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The First Jet Plane That Was Ever Made

The first jet plane that was ever made dates to pre-World War II Germany. This was the Heinkel He 178. The Heinkel He 178 proved to be beneficial to Germany's later war efforts after initial bugs were worked out of the original design.

Heinkel He 178
- The Heinkel He 178 was capable of speeds up to 373 miles per hour. The single Heinkel HeS centrifugal flow turbo jet turbine that was its power-plant produced 1,102 pounds of thrust.
Design
- The wings of the Heinkel He 178 were mounted high on the fuselage. The cockpit was far forward. Powered landing gear closed into the sides of the fuselage just ahead of the wings. The He 178 had a retractable tailwheel. Its fuselage was mostly made of wood in a semi-monocoque design.
Significance
- Despite weaknesses in its design, the Heinkel He 178 prototype stimulated the German High Command's interest in turbojet technology. The original prototype was ultimately placed in the Berlin Air Museum, where it was destroyed by Allied bombers in a 1943 air raid.
Dr. Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain
- Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain is credited as the inventor of the gas turbine engine with Dr. Herbert Wagner. The Heinkel He 178 made its first flight on August 27, 1939 powered by Dr. Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain's turbine engine.

Aviation