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 ...

Wolfgang Czaia, the Whidbey Island test pilot for the Paine Field-based Me-262 Project, had the rare opportunity to fly the first authentic reproduction of the famous World War II German jet fighter.

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. Still, the ...

The Smithsonian offers a pop-up experience for visitors to the world’s biggest airshow. Diane Tedeschi Chris Reddersen (sitting in the cockpit of an Me 262 replica) is an aircraft restoration ...

The most intriguing question, of course, is whether Japanese jets could have changed the outcome of the Pacific War had they been fielded in time. The best answer is to look at what happened to ...

In July 1942 a German Messerschmitt took off from Leipheim airfield in Bavaria…but it was no ordinary aircraft… It was an Me 262 - the world’s first operational jet fighter. Powered by two Junker Jumo ...

Here’s What You Need to Know: Like its big brother the Me-262, the Kikka was too little, too late. It is a fallacy that Germany was the only nation to develop combat jets in World War II. In truth, ...

In July 1942 a German Messerschmitt took off from Leipheim airfield in Bavaria…but it was no ordinary aircraft… It was an Me 262 - the world’s first operational jet fighter. Powered by two Junker Jumo ...