While the numbers may be inflated, Luftwaffe pilots claimed that the Me 262 shot down 542 Allied aircraft during the war.
Nazi Germany has long been begrudgingly admired for its technological innovation. The Third Reich’s military developments included, among others, the Gustav railway gun, the V-1 rocket, and the Panzer tank. There is a reason why both the American and Soviet governments competed in a mad dash to scoop up Nazi scientists at war’s end.
And one Nazi wartime innovation that altered the course of military technological history was the jet-powered aircraft. Entering service late in the war, the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe—German for “Sparrow”—was the world’s first operational jet fighter, setting the standard that the world’s air forces still follow today.
Designing the Me 262
The Nazis began tinkering with what would become the Me 262 as early as 1939. The program began under the power of a piston engine. But by 1942, the airframe was making jet-powered flights.
In spite of promising early results, production delays hampered the Me 262 program—particularly amid the progressively heavier demands on Germany’s war industry as the war turned against her. The delays kept the Me 262 out of service until mid-1944—but when she did appear, she was faster and more heavily armed than anything in the Allied inventory.
The Me 262’s specifications were impressive for the time period, with a maximum speed of 560 miles per hour, a 37,570 foot service ceiling, and a 3,900 foot per minute rate of climb. Onboard, the Me 262 could carry four 30-mm MK 108 cannons, 24 55-mm R4M rockets, and two 250-kilogram bombs.
Yet despite how fast and destructive the Me 262 was, the new aircraft did have certain vulnerabilities—which the Allies soon learned to exploit.
Most notably, the Me 262 suffered from insufficient thrust at low airspeeds, with a slow throttle response. This made the aircraft uniquely vulnerable at low airspeeds, namely during takeoff and landing. Chuck Yeager, the pilot who would later gain international fame as the first man to break the sound barrier in 1947, exploited this weakness to shoot down an Me 262 in his P-51 Mustang.
The Me 262 was also prone to compressor stalls—caused by insufficient airflow into the compressor of the engine—requiring pilots to provide throttle inputs gradually, lest the engine flame out.
And, of course, learning to fly an aircraft that was markedly faster than anything else in the sky presented Luftwaffe pilots with another set of challenges. The immense closing speed of the Me 262 gave pilots very little time to line up their targets. When approaching slower aircraft from behind, the Me 262 naturally had a tendency to overshoot, as the slower aircraft was capable of making tighter banking turns to escape the Schwalbe’s wrath.
The pilots soon figured out tactical solutions to these problems, eventually converting the Me 262 into a reliable air superiority fighter. While the numbers may be inflated, Luftwaffe pilots claimed that the Me 262 shot down 542 Allied aircraft during the war. Me 262 pilots lauded the aircraft for its high maneuverability, its ability to hold speed through tight turns, and its light, effective, and harmonized stick.
The Me 262 program ended when the Nazi regime fell. But the concept it created—the introduction of the jet engine—changed aircraft forever.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
