The final year of World War II witnessed the decline of the piston-engine fighter and the beginning of the jet age. Taking to the skies were tried-and-true fighters, improved versions of old aircraft, and newly developed jets, including prototypes that flew for the first time just before the war ended.• Hundreds of photos chronicle these dynamic aircraft in Europe and the Pacific• Includes American Mustangs, Thunderbolts, and Shooting Stars; British Tempests, Spitfires, and Gloster Meteors; German Fw 190s, Bf 109Ks, and Messerschmitt Me 262s; Japanese Ki 100s, Raidens, and Tojos; and many more• Ideal reference for military history fans, scholars, and modelers