Heinkel He 178 V1
Heinkel · Germany · first flew 1939 · light aircraft
The Heinkel He 178 V1 is the world's first aircraft to fly solely on turbojet power, demonstrating on 27 August 1939 — two days before the invasion of Poland — that jet propulsion was viable for manned flight.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 7.48 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- world's first turbojet-powered aircraft — chin intake feeding a Heinkel HeS 3 engine
- short mid-wing monoplane with fixed spatted undercarriage
- jet exhaust exits beneath the tail, not at the wingtips or nacelles
A compact mid-wing monoplane superficially resembling a piston-engine aircraft of the period, identified by the circular nose intake with no propeller, fixed spatted undercarriage, and the jet exhaust pipe exiting under the fuselage just ahead of the tail.
Specifications
- The Heinkel He 178 V1 has a length of 7.48 m (25 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.2 m (24 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 598 km/h (372 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Ernst Heinkel sponsored Hans von Ohain's jet engine development as a private venture, independently of the German Air Ministry. Hans Sinner piloted the first flight in the pre-dawn hours of 27 August 1939. The Air Ministry showed little interest in the prototype, and it was displayed in the Berlin Air Museum before being destroyed in a 1943 bombing raid.
Variants
A single V1 prototype was completed; the closely related He 176 was a rocket-powered aircraft tested months earlier, and the He 280 was Heinkel's subsequent twin-jet fighter development.
Where you'll see it
Never operationally used, the He 178 was a pure research demonstrator; its legacy is the proof-of-concept that drove German, British, and eventually Allied jet programmes into the Second World War.
Related aircraft
- Heinkel He 177 Greif
- Heinkel He 178
- Heinkel He 100
- Heinkel He 280
- Aeronca Super Chief
- Aichi E13A
- Arado Ar 199
- Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann
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