WWII’s Fastest Aircraft Ranked — The Race to 600 MPH

In World War II, speed meant survival. Between 1939 and 1945, aircraft engineers pushed aviation to its absolute limits — transforming slow propeller fighters into jets and rocket-powered aircraft in just a few years.

In this video, we rank and explain the Top 20 Fastest WWII Aircraft, from early war legends like the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Supermarine Spitfire, to late-war speed monsters such as the Dornier Do 335, Heinkel He 162, and the terrifying Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.

You’ll discover:
• The fastest piston-engine aircraft of WWII
• How speed evolved from 360 MPH to nearly 600 MPH
• Why some aircraft arrived too late to change the war
• Fighters that dominated the skies over Europe, the Pacific, and the Eastern Front
• The jet and rocket aircraft that ended the propeller age forever

Aircraft featured include:
P-40 Warhawk, Spitfire Mk I & Mk XIV, Bf 109G, Yak-3, Fw 190, P-38 Lightning, F4U Corsair, La-7, P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Tempest, P-51 Mustang, Ta 152H, Do 335 Pfeil, Gloster Meteor, He 162 Volksjäger, Me 262, and Me 163 Komet.

By the end of World War II, aircraft speeds had doubled, setting humanity on a path that would break the sound barrier and eventually lead to the Moon landing.

These machines weren’t just weapons — they were monuments to human ambition.

Which aircraft impressed you the most?
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