Messerschmitt Me.262, part eight

The Me.262 was difficult to fight because its high speed and rate of climb made it hard to intercept. However, just like other turbojet fighters of the era, its engines didn't provide enough thrust at low air speeds and throttle response was slow, rendering the aircraft vulnerable at certain situations like when taking off and landing. It also suffered from a high risk of compresor stall and if the movements were too fast, it could suffer a flameout. The coarse opening of the throttle would cause fuel surging and lead to excessive jet pipe temperatures. Pilots were therefore, instructed to avoid quick changes and operate the throttle gently. Later on, German engineers introduced an automatic throttle regulator but it just alleviated the problem partially. 

Compared to other standards of the time, the plane had high wing loading, requiring therefore higher takeoff and landing speeds. Due to poor throttle response, the engines' tendency for airflow disruption that could cause the compressor to stall was omnipresent. Its high speed also gave problems when engaging enemy aircraft, the high-speed convergence gave the Me.262 pilots little time to line up their targets or acquire the appropiate amount of deflection. This forced the fastest aircraft to overshoot, as the slower aircraft could always pull a tighter turn. 

Eventually, Luftwaffe's pilots learned how to handle the Me.262's higher speeds and it soon proved to be an excellent air-to-air fighter. In the good hands, it proved to be capable of shooting down seventeen enemy fighters, like the case of Franz Schall who managed to shot down 17 enemy fighters, being ten of them P-51s. Other notable aces were Georg-Peter Eder with twelve victories, including nine P-51s, Erich Rudorffer with twelve victories, Walter Dahl with three Lavochkin La-7 and six P-51s and Heinz-Helmut Baudach with six, including one Spitfire and two P-51s. 

It was soon learned that the Me.262 was highly maneouvrable in spite of its high wing loading and lack of low-speed thrust, specially if attention was drawn to its effective maneouvering speeds. The controls were light and effective right up to the maximum allowable speed and perfectly harmonised. The inclusion of full span automatic leading-edge slats, something that was quite traditional in Messerschmitt's designs (in fact even the Bf.109 had them), helped increase the overall lift produced by the wing by as much as 35% in tight turns or at low speeds, improving greatly performance and landing and take-off characteristics. As it would be seen later in any jet fighter, the Me.262's clean design allowed it to make cleaner turns at high speeds, much better than any propeller-driven fighter, which meant a potential advantage in dogfights as it meant better energy retention in maneouvers.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262#Counter-jet_tactics

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters