A video of a restored Me262 flying at the ILA 2006 airshow in Berlin! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9204328304330343657&q=Me262 ; Pretty neat 

Yep and it doesn't use the problematic Junkers engines.

Impressive airplane, thanks for the vid. Is that a mig with vector thrust at the end?

Allies, be thankful Hitler forced the 262 into becoming a fighter-bomber.

Hitler did make the direct order to produce them as bombers, but General Galland had an experimental group operating them as fighters the whole time anyway. They were more limited by production problems, inexperienced pilots and fuel shortages than they were by Hitler.

The fighter-bomber groups that were formed...(including JG7 I believe) reverted to the bomber intercept role and only had the disadvantage of 2 cannons instead of 4. They all eventually were shot down, destroyed on the ground, overrun by the Allies, or joined JV44 with ex-General Galland.

The main delay in the plan to produce the Me262 was probably the focus on the V weapons which took up most of the time of the jet propulsion experts. That was where Hitler undermined the jet fighter development in it's early stages. It could have been in production at least a year earlier without those programs, but producing them as fighter-bombers didn't actually create much of a delay.


"The Last Year of the Luftwaffe", by Price is an interesting read about the 262 and other aircraft.