Me 262 Volume 1 - Luftwaffe Classics Series

In this, the first volume of their exhaustive study of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first operational military jet aircraft, internationally acclaimed authors, J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek have drawn on more than thirty years of detailed and unrivalled research. Here, for the first time, is the full story of the concept, design, troubled development and contested operational deployment of possibly one of the most enigmatic war machines ever built, from its evolution, through the disputes, enmity and bitterness that it provoked amongst the Nazi political, military and aviation hierarchy, to the eventual appearance of the aircraft with the Luftwaffe's first operational jet trials units. The story is complemented by a portrait of the early life and accomplishments of Willy Messerschmitt as well as a detailed study of the early and pioneering German work in the field of turbojet engine design and development.

Volume I begins with a biographical study of designer Willy Messerschmitt and his evolutionary design work leading up to his jet design; other influences are touched upon, including not only the Heinkel 280, but the proposals for jet powered Me-109 and Fw-190 variants. The reader will bear witness to the Me-262's progression from a straight-winged, tailwheel design through the final swept-winged, tricycle gear configuration. Masterful draftsmanship is evident in the highly detailed obliques, inboard profiles, cutaways and diagrams illustrate every facet of the 262's metamorphosis, including the original piston-engined prototype, along with the engine development. The first volume closes with the Me-262 undergoing prolonged testing in mid-1944, in a chapter ominously titled, "We Need The Me-262 More Than Anything Else."