The Walter HWK 109-509 powered the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed how many MPH in level flight?
Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was a German rocket-powered fighter aircraft. Designed by Alexander Lippisch, it is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1000 km/h (621 mph) in level flight. Its design was revolutionary and its performance unprecedented. German test pilot Heini Dittmar in early July 1944 reached 1130 km/h , an unofficial flight airspeed record unmatched by turbojet-powered aircraft for almost a decade. Over 300 aircraft were built, but the Komet proved ineffective in its dedicated role as an interceptor aircraft and was responsible for the destruction of only about nine to eighteen Allied aircraft against ten losses. Aside from combat losses many pilots were killed during testing and training.
Tupolev Tu-2 The Tupolev Tu-2 (development names ANT-58 and 103; NATO reporting name Bat) was a twin-engine Soviet high-speed daylight and frontline (SDB and FB) bomber aircraft of World War II vintage. The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for a high-speed bomber or dive-bomber, with a large internal bombload, and speed similar to that of a single-seat fighter. Designed to challenge the German Junkers Ju 88, the Tu-2 proved comparable, and was produced in torpedo, interceptor and reconnaissance versions. The Tu-2 was one of the outstanding combat aircraft of World War II and it played a key role in the Red Army's final offensives.