In the history of aviation, the Messerschmitt Me.262 marked at the same time the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. ‘infact, with this elegant and powertul combat plane, the jet engine made’ ts forceful debut in a field that had up til then been dominated by the traditional engines. in the turmoi of World War I, the results ofthe plane were sensational. With ts remarkable performance in terms of speed, superior to that of any other ai Craft in existence atthe time, and ts heavy armarment, the Me. 262 [proved o be a formidable threat tothe enemy right rom is com bat debut in the autumn of 1944. However, fortunately for the Alles, the enormous potential ofthis aircraft vas only partly ex ploted by Germany. Several istonans have wnten that hadthe Messerschmitt Me.262 been available earlier and had it been ‘employed immectately in he role to which twas most suited (hat of pure fighte’), tis highly probable that it would have altered the Course of Worid War il. However, producton was dissipated in a series of varianisin which it was attempted to adapt the aircraft to various roles, frst ofall bomber, then that of night fghter. The result was that the 1,430 arrraft built during the last months of the war went into service too late and in t00 smal a number to have any effect on the course of everts. Nevertheless, the Me. 262 fought tenaciously unt the cease of hostites in Europe, and its career truly represented the swan-song of the Luftwaffe The Me.262 project was launched toward the end of 1938, following specications which called forthe instalation ofthe two ‘new gas turbines being developed at the time by BMW and “Junkers. twas in fact the delay in preparing these revolutionary {engines that led tothe development of the program being affected forthe frst ime. In March 1940, Messerschmitt completed a mock Lup of the aircraft and received an order for the construction of three prototypes. However, the preparation of the engines con- tinued to cal for more time than had been foreseen, and in order to speed up the intial fight tests and begin the study ofthe air frame's behavior, in March 1941, the first sircrat was fited with a traditional Junkers Jumo 210 G engine instaled in the nose. This structure took tothe air forthe frst time on Apri 18, with satsfactory resutts, but t was not until November, when the fst BMW 003 turbojets became available, thatthe detintve prototype Could be prepared. During the fist fight test (March 25, 1842) the piston engine was also retained and this proved to be alucky foresight considering that, immediately ater takeot, the two tur boojats stopped working du to the breakage of the compressor blades and the pilot, Fritz Wendel, managed to land thanks ent tirely to the “old” propeller. Development continued with the more reliable Junkers Jumo (004 A, and restructured inthis manner, the third prototype manag, 2d to complete its fst test fight successtully on July 18, 1942 ‘Along preparation phase folowed with other experimental ai ‘A Mester Me 2621 sarnce vn he Sondorkommando Nowcny. he st Gr. fran unt © ompoy te pt igen 6 ‘One ol ho Me 262 prototypes durng Mgt ees The aera has ractonal ype an ‘ing ode ted wh od he crait and a year later (July 23, 1943), the new aircraft was presented to Hermann Goering. On November 26, this was folow: fed by its presentation to Hitler, who was very impressed and ordered that the aircraft go into production immediately as a bomber. This decision was the cause of further delays in the pro- gram and it was not until April, 1944, that the first of the 23 pre series Me.262 &.0 appeared, The fist production series version was the A-1a fighter, armed with four 30 mm cannons, and it was folowed by the A.2a bomber vatiant, capable of carrying a maximum bomb load of 2,207 Ib (1,000 kg), Several experimental subseties were built in order to {est cifferent types of armament and on board equipment (these included the Me,262 A.3a for tactical support and the A-Sa fighter reconnaissance plane), although in October. 1944, it was from the two-seater Me 262 B.-1a trainer variart thatthe fist night fighter version (designated B-1a/U1) was denved. This was followed by the defintive B-2a version, Despte the iact that it was penalized as far as speed was concerned by the large radar antennae on the nose, this Me.262 had great potential for development However, only very few B-talU1s were delivered in 1945, while the B-2as never went beyond the prototype stage coor plate Messorschmit Me.262 At | Gop Crgangzun Jagsgeschwase Usiwsto" Leche Saray, 1988. wee 2 Manufacturer: Messerschmitt AG Fighter ia Sa 104 (983m) —— 18.090 1b (6.387 bo) ‘peed: 5:9 mp 6THE JET FIGHTER ‘The jet ago was born on August 27, 1939, immediately betore the outbreak of World War I On that day, at Heinkel airfield at Marienohe, the frst aircrat in history to be powered by a jet ‘engine successfully completed its frst fight. Designated Heinkel He. 178, it was a small high wing experimental monoplane, built ‘oxprossly with the aim of mounting a