Det første jetflyet fløy i dag i 1939 - Curt Lewis

World's first jet aircraft took flight on this day in 1939, just days before World War II began

The World's first German fighter jet Heinkel He-178. Image: Getty images
The world's first jet-powered aircraft, Heinkel He 178, flew on August 27, 1939, and was designed by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke.

The first engine developed by Flugzeugwerke was the HeS 1. The engine showed promise and further development led to the HeS 3 and this became the engine that would power He 178.

Though Heinkel He 178 was the first fighter jet, it never saw active service with any air force, and never entered mass production because when the first flight took place, it was not accepted by the German Ministry of Aviation (RLM) after a demonstration flight on November 1, 1939, to Ernst Udet, Erhard Milch and engineer Helmut Schelp.


German aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel (1888 - 1958) who designed and built the first jet plane, the HE-178 in 1939, as well as many of the military aircraft used by German forces during the Second World War.Image: Getty images
The aircraft achieved speeds to 598 km/h (380 mph), but combat endurance was only 10 minutes. Udet, Milch and Schelp were unimpressed and saw no practical value for the airplane.

Despite the decision of the RLM to not fund the He 178, Heinkel went on to develop the first turbo-jet fighter, the He 280, which preceded the Messerschmitt Me 262.

As the end of World War II approached, Heinkel was finally allowed to fulfill his dream and construct his own jet fighter, the He 162.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEINKEL HE 178

• The He 178 was a shoulder wing aircraft, made mostly of wood with a semi-monocoque metal fuselage
• It was equipped with retractable landing gear. The pilot's cabin was located well forward of the wing's leading edge

He 178 replica at Rostock-Laage Airport.

• The jet engine drew in air from the front nose inlet, with the jet exhaust emerging from a long narrow pipe at the rear of the aircraft, in the tail
• Later a new HeS 6 engine was installed, with 1,300 lbf (590 kgf) of thrust

THE FIRST FLIGHT
The test pilot was Flight-Captain Erich Warsitz who also flew the first rocket-powered plane, the He 176.

On its first test flight, the engine ingested a bird which caused some minor internal engine damage, but the pilot managed to safely land the plane. Despite this incident, the first test flight was considered a success.

After several more test flights were accomplished, the first He 178 (V1) was placed in the air museum in Berlin, where it would eventually be destroyed in a 1943 bombing raid.

Soon after, the assembly and production of the second plane were ready with some modifications -- most importantly larger wings.

Heinkel He 178 V2 second prototype.
The second prototype (V2) never flew, and it is not known if it was ever completely built.