Germany was not only the first country to get a jet aircraft to fly but above all it was the only country fighting in World War Two to mass produce and above all engage several types of aircraft using this new kind of power plant in the fighting, thus opening the way for air warfare as we know it nowadays. This new volume in the collection "Planes and Pilots", which wittingly ignores the myriad of jet aircraft projects which the Germans thought up all during the war most of which never got beyond the drawing board, only deals with the machines which were built in enough numbers to be used operationally. The Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-fighter, more dangerous for its pilots than for its opponents; the twin-engined Arado 234, better at reconnaissance than at bombing which was its intended role; the Heinkel He 162, the People's Fighter, built in record time but arriving too late to prove the effectiveness of its design; and above all the Messerschmitt Me 262 - the real star among the German fighters during the last year of the war and whose tally of kills gives a glimpse of the real impact on the course of the war it might have had, had its development not been so considerably delayed by innumerable technical problems and, for a while, by crass strategic errors.

This book is the first to present every rocket aircraft flown in Germany and the rocket systems developed by Walter and BMW, as well as several of the most interesting projects drawn up by Germanys aviation industry. In 1940 the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fr Segelflug launched the DFS 194, developed by Alexander Lippisch, and the tests with this experimental plane laid the foundation for the Messerschmitt Me 163, the worlds first operational rocket fighter. Using a Walter rocket engine, the Me 163 achieved hitherto unimaginable climb rates and speeds. It was in this rocket powered plane that, on 2 October 1941, Heini Dittmar reached 1003 km/h and thus became the first pilot in the world to break the magic mark of 1000 km/h. In so doing, he also brushed against the sound barrier. The technology incorporated into Germanys rocket planes the Messerschmitt Me 163 Bs and Cs, the Me 263, and Bachem Ba 349 Natter was recognized throughout the world as cutting edge and after the war had a major impact on the technological development of other countries. This book is a must-have for every aviation enthusiast.

The Jagdgeschwader 400 group was formed for the sole purpose of flying one of the world's most revolutionary aircraft - the rocket-powered Me 163. Although the Me 163 scored relatively few kills, giving it a success rate much lower than the Me 262, it still had a massive psychological impact upon the Allies, and the technology and experiences gained in the Me 163 went on to influence the jet fighters of modern times. The introduction of jet-powered aircraft demanded massive changes in training, equipment, servicing and tactics, all of which are described and examined in this essential analysis of the story of the Me 163 in frontline service with Erprobungskommando 16 and Jagdgeschwader 400.

Eugen Sänger's proposed manned, bi-fuel, liquid rocket-powered orbital bomber was truly mid-1940s high tech. The world's first intercontinental bomber project, the Sänger orbital bomber's total flight time was expected to be no more than two hours. Fascinating stuff. The complete story is told here for the first time.

Told from the pilot's seat of what still ranks as the most dangerous and hard-to-manage production aircraft ever manufactured, this is the true story of the world's first operational rocket fighter aircraft--the Messerschmitt 163, developed by the Germans during World War II.