Historical day 65 years ago; first jetflite !

[Topspeed]

If I remember correctly: 20th june 1939 was the first jetflight by the germans.

Any links to it ?

Okay here is one:

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/HEINHE-178.htm

Seems that the data of the first flight date is arguable. Some say even early as april -39.

[Mikko H.]

All the sources I've read, just like the link you provide, date the first ever jet flight (by He 178) in late August 1939, just before the outbreak of the WWII.

[Topspeed]

I agree 95% does. One source that I cannot found said June 20 1939, but several highspeed taxi runs in may already.

That story in the net had also the proposed propaganda poster he-178 that doesn't look at all like the real thing..it was in fact the best I have seen so far...veeeery thorough study of the subject.

I'll try to find it out since it was very much not like a textbook study.

JT

[Topspeed]

20 th june was the Heinkel he 176 that used rocketengine first flown ( some sources say 15th of june ).

Jet engined version flew in August.

[Patrice]

Hello
And the second Jet was Italian the Campini Caproni,the first prototype flight 10 minutes the 27 August 1940.
Look at http://www.museoscienza.org/
A picture of the bird found on this link.
Patrice

[brustcan]

Heinkel was developing the rocket and jet planes at the same time. The He-176 rocket plane underwent fast taxi and glide trials being pulled behind a 7.6 litre Mercedes car at speeds of up to 100mph at Usedom,
Germany. An unoffical 'hop' was done on March 2, 1939. But the maiden
flight proper took place on June 20. On June 21 Udet, Milch and other RLM
members watched...with Udet forbidding any further flying of this "rocket with running boards" Heinkel attracted the attention of Hitler, and a second
flight took place on July 3. 1939 with Hitler present. The development was allowed to go on and eventually went to the Me-163. In September of 1937
the first German jet engine started test bed runs. The He S 3A was developing 1000lb trust and a special airframe was constructed. Taxi trials
started on August 24, 1939, with the historic first flight on August 27th. A few brief circuits around Rostock-Marienehe field were made by Erich Warsitz. Heinkel had developed the jet with his own money, and without the official RLM's knowledge! It was not until October 28, 1939 that leading
RLM officials were given a demonstration. Their interest was lukewarm.
Cheers brustcan

[varjag]

Hello
And the second Jet was Italian the Campini Caproni,the first prototype flight 10 minutes the 27 August 1940.
Look at http://www.museoscienza.org/
A picture of the bird found on this link.
Patrice

Patrice - 'second' - maybe, but the Caproni-Campini was not a true jet, was it? Did it not have a piston-engine driving what we might today call a 'ducted fan' to propel the aircraft. It worked allright - but was a dead-end - that had indeed been tried before. I rate 'the second' as the British E.28/39 that took to the air on 15th of May 1941.

[K-9]

Hello
And the second Jet was Italian the Campini Caproni,the first prototype flight 10 minutes the 27 August 1940.
Look at http://www.museoscienza.org/
A picture of the bird found on this link.
Patrice

Patrice - 'second' - maybe, but the Caproni-Campini was not a true jet, was it? Did it not have a piston-engine driving what we might today call a 'ducted fan' to propel the aircraft. It worked allright - but was a dead-end - that had indeed been tried before. I rate 'the second' as the British E.28/39 that took to the air on 15th of May 1941.

Still it was a jet aircraft. It used the piston-engine driven turbine to force compressed air into the burning chamber, where it was mixed with fuel and ignited...


If we talk about the first jet,... people forget the jet aircraft of romanian inventor Henri Coanda. It ,too, used a piston engine to power a turbine to force compressed aitr into the burning chamber, but it was a jet! His aircraft flew much earlier than any other's - 1910 !

take a look at http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/coanda.htm#Coanda-1910

Henri Coanda's Coanda-1910 was a revolutionary aircraft in many ways. First and foremost, it is now being recognized as the first air-reactive engine (jet) aircraft, making its first and only flight October, 1910. Henri's aircraft was the first to have no propeller. This was 30 years prior to Heinkle, Campini, and Whittle who have been considered the 'fathers' of jet flight. Lacking support, Coanda did not pursue further development of his 'reactive' aircraft

[aussie jason]

Hello K-9
this is very interesting piece of information this should go in the little known facts as well.
Jason

[Patrice]

Hello varjag.
Yes ,the Caproni was not a trully jet,and it was assist by piston motor.
But the Carpini Caproni flight were recognized by the FAI to be the first
ever made by a jet.
And this because the Heinkel and Hans von Ohain works had been keep secret.
If we speak of true jet,the Bristol is the second jet in history.
Thank K9 for the informations on Henri Coandas
Patrice

[Topspeed]

K-9 thanks for the input.

I always considered the pure jet to be either that Whittle or Ohain engine.

Those are steps into right direction sure Coanda and Cambini-Caproni "jets".

My god..Romanians are so sophisticated..IAR80 and now this.

Any airliners from Romania ?


JT

[Victor]

Any airliners from Romania ?
JT

No. The aircraft industry was shut down after the war (IAR Brasov became an agricultural tractor factory) and barely survived, building small propeller driven aircraft. The only Romanian jets are the IAR-93 and IAR-99, both subsonic aircraft.

Coanda discovered the physical effect, which carries his name, and helped a lot in the developpement of the actual jet engine. He also had many other discoveries, being one of the important scientists of the 20th century.

[Topspeed]

I see Victor,

Engineer Kaario developed the first hovercraft and sold the rights to the firm Hovercraft..it is called ILMATYYNYALUS in finnish.

Ilma = air tyyny=cushion alus=vessel so it is actually AIRCUSHIONVESSEL.

Our contribution to the wonderful world of vehicles..I wonder who invented the wheel ?

Juke

[Cantankerous]

20 th june was the Heinkel he 176 that used rocketengine first flown ( some sources say 15th of june ).

Jet engined version flew in August.

Even though this thread is almost two decades old, the person who started this thread had it correct when recognizing that the aircraft flew on June 20 was the He 176 and not the He 178. The He 176 page at Wikipedia explains Heinkel's impetus for building the world's first rocket-powered aircraft:

The basic design of the He 176 was sketched out during the Neuhardenberg rocket motor and booster tests. According to Walter Künzel, "...The He 176 project came into existence during the flight trials of the He 112 at Neuhardenburg. It was a bold project for the time and involved numerous new problems. At this time the term 'interceptor' was being bandied about and the He 176 was to be the research aircraft for the 'interceptor'." In 1936, the RLM awarded Heinkel the contract to build the world's first rocket aircraft. For the mock-up, Warsitz sat on a parachute with everything everything else tailored around him, the idea being to build a small aircraft capable of speeds greater than 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph). The greatest diameter of the fuselage was only 700 millimetres (28 in). Overall surface area, including the fuselage, was 5 square metres (54 sq ft), with a 5 metres (16 ft) wingspan, a fuselage length of 5.5 metres (18 ft), a height with the undercarriage deployed at 1.44 metres (4.7 ft), and a wheelbase of 700 millimetres (28 in). The elliptical wing had a wing sweep of 40% and a thickness of 9% at 90 millimetres (3.5 in). The wings contained the 82% hydrogen peroxide fuel. According to Warsitz, speaking of Von Braun's cooperation during the tests a Pennemunde, "Although not technically part of the He 176-V1 project with the Walter rocket engine, naturally everything affecting it was of interest to himself and his colleagues because the He 176-V2 was to have the von Braun engine..."