Contains TWO Episodes: Jets and Rockets and Secret Weapons.
Luftwaffe Jets of World War Two traces the evolution of the early jet engines to the Heinkel He 178 which first flew as early as 1939; the British Gloster experimental jet did not fly until as late as 1941. The German Luftwaffe was the first air force to boast operational jet fighters. ‘Project 1065’ from Messerschmitt started in 1938 and developed into the first operational jet, the Me 262. In 1943, German fighter ace Adolf Galland flew the Me 262, claiming that it was as if “an angel” were pushing him. From this early start, the Arado Ar 234 Blitz or ‘Lightning’ became the world’s first Jet bomber.
The most futuristic aircraft of the war was the German rocket-propelled Me163 Komet; it was also the most dangerous! Luftwaffe Jets of World War Two looks in great detail at the highly complicated ritual of re-fueling and re-arming the temperamental Me163, which took “a brave man to fly it!”
Luftwaffe Rockets and Secret Weapons of World War Two traces the evolution of Hitler’s terror weapons, unleashed on Britain in a last desperate attempt to win the war in Europe. Between June 1944 and March 1945, the Luftwaffe fi red the V-1 Flying Bomb pulse jet missile at south-eastern England, London and Belgium. Because of its distinctive sound it was nicknamed the ‘Buzz Bomb’ or ‘Doodlebug’. The V-1 would fly until its engine cut out then it would randomly dive towards the ground. British countermeasures were limited, as virtually the only aircraft that was fast enough to catch the bomb was the Hawker Tempest. But Hitler’s second missile, the V-2, was altogether different. Travelling faster than the speed of sound, the V-2 was the first ballistic missile, and was a weapon to which the Allies had no answer...
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