In July 1942 a German Messerschmitt took off from Leipheim airfield in Bavaria…but it was no ordinary aircraft…

It was an Me 262 - the world’s first operational jet fighter.

Powered by two Junker Jumo 004 turbojet engines and able to travel 120 mph faster than the revered American P-51 Mustang, the Me 262 offered a ray of hope in the increasingly dark skies of the German Luftwaffe.

On paper, it was faster and more deadly than any other Allied fighter plane, yet despite this remarkable feat of German engineering, the Me 262 proved not to be the salvation Hitler had hoped for…

Why did such a frightening aircraft that could have been the kryptonite to the Allied Air Force, fail to make its mark during the Second World War? And how did this special aircraft spark a new era in aviation history…

In this video, Dan Snow travels to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) at RAF Conningsby in Lincolnshire to see a remarkable reproduction Messerschmitt Me 262 fly in the skies over England for the first time since a captured example was flown shortly after the end of the Second World War.

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