Aircraft of World War II: Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (ePub)

"It was as if an angel was pushing."
So Adolf Galland, absolute icon of the German, described the Messerschmitt 262 "Schwalbe" record holder's first fighter in history with jet engine to enter into operational service.
The Messerschmitt Me 262 was a twin-engine multi-role jet fighter wing arrow developed and produced by the German company Messerschmitt AG in the forties. Used by the Luftwaffe during the final stages of World War II, he holds the distinction of being the first fighter in history with jet engine to enter into operational service and the first fighter twin-jet.
It is considered the most advanced aircraft used by the Germans, also forerunner of fighter jets made in the Soviet Union after the war.
According to some historical allies, with the Me 262 the German aircraft industry created a plane that theoretically could have won the war for air defense and give back to the Luftwaffe supremacy in Germany. Compared with the fighters supplied to the allies at the time, including the Gloster Meteor which would come into service shortly thereafter, the German jet proved faster and more powerfully armed.
But many problems of development delayed the entry into service and the technical problems he suffered it made an operating too few examples in order to influence the tide of the air war in Europe.
However, unlike the jet planes of the allies, which were used only for operational service and not clash with enemy aircraft, the Me 262 they shot down more than 100 aircraft, including bombers and fighters.