Global Aircraft -- Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow

Primary Function:	Fighter bomber
Contractor:	Messerschmitt
Crew:	One
Unit Cost:	N/A
Powerplant
	Two Jumo 004B-1 turbojet engines rated at 4,050 lb thrust
Dimensions
Length:	34 feet, 9 in
Wingspan:	41 feet
Height:	12 feet, 7 in
Weights
Empty:	8,400 lb
Maximum Takeoff:	14,100 lb
Performance
Speed:	540 mph
Ceiling:	37,600 ft
Range:	650 mi
Armament
	Four 30-mm MK 108 cannons, 24 55-mm R4M rockets

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Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow Achievements

The 262 was the first operational jet-powered fighter.

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Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow Background

This was the very first combat jet fighter. It was developed, constructed, and fielded by the German's during the very end of WWII. Its predecessor was the Me163 Komet, which was powered by a rocket instead of a jet engine.

The Me262 was considered by many Germans to be a war winning aircraft, and it very well may have been had it been introduced in time and in a greater number of aircraft. It had the ability to fly much faster than any other aircraft ripping through bomber formations and easily destroying them.

However, Allied pilots were able to shoot down a number of them despite how advanced the 262 was.

After the war, all the countries that could get their hands on one of them took them and used them to develop their own jet fighter.

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