World War 2 In Review

Messerschmitt Me 263. Originally derived from the Me 163C program, it was handed over to Junkers as the Ju 248 before being redesignated the Me 263, though Junkers continued work on the project. It had retractable landing gear, a dual chamber HWK-509, greater fuel capacity, and a pressurized cockpit. The Messerschmitt Me 263 Scholle (plaice) was a rocket-powered fighter aircraft developed from the Me 163 Komet towards the end of World War II. Three prototypes were built but never flown under their own power as the rapidly deteriorating military situation in Germany prevented the completion of the test program. Although the Me 163 had very short endurance, it had originally been even shorter. In the original design, the engine had only one throttle setting, "full on", and burned through its fuel in a few minutes. Not only did this further limit endurance, in flight testing, pilots found the aircraft quickly exhibited compressibility effects as soon as they leveled off from...

Heinkel He 280 V1 DL+AS, taking off for its first flight on 2 April 1940. Originally called the He 180, the Heinkel He 280 was an early turbojet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the first jet fighter to fly in the world. The He 280 harnessed the progress made by Hans von Ohain's novel gas turbine propulsion and by Ernst Heinkel's work on the He 178, the first jet-powered aircraft in the world. Heinkel placed great emphasis on research into high-speed flight and on the value of the jet engine; after the He 178 had met with indifference from the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) (the German Reich Aviation Ministry), the company opted to start work on producing a jet fighter during late 1939. Incorporating a pair of turbojets, for greater thrust, these were installed in a mid-wing position. It also had a then-uncommon tricycle undercarriage while the design of the fuselage was largely conventional. During the s...