Development
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 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 plane was fitted with tailwheel undercarriage. The main landing gear was 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 August 27, 1939, only days before Germany started World War II by invading Poland. The pilot was Erich Warsitz, who had flown the world's first rocket powered airplane, the Heinkel 176, on its maiden flight in June 1939, only months before.
The aircraft was a success; however, speeds were limited to 598 km/h (375 mph) at the proposed service altitude, and combat endurance was only 10 minutes.
Heinkel had developed the turbojet engine and the testbed aircraft, the Heinkel 178, in great secrecy. They were kept secret even from the German air force and the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. On 1 November 1939, after the German victory in Poland, Heinkel arranged a demonstration of the jet to officials. Herman Goering, commander in chief of the German air force, didn't even show up. Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch watched the aircraft perform, but were unimpressed. Nevertheless, Heinkel was undeterred, and decided to embark on the development of a twin-engine jet fighter, the He 280 as a private venture using what had been learned from the He 178.
The He 178 was placed in the Berlin Air Museum, where it was destroyed in an air raid in 1943.
Read more about this topic: Heinkel He 178
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