German War Files: German Jet Fighters, Jet Bombers, and V Weapons Part 3

Stunning footage of the first combat jet aircraft, the Me 163 and the Messerschmitt 262. Heinkels pioneering efforts and his pre-eminent He-280 are acknowledged, the Komet is shown in flight (scary!), and the A-4 rocket receives plenty of coverage, especially the complex launching procedures. The Me-163A, the most radical aircraft of the war, reached a speed of 623 mph, when released from a bomber. Me-163B pilot Schubert shot down 2 B-17s in one sortie, and some of that gun camera footage is shown. 1400 Me-262s were produced and only 200 served in combat, later in the war than they could have, but those few changed aviation forever. These planes could have been in the air 2 years sooner, but the Luftwaffe envisioned a short war, and these types were not seen as a design or production priority. Hitlers insistence that the plane be a bomber, not a fighter, was not what that kept it from earlier service, but Junckers inability to design the new JU-004 Jumo engines under difficult conditions, e.g., no nickel, chromium, or aluminum. Along with the Wings of the Luftwaffe series, this program, Luftwaffe Nr. 7, is the best Ive seen on Luftwaffe jets.