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.

While it wasn't the first jet-engined aircraft that flew, the ME-262 was the first operational jet-fighter. So many technical and political troubles struck its development that it began its career as ...

The debut of jet-powered aircraft in World War II marked a turning point in aviation history. Among the first of their kind, two aircraft emerged as pioneers of the jet age: the German Messerschmitt ...

With a top speed of 540 mph, Germany's Messerschmitt Me 262 was by far the fastest fighter of World War II. It was powered by jet engines, a new technology that was not always reliable. Still, the ...

After market demand suddenly dried up for ME 109 and ME 262 fighters in 1945, German aircraft maker Messerschmitt began a new battle for survival, building among other things sewing machines and ...

National Air and Space Museum Technical Reference Files: Aircraft, NASM.XXXX.1183.A, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Material is subject to ...

World’s first fighter plane: In a world which is witnessing air strikes around the world, do you know who developed the world’s first fighter plane and how powerful it was. As per media reports, Nazi ...