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The Me 262 was the first jet-propelled fighter in aviation history. It was faster than any other fighter at the time it was created. It was produced in large quantities and given to experienced pilot hands knowing how to exploit it to the best of its advantages. The Me 262 would certainly have been able to change the history if it had only been used in the role in which it excelled at (a fighter), the aircraft produced were spread out into fighter, bomber, and Night-Fighter roles. Out of 1 430 copies built, less than a quarter served in fighters operations so that the Me 262 had little influence in the progress of the war, but it did cause enormous devastation, especially to allied bombers in formation. The project of the Me 262 started at the end of 1938. It had to be equipped with the new jet-propelled motors in preparation at the factories of BMW and Junkers. In the absence of those new engines, the first copy was given the conventional Junkers Jumo G engine installed in the fuselage in order to be able to do a first set of tests. The first flight took place on April 18, 1941. During the month of December of the same year, the first jet-propelled motors developed by BMW allowed a new set of tests on March 25, 1942. On July 18, 1942 the third prototype had major success during its flight test. After many delays of production the first copies of mass production were delivered during the spring of 1944. The initial version, the A-1a, had four 30mm guns. Next, The A-1a/U1 had six guns. Then came the A-1a/U2 all weather fighter and the A-1a/U3 Recon plane. The bomber version A-2a had 1000 kg of bombs and was followed by the Me 262 A-3a ground attack version. The Me 262 B-1a was a night fighter version with of a complete radar equipment slowing down its speed by 60 km/h. In spite of this scattering of production, the Me 262 remained an exceptional plane. It reached a speed of 870 km/h, had a satisfactory maneuverability, and a powerful arming. The Me 262 fought up till the end of the conflict.
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