 During World War II, hundreds of German Luftwaffe fighter pilots achieved this feat flying contemporary piston engine fighter aircraft.However, only 28 pilots are credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft while flying a jet-powered aircraft.Jet aircraft first engaged in air combat on 26 July 1944, when "Leutnant" Alfred Schreiber, flying Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a "W.Nr.