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View of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center tower at sunset

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Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

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Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

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space shuttle launch

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Women in Aviation and Space Family Day

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Bob Hoover Gives an Air Show Performance

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Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow)

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  3. Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow)
  • Top view of green, low-wing fighter jet Messerschmitt Me 262 on display at museum
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    Nicknamed Schwalbe (Swallow), the Messerschmitt Me 262 surpassed the performance of every other World War II fighter. Faster than the North American P-51 Mustang by 190 kilometers (120 miles) per hour, the Schwalbe restored to the faltering German Luftwaffe a short-lived qualitative superiority that it had enjoyed earlier in the war. The Me 262 appeared in only relatively small numbers in the closing year of World War II. Messerschmitt factories produced 1,443 Me 262s, but only about 300 saw combat.

  • Top view of green, low-wing fighter jet Messerschmitt Me 262 on display at museum

Created:

July 27, 2017

Photographer:

Mark Avino

ID#:

A19600328000-NASM2018-10652

Source:

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Owner:

Smithsonian Institution

Rights Usage:

CC0 (Open Access)

Terms of Use:

Smithsonian Terms of Use

For print or commercial use please see permissions information.

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National Air and Space Museum

6th St. and Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20560

202-633-2214

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Free Timed-Entry Passes
Required

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151

703-572-4118

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
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