ROCKET PLANE PROPOSED BY HITLER

 

The imagined picture of the 800 kmph rocket plane, demonstrated to Adolf Hitler by Ernst Heinkel, the German aircraft designer, on 3rd July 1939

The demonstration of the rocket-powered aircraft by Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft manufacturer, to Hitler on July 3, 1939, involved the Heinkel He 176, the world’s first aircraft to be propelled solely by a liquid-fueled rocket. Built of wood, it featured a narrow track under carriage, wingtip skids to prevent tipping during takeoff, circular fuselage, reclined pilot’s seat, jettisoned nose for pilot escape, and Walter HWK R1 rocket engine with thrust adjustable between 45 and 500 kgs. The demonstration was at Roggentin, near the Rechlin Secret Test Center in Germany in front of Hitler and the high rank Nazis. Hermann Göring, the commander-in-chief, was absent. The flight lasted about one minute due to the limited fuel capacity and reached a speed of 800 km/h. Though successful, the He 176 was not accepted by the Nazi leadership, as it had no wings, just running boards with the dangers of rocket propulsion. Pilot Erich Warsitz was awarded 20,000 Reichsmarks. It influenced the later design Me 163 Komet, the only rocket-powered fighter of World War II.