The Revolutionary Nazi Aircraft Stolen by America

Even as the Third Reich teetered on the brink of collapse and the Wehrmacht was forced into a desperate retreat to Berlin, Nazi engineering continued to unveil weapons decades ahead of their time, leaving allied tacticians in bewildered awe. As they drove into the heart of Germany, some GIs were confronted by a chilling and unfamiliar racketing. The haunting mechanical hum brought their advance to a sudden halt, and then, rising from the horizon came an unprecedented flying contraption: the first helicopter used in war. The Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri, swift and groundbreaking, soared into the closing chapters of World War 2, a last-ditch effort to change the course of the conflict and reverse Nazi Germany’s impending demise. The type of aircraft that would define warfare for the next 100 years made its debut as it combed Europe’s battlefields, scouting for allied formations and artillery positions. In the 1940s, such a sight seemed like it was plucked from the pages of science fict