"It just touched down... and then I called you."

So says Stormbird's ecstatic Jim Byron to ANN News Editor, Tim Kern...

The first flight of the world's newest Me262 took place Friday, touching down just about 2:30 in the afternoon (local time), after a half-hour flight.

Test pilot Wolf Czaia (third photo), a retired Luftwaffe F-104 pilot, made the flight, and pronounced it "a total success."

The flight was made with the gear down, and consisted of "takeoff, nearly half an hour of flying over Puget Sound, a flyby here at the field, a pattern, and a perfect landing," Jim Byron, who runs Stormbirds, the company building five of the machines, told ANN. "All the systems [that we tested] worked!"

The chase plane was an L-39, with pilot and photographer aboard. (We'll post photos of the flight as soon as they get them to us.) The two-seater was flown from the front (with help, no doubt, from Steve Snyder, the 262 project's initiator -- killed in his F-86 -- whose spirit was undoubtedly in the back seat).

"This is the first time since 1947 that a 262 has flown," said an ecstatic Byron. "We're excited -- we're all about three feet off the ground!"

It's been a long road to the air. "We started three years ago, with a pile of parts," Jim said. "We dragged it all here from Texas -- it took ten 18-wheelers to get it all here."

This first plane has gone through "seventeen taxi/preflight tests," Mr Byron told us. "It's a small community [replica warbirds], and maybe 45 people showed up here today -- just out of the woodwork. Everybody seemed to know we were close."

Authentic as all get out:

The customer is a retired attorney/Citation pilot in Phoenix, who wanted the bird to be as authentic as possible, but without the swastika on the tail. That's the only thing about this machine that would give it away, as not being an original. Even the engines, though modern units, are housed in castings that replicate the look of the original Jumo units (while delivering twice the thrust, sipping a lot less fuel, and lasting maybe a gazillion times longer).

Plans?

Over the next few months, there's ten hours' FAA flight time to fly off. The next thing Jim's planning is an in-flight gear cycling. From there, he'll progress to the smaller, more-esoteric things; and before delivery (in Spring, 2003), he'll install the rest of the avionics -- and an air conditioner. "These shakedown flights will determine anything we may have to do," a glowing Byron told us. "Then the airplane will leave the region (Northwest) and the owner will have to go through the FSDO down there."

Stormbirds is making five of these astounding exact replicas, in single- and tandem-seat models. There may still be one for sale.

Congratulations to Jim, Wolf, and all the devoted and talented folks who made Friday a GREAT day in the Northwest!

FMI: www.stormbirds.com