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High speed German
fighters that appeared in the skies over Europe in the final
years of WW II that had no visible propellers perplexed and
terrified the first bomber crews that encountered these fast new
jets. The Me 262 was the first jet powered fighter in the world,
making its maiden flight on July 18, 1942. Fortunately for the
Allies, it took well over a year for the new jet to eventually
reach active service in early 1944. Though the British had jets
in development, none to this point were much of an improvement
over what the best existing fighters had to offer. Hitler’s
intervening to force the production of a bomber version of the
Me 262, for which it was ill-conceived, was only one of the many
reasons development took so long for the new jet.
Capable of attaining 870 km/h, the 262
dramatically outpaced anything the Allies had to offer. Armed
with four 30 mm cannon it took only a few hits from the 262 to
down a four engine bomber. Though the Me 262 accounted for some
542 aircraft shot down (some claims exceed that number), the
reality was that by the time the new jet was serviceable,
attrition among experienced pilots was such that few were
qualified to handle these new aircraft. Also, specialized
maintenance crews, adequate air bases from which to operate and
dwindling fuel supplies were increasingly scarce in the last
stages of the war. The situation was such that Hitler’s miracle
weapon, despite its advanced design, was not going to have a
major influence on the outcome. It was the classic story of ‘too
little, too late’.
The model depicted is ‘White – 3’ and
was flown by Oberfahnrich Hans Guido Mutke of Staffel III
JG7 Furstenfildbruk, April, 1945.
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