Today only three of the two-seat variants survived, and the best is believed to be “Red 8” (Werk/nr 110305), the only genuine Me 262 night-fighter to survive the war. It is now on display at ...

(A number of different variants saw service, including a two-seater night fighter.) Two weeks after its combat debut in July 1944, the Me 262 scored its first confirmed kill. By the end of the ...

One of those secret weapons, the Messerschmidt Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow"), represented the world's first operational turbojet aircraft and fighter jet. The Me 262 arrived too late to change the ...

With its maximum speed of 540 mph this sleek bird outran every allied fighter at the end of WW2. It was not a "wonder weapon" but it was still an outstanding and pioneering design. The Me-262 went ...

The Me 262 had four 30-mm MK 108 cannons, while the Meteor had 4 20mm cannons. It's unclear which jet fighter would've prevailed in a face-to-face dogfight. Variables such as pilot skill make this ...

By the war’s end, revolutionary jet aircraft such as the German Me-262 were just the beginning ... This was the night fighter or all-weather interceptor, which was a fighter adapted for use ...

In the world of technology, there's often a fine line between success and failure. It's not just about developing a fantastic weapon, though that's a tall order in and of itself. Even after years ...

“The Me 262 was an incredible leap forward in technology,” says Alex Spencer, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. “It represents a new beginning in 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 ...

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.

In truth, the Me 262 should have been ready for front-line service much earlier. The original design, which, in the end, looked a lot like the finished product, existed as early as April 1939. But ...