The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the first operational turbojet in the world. This was designed and developed by the Messerschmitt Company. The design was done in the year 1938. It was first flown on July 18, 1942. It was much faster than the existing fighter jets of that period. The development of the jet in large quantities was delayed later due to development problems.
GERMAN MESSERSCHMITT
This was during the period of the Second World War and the bombings by the Allied forces were also behind the inability for further developments. The actual development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 was done in late 1943 after an agreement with Adolf Hitler. He wanted the plane to be primarily designed as a fighter and bomber.
This resulted in the mass production of the aircraft. Messerschmitt Me 262 became the first air jet to be used for war. It was used on July 25, 1944 to attack the British fighter planes for the first. This development of this aircraft resulted in gaining advantage over the Allied forces by the Germans.
It was estimated that more than 1400 Messerschmitt Me 262 were produced during the war. But most of them was not able to be completed into a fully fighter bombers. Only 300 of them were used as fighter planes. Most of them were destroyed in the ground during the bombing by allied forces.
The lack of fuel and spare parts were other problems that affected the Germans during that period. The unavailability of trained pilots to fly the turbo jet also caused problems. But the name will remain in the history as the first operational jet air fighter. It was best air fighter available at that period. The delay in the development due to political disagreements was one reason for the failure of Germans during the war. Its arrival in the war was delayed due to this.
