Rank 17 documents the Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe — the world's first operational jet fighter, entering Jagdgeschwader service in 1944 with Jumo 004 B turbojets that traded engine reliability for a 540 mph closing speed Allied piston escorts could not match. Kommando Nowotny, referenced on the plate emblem, became the first operational jet fighter unit under Walter Nowotny before reformation as JG 7; its pilots learned that throttle discipline and engine management mattered as much as deflection shooting at jet speeds. Willy Messerschmitt's swept-wing design influenced every post-war fighter programme; the A-1a's four 30 mm MK 108 cannon made bomber interception devastating when engines stayed lit. Split-view blueprint art renders the camouflage exterior and twin-jet wireframe exactly as the master PNG dictates.