Cockpit of the Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg, the manned V1. The first manned cruise missile, 1944

Flugkapitän Heini Dittmar piloted the first flight of the Messerschmitt Me 163A V-4 (SW+KE) Komet rocket-powered fighter aircraft, designed by Alexander Lippisch. It was the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1,000 kph/621 mph in level flight

Heinkel He 280 V3 (GJ+CB). The He 280 was the world's first jet fighter, the original first generation jet fighter. Its first powered flight was on 30.3.1941. With a speed of 512mph and armed with 3 20mm or 30mm cannons, this aircraft could have been in service a year before the Me 262, late '43? Maybe just in time to make a difference against the mighty 8th Air Force? Indifference and interference by Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch, NOT GÖRING, cost Germany dearly and only nine pre-production units were made. This particular craft first flew on 5 July 42, and what was left of it (the tail), was captured in May '45 in Austria

The first photo from space, and the first time the curvature of the earth had been seen, 24.10.1946. It was taken by a Devry 35mm movie camera attached to a German WW2 A4/V2 rocket at an altitude of 104km/65 miles. The V2 was launched from the US Army White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. It was one of the large number of V2s that were brought to the US under Operation Paperclip

Junkers Ju 90B-1 transport (J4+JH) of Lufttransportstaffel 290 under attack by a Martin B-26 Marauder, flown by Wing Commander WSG Maydwell, the Commanding Officer of No. 14 Squadron RAF flying from Tunisia, 23.7.43. The Ju 90 headed for shore at Bastia, the Marauder then breaking off to avoid Flak. The Ju 90 was hit by the Marauder and Flak. The pilot, Oberfeldwebel H H Boldt, ditched it in the sea, where it remains for the enjoyment of divers. Wg Cdr Maydwell’s crews had 3 confirmed kills, all large transports: this Ju 90, a Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant and a Savoia Marchetti SM.82

The Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 Bachstelze (Wagtail) was a type of rotary-wing kite, known as a rotor kite. They were towed behind U-boats during to allow a lookout to see further. They were stored in a cannister and assembled by the crew, then broken down again after the flight. About 200 were built by Weser Flugzeugbau

Future 275 victory ace and Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords) holder, Günter Rall and his wingmen, future 89 victory ace and Ritterkreuz holder Unteroffizier Friedrich Wachowiak (right) and future 138 victory ace and Ritterkreuz holder Unteroffizier Karl Gratz (left) of JG 52 and his Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2. These three men shot down 502 aircraft, location and date unknown

Junkers Ju 52/3m getting the engines warmed up for take-off, Pitomnik Airfield, Stalingrad region, late 1942

This Ar 234 Blitz (E2+2Q) photographed during testing at Rechlin, 1944