Hitler's Jet Plane: The Me 262 Story

An expert account with new research of how the Luftwaffe’s first ever military jet plane failed to make its mark on World War II. The first operational military jet in the world, towards the end of the Second World War the ME 262 was to be the German “miracle weapon.” Mano Ziegler was involved from its inception and contributed to the design, testing, and training and even served in it operationally. Could the ME 262 have broken the Allied supremacy in the air? Why did it take so long to come into service and why were hundreds of German pilots sacrificed in developing it? Why did the ME 262 prove not to be the unparalleled success claimed by Goering and why were German cities left dangerously exposed against Allied bombing campaigns? These are only some the important questions this new book answers. Mano Ziegler, born 7 June 1908, had a lifetime fascination with flight. At the age of eight, he wrote to Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the famous “Red Baron,” asking to be allowed to fly with him. Richthofen even replied, telling him, “Yes, we’ll fly together!” When war broke out in 1939 he became a pilot in the Luftwaffe, and from 1943 until the war’s end, he flew the Me 163. After the war he escaped from Russian captivity and—having returned to Berlin—continued to fly and write newspaper articles. He eventually became editor-in-chief of the Flug-Revue aviation monthly in Stuttgart. “Superb . . . the histories of these planes are a major milestone in the development of aeronautical technology.” —Military Archive Research