The Me 262 was the world's first operational military jet. Hitler believed that it would become Germany's 'miracle weapon' and took a great personal interest in its development. Pilot Mano Ziegler was involved from its inception and contributed to its design and testing. Could the Me 262 have broken Allied supremacy in the air? Why did it take so long to come into service and why were hundreds of German pilots sacrificed in developing it? Most important of all, why did the Me 262 prove not to be the unparalleled success that Goering claimed it would be and what role did Hitler play in this ultimate failure? These are some of the questions this compelling book answers. AUTHOR: Mano Ziegler, born on 7 June 1908, had a lifetime fascination with flight. At the age of eight, he wrote to Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the famous 'Red Baron', asking to be allowed to fly with him. Remarkably, Richthofen replied, telling him, ?Yes, we'll fly together!?. When war broke out in 1939, Ziegler became a pilot in the Luftwaffe, and from 1943 to the war's end, he flew the Me 163 with Jagdgeschwader 400. After the war, Ziegler escaped from Russian captivity and ? having returned to Berlin ? continued to fly and write newspaper articles. His arresting account of the Me 262 fills a crucial gap in the history of the Luftwaffe and of aviation in general.
