In April 1941, the prototype of the world's first operational jet fighter made its maiden flight with a Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine and a wooden propeller bolted to its nose, because the jet engines were not ready. This episode treats the Messerschmitt Me 262 as a biographical subject, tracing it from Project P.1065 in April 1939 under Woldemar Voigt, through Hans von Ohain's 1936 jet engine and the Heinkel He 178 flight in 1939, to a combat debut in 1944 at 900 kilometers per hour, roughly 150 km/h faster than any Allied fighter in Europe, armed with four 30mm cannons.

The story is one of accidental engineering and crippling shortages. Its famous 18.5 degree swept outer wings were added in March 1940 purely to rebalance heavier-than-promised BMW 003 engines that had been moved from the wing roots to underwing pods, not for speed, yet th ...