The unpainted Messerschmitt Me 262 A‑1a, Werknummer 111711, delivered into American hands by Hans Fay on 30 March 1945, remains one of the most remarkable individual defections of the final weeks of the war. Fay, a veteran Messerschmitt test pilot, technical inspector, and instructor, had accumulated an extraordinary 11,000 starts, including around 80 jet flights, making him one of the most experienced jet pilots in Germany. His decision to surrender an intact Me 262 was shaped by two converging circumstances: his parents’ home near Lachen‑Speyerdorf had fallen into American hands, removing the threat of reprisals, and he had been ordered to help ferry 22 newly built jets from Schwäbisch Hall to Neuburg an der Donau before they could be captured. Taking off as the fourth aircraft in the ferry group, Fay immediately encountered a mechanical fault: the landing gear failed to lock after retraction. For a moment he hesitated, but the opportunity was too rare to abandon. Flying at low altitude with wheels down, slowed and off course, he realised he could not safely reach Lachen‑Speyerdorf. Instead, he diverted to Rhein‑Main Airfield near Frankfurt, already in American hands. At 1345 hours, U.S. troops saw the unfamiliar aircraft circling with gear extended. Fay selected the only usable strip among the bomb craters and executed a flawless landing, rolling to a stop in roughly 400–500 yards before climbing out and surrendering. The aircraft, photographed on 2 April 1945, was later shipped to the United States for evaluation at Wright Field, Ohio. Its career ended on 20 August 1946, when an engine fire during a test flight forced Lt. Walter J. McAuley Jr. to bail out. The Me 262 crashed near Lumberton, Ohio, and was completely destroyed. Photo source - US Army Signals Corp #131687# Colourised by RJM