Heinkel He 178

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_178

The Heinkel He 178 was the world's first aircraft to fly under turbojet power,
and the first practical jet aircraft. It was a private venture by the German
Heinkel company in accordance with director Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on
developing technology for high-speed flight. It first flew on 27 August 1939,
piloted by Erich Warsitz. This flight had been preceded by a short hop three
days earlier.

In 1936, a young engineer named Hans von Ohain had taken out a patent on using
the exhaust from a gas turbine as a means of propulsion.

He presented his idea to Ernst Heinkel, who agreed to help develop the concept.
Von Ohain successfully demonstrated his first engine, the Heinkel HeS 1 in 1937,
and plans were quickly made to test a similar engine in an aircraft. The He 178
was designed around von Ohain's third engine design, the HeS 3, which burned
diesel fuel. The result was a small aircraft with a metal fuselage of
conventional configuration and construction. The jet intake was in the nose, and
the aircraft was fitted with tailwheel undercarriage. The main landing gear was
intended to be retractable, but remained fixed in "down" position throughout the
flight trials.

The high-mounted wooden wings had the characteristic Günter brothers elliptical
trailing edge. Photos showing a "straight wing" (straight-line-taper in the wing
planform, for both the leading and trailing edges) were of the second prototype
He 178 V2, which never flew under power.

The aircraft made its maiden flight on 27 August 1939, only days before Germany
started World War II by invading Poland. The test pilot was Erich Warsitz, who
had also flown the world's first rocket powered airplane, the Heinkel He 176, on
its maiden flight in June 1939.

Role
Experimental prototype/Pioneer aircraft

Manufacturer
Heinkel

First flight
27 August 1939

Ernst Heinkel was disappointed by the lack of official interest in his
private-venture jet. In his autobiography, he attributes this to the failure of
the leaders of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium to understand the advantages of
jet propulsion and what breakthrough the He 178 represented. In fact, the Reich
Air Ministry was already developing its own jets, a fact unknown to Heinkel.

The British Gloster Meteor F.I, powered by two Rolls-Royce Welland
centrifugal-flow turbojets had a maximum speed (in level flight) of 692 km/h
(430 mph) and thus only equivalent to the best-performing piston engined Allied
fighters being flown in combat at that time, whereas the German Messerschmitt Me
262, powered by two Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojets, had a maximum speed
of 870 km/h (540 mph),—178 km/h (111 mph) faster than the best piston-engined
fighters and had superior climb performance, but those bold statements do not
reflect the operational issues surrounding each type: the German jet engines had
a service life of about 25 hours (in part due to the shortage of suitable
heat-resistant steel alloys) while the British centrifugal jet engines could run
for 180 hours. While no jet-to-jet air combat took place in July 1944 the first
encounter between a German Me 262 and a British Mosquito (of roughly similar
performance to the Meteor) ended bloodlessly.

Specifications

Crew: One
Length: 7.48 m (24 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 7.20 m (23 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.10 m (6 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 9.1 m² (98 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,620 kg (3,572 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 1,998 kg (4,405 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × HeS 3 turbojet, 4.4 kN (992 lbf)

Performance
Maximum speed: 598 km/h (380 mph)
Range: 200 km (125 mi)

Armament
None




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