Click to open image viewer. Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 ...

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 ...

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"It was as if an angel was pushing." So Adolf Galland, absolute icon of the German, described the Messerschmitt 262 "Schwalbe" record holders first fighter in history with jet engine to enter into ...

The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the first German jet fighter used in World War II. Photo: Bettmann / Corbis 1942: The third prototype of the Messerschmitt 262 becomes the first true operational ...

On this day in aviation history, 83 years ago (July 18, 1942), the Messerschmitt Me 262 prototype took to the skies for the first time under jet power. This historic flight marked the culmination of ...

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 ...

Click to open image viewer. Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 ...