The Jet That Could Have Won The War

By Sanford Hughes
Military Affairs

Name one of the biggest mistakes Adolph Hitler and his top officers made before kicking off World War II.

They ignored the invention of the world’s first jet aircraft, the Heinkel He-178 which, had its development been pursued, could likely have meant the defeat of Allied Air Forces, most certainly bomber command, and no Allied fighter could catch it.

Had its development been put on the front burner, you might be reading this in German if you weren’t working in a mine somewhere.

The first successful flights of the the turbojet-propelled airplane took place over a German forest on August 24 and 27, 1939, with Luftwaffe Captain Erich Warsitz at the stick. Although the small Heinkel HeS38 jet engine produced only 838 pounds of static thrust, it was enough to push the small single-seat monoplane to a speed of well over 400 miles per hour.

Consequently, even in its earliest test flights the unique aircraft demonstrated performance that was superior to that of all propeller-driven operational fighters. In 1939, America’s premier fighter was the relatively slow Curtiss P-40 which had a 270 mph cruise and a top speed in a dive of 360 mph.

The British were using Hawker Hurricanes (max speed 340 mph) and later the beloved Spitfire (max speed 378 mph). The German jet could do more than 400 mph in level flight and significantly outclimb any propeller-driven aircraft.

The Heinkel jet engine was the brainchild of a brilliant German scientist, Pabst von Ohain, who was only 25 years old when the He-178 made aviation history.The aircraft was designed by Heinkel engineers, working under the personal direction of Ernst Heinkel, head of the Heinkel aircraft manufacturing company.

That firm financed the development of the plane without either the knowledge or financial support of the Nazi government. However, when it was presented to Hitler’s top brain trust, it was mostly ignored and the Luftwaffe ignorantly showed little interest.

Literally built around the Ohain engine the 4,400-pound Heinkel He-178 had a barrel shaped 24 foot-long metal fuselage,with stubby 23 foot wooden wings mounted high on its sides. It used a conventional three-point retractable landing gear, rather than tricycle configuration which was later adopted for other jets.

Not until October 1939 did high-ranking air force officers agree to inspect it, and although the He-178 clearly had great potential, it was never produced in quantity. In fact, the German Air Force didn’t have an operational jet fighter plane until August 1944, the Me-262, but it was too late to have a decisive effect on the outcome of World War II.

Germany experimented with several jet and turbo jet powered aircraft, even one that was rocket powered, the Me163B “Komet,” a plane that used a mixture of fuel so dangerous that flying it was almost a suicide mission. Designed by Alexander Martin Lippisch the plane was capable of performance unrivaled at the time.

Messerschmitt test pilot Rudy Opitz in 1944 reached 698 mph. More than 300 planes were built but the Komet proved ineffective as a fighter, as it generally ran out of fuel when it reached altitude. However, it was responsible for the destruction of an estimated nine Allied aircraft.

It had other problems, since it originally evolved from a glider design.

For example, while it had wheels on a dolly, they fell off during takeoff and a skid was used for landing. Malfunctioning hydraulic dampers in the skid could lead to back injuries for the pilot on landing, as the aircraft lacked steering or braking control during the landing run, leaving the pilot unable to avoid obstacles.

On landing the aircraft would rise back into the air with the slightest updraft. Since the approach was made unpowered, there was no opportunity to make another landing pass. It got worse.

The fuel system was particularly troublesome as leaks that occurred during the usual hard landings usually degenerated into fires and explosions. Metal fuel lines and fittings failed in unpredictable ways.

Both fuel and oxidizer were toxic and required extreme care when loading in the airframe - yet there were still occasions when Komets simply exploded on the tarmac. The corrosive nature of the liquids also mandated special protective gear for the pilots.

Yet once airborne and up to speed, it was praised for its flying capabilities.  Rudolf Opitz, chief test pilot of the Me 163, said it could “fly circles around any other fighter of its time.” Unfortunately, all of its arial qualities were overshadowed by its tendency to kill its pilot upon landing.

Needless to say, being assigned to a Komet squadron was not the high point of a Luftwaffe pilot’s day.