Could Germany have gotten a jet fighter into combat much earlier than it did? What if the Reich had rushed the Heinkel He 280 into service rather than waiting for the similar Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter that came later?
A sky full of He 280s, faster and deadlier than any fighter in allied service, might have prevented the U.S. Eighth Air Force from building up its bomber offensive over Europe — and might, even, have forced the allies to postpone the invasion of occupied Europe that took place at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Maybe even, in the wildest imaginations of a few leaders in the Third Reich, squadrons of He 280s might have turned the tide and won the war.
It didn’t happen that way, and the no
