Bob,
Now you are asking for trouble.....
I agree to disagree.....life's too short and the planes too cool to argue.
Seen numerous Merlin engined 109s.. know as Buchons; any elegance the 109 had is seriously compromised, but when flown with a Spit if makes a very evocative picture.
Its a shame there are so few (one I believe) flying Benz engined 109s, since Black 6 was 'retired' after her second restoration to flightworthy status.
The He111 you saw, was it the CAF one? I believe that was a CASA version (again with Merlin engines). Certainly a bit slow, but then they all were of that era... the early B-25s were no rockets to say nothing of the Boston and Havoc, mind you these were much better than the RAF Hampdons, Blenheims et al...
I think the very early Meteors would have been at a disadvantage against hte Me 262. Its engines were more reliable and robust, but aerodynamicaly it was not as refined...
The Mk 2 added higher thrust so I think that would have overcome the aero issues...and being more robust in the engine department would have trumped the 262's advantages...but we'll never know for sure.
I think you'll find that Whittle was the first... his designs were runnig first, but took longer to get airborne because the RAF, in its infinite wisdom refused to se the value in the gas turbine engine.. ostrich comes to mind. Von
Goddard definitely the father of rocketry...but there is a strong argument that Van Braun was the father of rockets (the actual practical application of rocketry)...
It would appear that the Third Reich was foresighted enough to turn others' scientific work into reality.. thus leaping ahead. They combined their own with the others work to develop practical applications...