japanese ME-262!

The Nakajima Kikka ("tachibana orange blossom"), initially designated Kokoku Nigo Heiki ("Imperial Weapon No. 2"), is Japan's first turbojet-powered aircraft. It was developed late in World War II, and the single completed prototype flew only once, in August 1945, before the end of the conflict.

operational history:

The first prototype commenced ground tests at the Nakajima factory on 30 June 1945. The following month, it was dismantled and delivered to Kisarazu Naval Airfield where it was re-assembled and prepared for flight testing. The first flight took place on 7 August 1945 (the day after Hiroshima was bombed by atomic bomb), with Lieutenant Commander Susumu Takaoka at the controls. The aircraft performed well during a 20-minute test flight, with the only concern being the length of the takeoff run. For the second test flight, four days later (four days prior to Japan's declaration of surrender), rocket-assisted take-off (RATO) units were fitted to the aircraft.

The pilot had been uneasy about the angle at which the rocket tubes had been set, but, with no time to correct them, they decided to simply reduce the thrust of the rockets from 800 kg to only 400 kg. Four seconds into take off the RATO was actuated, immediately jolting the aircraft back onto its tail leaving the pilot with no effective tail control. After the nine-second burning time of the RATO ran out, the nose came down and the nose wheel contacted the runway, resulting in a sudden deceleration, however, both engines were still functioning normally. At this point, the pilot opted to abort the take off but fighting to brake the aircraft and perform a ground loop only put him in danger of running it into other installations. Eventually, the aircraft ran over a drainage ditch, which caught the tricycle landing gear, and the aircraft continued to skid forward and stopped short of the water's edge.[4] Before it could be repaired, Japan had surrendered, and the War was over.

At this point, the second prototype was close to completion, and approximately twenty-three more airframes were under construction.[1] Five of these were two-seat trainers.

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