It was Magic, but Too Late

The Me 262 was the world’s first operational jet fighter. Its design began in late 1938 with the first project submitted in June 1940. Problems with the radically new engines meant that the prototype was forced to make its first flights in 1941 powered by a piston engine. It was not until July 18, 1942, that it flew with jet engines alone. More delays followed due to the engine problems and political vacillation, some of the latter surrounding Hitler’s demand that the aircraft be used as a fast bomber.

It was not until July 1944 that the first operational sorties were flown by Erprobungskommando 262, Lt. Alfred “Bubi” Schreiber claiming the first jet kill, a Mosquito, on the 26th. Not long afterward, an Me 262 bomber unit, Kommando Schenck, became operational. This was eventually expanded into KG 51, but the Me 262 was virtually useless as a bomber. The first true fighter operations were flown by Kommando Nowotny between October and November 1944, but due to inadequate preparation, proved unsatisfactory. Following retraining, the unit was established as III./JG 7, the Luftwaffe’s first jet fighter group, and this was eventually expanded to almost Geschwader strength of 70 aircraft. A final unit, JV 44, made up of elite fighter pilots, was also established under General Adolf Galland in 1945.

In combat, when properly flown, the Me 262 proved difficult to counter. It was able to outrun Allied fighters by as much as 100mph. Its Achilles heel was its slow acceleration, rendering it particularly vulnerable to attack when taking off or landing. The Allies soon learned of this problem and maintained standing fighter patrols over the jet airfields. Other problems included shortage of fuel and the unreliability of its jet engines. In the end, the aircraft had a negligible impact on the course of the war because of its late introduction and the small numbers that were deployed in operational service.

Some Me 262s that had not passed the necessary stress tests or were considered to have been over-stressed in combat were relegated to training purposes. This aircraft W.Nr. 110956, white 17 was painted with a white “S” in the center of the fuselage cross indicating its use as a Schulflugzeug and was used by III./EJG 2, which later became Kommando Nowotny.