The engines presented the biggest hurdle in the design of the Me 262. One problem was their size, which grew larger as the need for power grew. In solving this problem, the plane's designers decided to suspend the engines on pods beneath the wings, but this threw off the plane's center of gravity. To correct this problem, the Messerschmitt engineers swept back the wings 18 degrees, an aerodynamic trick that had the unexpected benefit of raising the aircraft's maximum speed.
