I remember as a boy learning about this pioneer jet fighter. So imagine my delight when I saw one at the National Naval Aviation Museum. If it had been deployed a few years earlier, the battle of the skies in WWII could have gone very differently.

From Wikipedia…

The Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944. Compared with Allied fighters of its day, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor, it was much faster and better armed. But the Me 262 had a negligible impact on the course of the war as a result of its late introduction and the  small numbers that were deployed in operational service. The Me 262 influenced the designs of post-war aircraft such as theNorth American F-86 Sabre and Boeing B-47 Stratojet.