turbojet: the He.S 35 with 838 Ib (380 kg) thrust, designed by Pabst von Onain, the Govelopment of which had been financed for three years by the Ernst Heinkel company itself. The pilot was flugkapitan Erich Warsitz This date marked the first point in Germany's favor in the fascinating race for tho jet engines development. This contest ‘originated during the 1930s, and proceeded in an increasingly aggressive manner once the war began. The main protagonists and rivals were the German and British aeronautical industries. The Heinkel He.176 remained inthe prototype stage, although nevertheless it provided a valuable contribution to the new and more powerful aircrat's development and preparation and to the first generation of turbine engines. This enabled Germany to beat its great rival as far as time was concerned in the next Challenge too: the putting into service of a combat plane pro- vided with the revolutionary power plant. This was tho Messerschmitt Mo.262, which went down in the history of avia- lion as the world's first operative "jot" ‘The Me.262 appeared as a prototype on July 18, 1942, and wont into Service in the autumn of 1944, proving to be a for- midable weapon, thanks to its excellent performance in terms Of speed. which was far superior to that of any other aircraft inoxistonce atthe time. However, fortunately forthe Allies, the enormous potential ofthis aircraft was exploited only partially by Gormany, ‘Several historians have writen that had the Messerschmitt Me.262 boen available earlior and had it been used immedi- ately in the only role for which it was suited (that of pure light- er), the course of World War Il would most probably have taken a different course. However, production wasted much time with € sories of variants in which it was attempted to adapt the air- Craft for several roles, intially that of bomber, and then that of night fighter However, the Germans did not stop there. While the Me.262 was the world's first ot fighter, the Arado Ar 234 was the first ‘operative bomber in history to be fitted with this revolutionary form of propulsion. Together, these two outstanding combat planes represented the Luttwatte best weapons to be sent into Action during the last year of the war, although their career did litle to ater the result of the confict. A couple of hundred Arado ‘Ar.234s (christened Blitz, lightning, the aircraft appeared as a prototype on June 15, 1943) were builtin all and the aircraft had a very limited operative career. To these aircraft was added a third, which was equally revolu- tionary. This was the Heinkel He. 162 Salamander, built in the record-breaking time of only three months: in fact, the program was launched offically on September 8, 1944, and the first pro- totype took to the air on December 6 of the same year. All tis haste was caused by the pure necessity to send into combat a less expensive interceptor which had the same performance as the Messerschmitt Me 262, and could be built using the same power plant and non-strategic materials. Moreover, its construc- tion was to be simple enough to be entrusted to non-skilled labor Itwas only the disastrous circumstances in which it found itself during the last months of the war that prevented Germany from carrying out this ambitious program, which foresaw the produc- tion of no fewer than 4,000 aircraft per month. In practice, only 116 Salamanders came off the assembly lines, and very few of these were used in combat. Great Britain thus took second place, although only by a nar. row margin. The technological result was equally important. Less than two years after the German Heinkel He.178 had made its maiden fight, Britain achieved a similar result. On May 15, 1941, at Cranwell air-base in Lincolnshire, the experimental prototype of the Gloster E.28/39, powered by a Whittle W.1 engine with ‘860 Ib (390 ka) thrust, 0k to the air for the first time, This engine hhad been designed by Frank Whittle, who had been the first to patent a study of a gas turbine back in 1930, Itwas then tested for the first time on April 12, 1937. The Gloster E.28/39 also remained at the prototype stage, although it served as the basis {or the first operative British jet. The Gloster Meteor Il was also the only Allied aircraft belonging to the new generation to go into service before the end of the conflict. The program had been launched in August, 1940, and the first fight had been carried Out by the fitth prototype on March 5, 1943. The Meteors of the inital production series (Mk!) wore fitted with turbojets actual- ly derived from the Whittle W. 1, the model W.2B/23 with 1,699 lb (770 kg) thrust, which Rolls-Royce had prepared and con- structed under the namo of Welland, However, apart from its limited use in the final months of the war in Europe (during which itnever had the chance of measuring itsel! against its great rival, the Me.262), the Meteor marked the beginning of a phase of ‘extremely rapid development in the immediate post-war years which guaranteed Great Britain worldwide leadership,