Boyne, Walter J. (director of the National Air and Space Museum)
In the closing months of World War II, a revolutionary new airplane began to appear in increasing numbers over the skies of Europe: the Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first operational, mass-produced jet aircraft. This German plane is considered by many experts to be one of the most influential fighters of all time. Its appearance ushered in the jet age.
Messerschmitt Me 262 tells the dramatic story of this aircraft. Behind the Me 262's combat career is a fascinating chain of events in which planning, luck, and even blind stupidity played important roles. Even by today's engineering standards, magnificent is the only word to describe the effort to bring the plane's jet engines, which eclipsed the performance of all contemporary aircraft, from the laboratory to production in an amazingly short time.
Messerschmitt Me 262 also tells the story of the people who flew the Me 262 in combat. Their complete accounts bring their missions to life and set the plane in the historical context of the war. The German narratives are complemented by the accounts of Americans who flew against the Me 262 - for instance, the team of crack USAAF pilots known as "Watson's Whizzers," who literally stole a fleet of jet aircraft from German airfields at the end of the war.
Messerschmitt Me 262 describes the postwar efforts to test and preserve the Me 262. Included is a description of the efforts to obtain one of these aircraft for display at the National Air and Space Museum, and the painstaking efforts by the team at the Smithsonian's Paul E. Garber Facility for preservation, restoration, and storage to restore the Me 262 to its pristine condition.
The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 100 photographs, including operational photos from World War II, color views of the Cockpit, and inferior and exterior shots of the restored Me 262, many of them never before published. In addition to the striking photographs, there are expert technical drawings, cutaway illustrations, and equipment and conversion tables.
This combination of text and illustrations affords the reader a unique opportunity to follow the development and first wartime use of one of the world's most important airplanes, an aircraft that inaugurated a new age in aviation.
Hardcover with dust jacket, large format
188 Seiten / pages
many photos
good condition
London - Sydney - 1981 - Jane´s Publishing Company
Art.Nr. 24277
