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The basic constituents of the jet engine were patented in 1930 by the British aeronautical engineer Frank Whittle (1907-96). A British aircraft with a Whittle engine successfully flew in May 1941. German engineers patented an engine in 1935, but work on jets proceeded much more quickly in Germany than in Britain, and the first turbojet-powered aircraft, a Heinkel He-178, flew in August 1939, a month before the start of World War II.

At first Adolf Hitler was a strong supporter of developing jet technology, but during the course of the war, acting on the advice of Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goring, he diverted production from jets to increasing the output of greater numbers of conventional aircraft. For this reason, Germany never produced jet aircraft in great quantity during the war. Nevertheless, both Germany and Britain recognized the jet as the wave of the future, at least for small fighter aircraft. In contrast, the American military and the aircraft industry were slow to develop jets, and the first American military jet fighter, the Shooting Star, did not become operational during the war. In Britain and Germany, the RAF and the Luftwaffe both flew jets in combat by 1944. Neither nation fielded a sufficient number to make a significant impact on the air war.

The British jet was the de Havilland Meteor. The principal German plane was the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Me 262 was extremely effective against U.S. bombers, since the aircraft easily outran even the best U.S. fighter escorts, such as the P-51 Mustang. The drawbacks of the Me 262 were its short range and flight duration--it was extremely fuel hungry--and its relatively poor maneuverability relative to piston fighters. Most important, it was introduced too late in the war and was produced in quantities too small to have a significant effect on the outcome of the struggle.

The Luftwaffe experimented with other jet designs, as well as the ultraradical tailless flyingwing, the Me163, which used a liquid-fueled rocket motor instead of an air-breathing jet engine. The Me163 could fly at nearly 600 miles per hour and quickly climb above bomber formations, then attack from above--the ideal approach against bombers. Fuel lasted a mere 12 minutes, however, making the aircraft highly impractical.

Had Germany devoted more development and production effort to jet aircraft, it is likely that both the United States and Britain would have been forced to curtail the strategic bombing of Germany, and the war might well have been prolonged. . .

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