Gloster E.28/39

Gloster Aircraft Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1941 · fighter

Britain's first jet-propelled aircraft, built to flight-test Frank Whittle's pioneering turbojet engine.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	No propeller and no visible engine pods — the turbojet sits inside the fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Small, simple single-jet research aircraft with a smooth nose intake
Straight, low-set wings and a single fin
No propeller and no visible engine pods — the turbojet sits inside the fuselage

A tiny, tubby single-seat jet with straight wings, a nose intake and a single fin. Its small size and clean propeller-less nose mark it out as an early experimental jet rather than a fighter.

Specifications

The Gloster E.28/39 has a length of 7.7 m (25 ft).
It has a wingspan of 8.8 m (29 ft).
Its maximum speed is 545 km/h (339 mph).
Typical crew: 1 pilot.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Built to Air Ministry specification E.28/39, it made Britain's first jet flight on 15 May 1941 from Cranwell, piloted by Gerry Sayer, with Whittle's Power Jets engine in the fuselage. Its success proved the turbojet practical and led directly to the Gloster Meteor.

Variants

Two prototypes were built; the second was lost in a 1943 crash. There were no production versions of this purely experimental type.

Where you'll see it

Never an operational aircraft. The surviving first prototype is a centrepiece of Britain's jet heritage and is preserved at the Science Museum in London.

Related aircraft

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