Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe 1/72 Scale Model

German Me 262A-1a - This is a model of a jet fighter plane flown by Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland against Allied bombers attacking Germany in the spring of 1945. Galland was a strong proponent of using the Me 262 as a fighter plane to counter the Allied bombing campaign against Germany. But Hitler was obsessed with vengeance weapons, and in May 1944 he ordered 19 out of every 20 Me 262's produced to be built as bombers. In November he finally changed his mind and allowed all Me 262's to be produced as fighters, but by then much of Germany was in ruins and Allied planes filled the skies.

More Photos: Left, Right, Top, Front, Front Angle Right, Front Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Above Left, Above Right

Battle Over Bavaria: The B-26 Marauder Versus the German Jets - April 1945, Robert Forsyth

Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope--the Attack On Allied Airfields, New Year's Day 1945, John Manrho

Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II, David Mondey

German Jet Aces of WWII Hugh Morgan

History of German Aviation: The First Jet Aircraft Wolfgang Wagner

JG 7: The World's First Jet Fighter Unit 1944/1945 Manfred Boehme

Jagdwaffe: Jet Fighters and Rocket Interceptors, 1944 - 1945 J. Richard Smith

Luftwaffe Camouflage & Markings 1933-1945, Ken Merrick

Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile, C. Sundin

Me 262: Volume 3, J. Richard Smith

Messerschmitt Me 262A Schwalbe, Robert Peczkowski

Messerschmitt Me 262: Arrow to the Future, Walter Boyne

Messerschmitt Me 262: Development, Testing, Production, Willy Radinger

Messerschmitt Me 262: Volume I, Manfred Griehl

Messerschmitt Me 262: Volume II, Manfred Griehl

Messerschmitt Me 262: Variations, Proposed Versions & Project Design Series - Me 262A-1a, David Myhra

To Win the Winter Sky: The Air War over the Ardennes, 1944-1945, Danny Parker

Warplanes of the Luftwaffe, David Donald

Warplanes of the Third Third Reich, William Green

The World's First Turbo-Jet Fighter: Me 262, Heinrich Hecht

World War II Fighting Jets, Jeffrey Ethell