The world's first jet pilot
 

Dear Aviation & History Enthusiasts,

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 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, under http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFirst.../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 save,
Lutz Warsitz

warsitz, welcome to FlyerTalk! And thanks for sharing this information.

We are moving the thread to TravelBuzz where it's perhaps more apropos.

Please follow at its new home.


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Cholula
OMNI Co-Moderator

Welcome to FT warsitz! ^ As you can see, this is a big community and opinions on everything differ.

Personally I'd like to thank you for your post. While the conditions for jet and rocket development were sadly in the negative vein, the fact that they were developed at all have benefited all of us. So hat's off to your father who did his best to make jet-powered flight a reality that we all enjoy now!

You might say this forum owes it's existence to jet powered flight.

For this forum, the topic needs to stay focused around the flight and aerodynamics issues of the OP's subject. Other issues, such as political ones, are free to be discussed in our OMNI forum. Such issues have been deleted while the thread remains in TravelBuzz. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator.

Welcome to FT!

That is very cool indeed... Imagine the world in 2009 had the jet engine NEVER been invented...

I'd like to see Harry Turtledove (master of alternative history:D) write a book on that!!!

Welcome, Warsitz, and thank you for the interesting story.

(...and hooray for Harry Turtledove, trooper, although I wonder how much of the many books that he seems to generate these days are actually written by him personally.)

Dear all,

many thanks to all of you for your warm welcome and your interest in my father's story!

Best wishes,
Lutz