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My father - Flight Captain Erich Warsitz - is remembered as the first person to fly an aircraft under turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178, on August 27, 1939 and also the first to fly an aircraft under liquid-fueled rocket power, the Heinkel He 176, on June 20 the same year, setting two milestones in aviation history.
Late in 1936 he was seconded by the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) to Wernher von Braun and Ernst Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test-pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. Little is known of this pioneer period because of the strict secrecy which shrouded the whole project!
You will find a lot of information about Erich Warsitz and his achievements under [color=#800080] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Warsitz. There is also a video of the He 178 with audio commentary by my father, inclusive written translation in English, [urlittle unfortunate that the He 178 quite often doesn't get the recognition it deserves. After all, every other turbine propelled aircraft that has graced or is now gracing our skies has, at best, come second place to it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFirstJetPilot
Fly safe,
Lutz Warsitz
Last edited by Thyra; 11-18-2009 at 11:17 AM..
Reason: Fixed link
My father - Flight Captain Erich Warsitz - is remembered as the first person to fly an aircraft under turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178, on August 27, 1939 and also the first to fly an aircraft under liquid-fueled rocket power, the Heinkel He 176, on June 20 the same year, setting two milestones in aviation history.
Late in 1936 he was seconded by the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) to Wernher von Braun and Ernst Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test-pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. Little is known of this pioneer period because of the strict secrecy which shrouded the whole project!
You will find a lot of information about Erich Warsitz and his achievements under [color=#800080] Erich Warsitz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. There is also a video of the He 178 with audio commentary by my father, inclusive written translation in English, under http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFirstJetPilot#p/u/3/nneZgRkpskU
It's a little unfortunate that the He 178 quite often doesn't get the recognition it deserves. After all, every other turbine propelled aircraft that has graced or is now gracing our skies has, at best, come second place to it.
Fly safe,
Lutz Warsitz
Lutz,
Thanks for posting your interesting article. By coincidence I saw a recent documentary on the Hiistory channel, tracing the history of German aviation in the 1930s/40s. If I recall correctly, a man by the name of Volker(sp?) designed the first German jet engine of that period. I believe it mentioned that it was the engine used in the He-178 and later in the Me-162 fighter. Of course, at the close of WWII American and Russian forces raced to obtain the personnel and technology behind German aviation. Later, this same German technology, appearing remarkably alike in the form of the MiG-15 and F-86 Sabre, fought over the skies in Korea.
Correction: I was obviously wrong in my attribution of the name of the inventor of the first German jet engine. That should have been Hans Von Ohain. Interestingly, Hans Von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle of Great Britain both designed jet engines unaware of the work of the other. The following link gives some interesting information:
many thanks for your interest and the link about Whittle and von Ohain!
Unfortunately I did miss the documentary on the History Channel! Is there a way to see it on the web or see it again in the future on the History Channel?
From your information I recently came to know that Flight Captain Erich Warsitz is the first person to fly an aircraft under turbojet power. Really it is a matter of proud for a person as always he will be remembered in the aviation and history. If you can provide some real pictures of your father during their flight then it will be more interesting to watch.
The Chinese legend speaks... One Chinese official has sat down on a sheaf of rockets and has departed upwards... After that official nobody saw...
Myth was tested....indeed, after the smoke cleared from the final blast crash test, dummy and chair had indeed vanished.
Pieces of them were found later scattered about.
belated congrats to Erich!
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Documentary History Channel
