Jet Engine

1936 | Hans von Ohain

A mark of success on the horizon

Finally, a driving force! The physicist Hans von Ohain and his assistant Hahn breathed a sigh of relief in 1935 as entrepreneur Ernst Heinkel offered to provide support for the two financially exhausted aviation pioneers. A new propellerless engine technology was needed – everyone had agreed on that. Eighteen months later the time came: the first prototype, which was all hydrogen-powered, was tested; it worked on the principle of reaction. This success motivated Ohain. His designs reached their pinnacle with the HeS-3 jet engine, which was installed in the Heinkel He 178 and designed especially for that purpose. The propulsion principle is similar to that of a four-stroke engine: air is taken in, compressed, burned and exhausted. The thrust provides the propulsive power. In August 1939, Heinkel and Ohain proudly presented the result of their studies: the first jet plane took off in Rostock..

(Information taken from German Stars – 50 innovations, produced by the Federal Foreign Office, the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Invest in Germany and the Goethe Institut.)