My grandfather was a Luftwaffe ground crew engine technician and served from 41-45 mainly on the eastern front for the ME 109 and 110 . He often told me when the 262 was introduced everyone of his crew wanted to be upgraded to serve as a technician for the jet engines, everyone in his crew was mesmerized by the technology and thought it was kind of science fiction . His application was never granted. Really fantastic video to see the 262 taking off.

My dad was a Naval Aviator and test pilot at Patuxent River Naval Air Station during WWII. Part of his unit’s work was to fly captured Axis aircraft, evaluate their performance, note strengths and weaknesses as combat aircraft, and then send their info back to the combat pilots in Europe and the Pacific. In the four years that he was in the Navy he flew almost 100 different aircraft and logged almost 5000 hours. Once in a while he told us about flying a captured ME 262. He described it as an amazing aircraft, unlike any that the US pilots had ever seen. They couldn’t believe its power and ability to climb at speed and maneuverability. It’s biggest flaw was limited fuel capacity and its consumption, so that it had limited flight time before you had to drift back down because it was out of fuel. But what a ride! Now it’s just another memory from an old man who died 20 years ago. But he loved flying for over 60 years and never tired of telling about his life experiences. I thought at least a few people might enjoy his story.

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