Heinkel He 178
Heinkel He 178 makes the first flight by a turbojet-powered aircraft
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27 August 1939: a circuit over Rostock-Marienehe
On 27 August 1939, Erich Warsitz flew the experimental Heinkel He 178 at the Heinkel works airfield at Rostock-Marienehe. Powered by Hans von Ohain's HeS 3B engine, it became the first aircraft to fly using turbojet thrust.
The prototype had a duralumin fuselage, wooden wings and a nose intake feeding its internally mounted engine. A German public-broadcast history describes the machine as about 7.5 metres long and just under two tonnes.
Warsitz completed a circuit and landed safely.
The gear stayed down, and the clock is disputed
Warsitz's retrospective account, published by his son, says the retractable landing gear would not retract and remained down.
Published accounts also disagree on how long the flight lasted: one secondary account gives six minutes, and the German broadcast history gives about eight.
Several secondary sources report a brief hop on 24 August, but the better-supported milestone is the sustained flight on the 27th.
Nobody official was watching
The flight was conducted secretly, and senior Luftwaffe officials did not witness it. The demonstration attended by Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch came later, on 1 November.
Von Ohain's earlier HeS 3A had lacked sufficient thrust; the improved HeS 3B was installed in the He 178 in early August 1939 and made a powered flight practicable. A Smithsonian history reports it at about 1,100 pounds of thrust.
The He 178 was an experimental proof of concept, not an operational fighter, and it never entered service.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes
How this was checked
Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →
What the sources leave uncertain
- The August 27 date, pilot, aircraft and turbojet first are well supported.
- Published accounts disagree on whether the flight lasted approximately six or eight minutes.
- Several secondary sources report a brief hop on August 24, but the better-supported milestone is the sustained flight on August 27.
- The dramatic landing narrative comes principally from Warsitz’s retrospective account as published by his son and should be attributed accordingly.