Heinkel HeS 1

The Heinkel HeS 1 was Germany's first jet engine, a stationary test engine that ran on hydrogen. Hans von Ohain and his mechanic Max Hahn were set up at Heinkel's works at the Marienehe airfield outside Rostock in April 1936, and after studying the airflow in his earlier prototype they built a completely new engine incorporating the improvements. The engine was extremely simple and made largely of sheet metal. Construction began in the late summer of 1936 and was completed in March 1937, and the first run took place in September 1937. It was never intended to be a flight-quality design, but it showed that the basic concept worked, and the team went on to design the flight-capable HeS 3.