwalbe(Swallow)
Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a late production model
Role	Fighter aircraft, fighter-bomber and ʽJet aircraftʼ
Manufacturer	Messerschmitt
First flight	18 April 1941 with (Junkers Jumo 004 B turbine engines) 18 July 1942 with jet engines[1]
Introduction	April 1944[2][3]
Retired	1945, Germany 1951, Czechoslovakia[4]
Primary users	Luftwaffe Czechoslovak Air Force (S-92)
Number built	1,430

Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmidt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 kph (120 mph) per hour, the Schwalbe restored to the faltering German Luftwaffe. The Me-262 has two ʽJumo 004 B turbine enginesʼ with a top speed of 869.4 kph (540 mph). It's armament includes two ʽMK 103 30 mm cannonsʼ, two ʽ108 30 mm cannonsʼ, and a pair of ʽMG 151/20 20 mm cannonsʼ.

Related pages

• Jet aircraft