List of jet aircraft of World War II
Encyclopedia
Experimental and test
- Gloster E.28/39Gloster E.28/39|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.* Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.* Morgan, Eric B. "A New Concept of...
- May 15, 1941 became the first jet engined aircraft to fly in the United Kingdom, and the very first jet aircraft flown by any of the Allies of World War IIAllies of World War IIThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
.
Operational
- Gloster MeteorGloster MeteorThe Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. It first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force...
- First operational Allied fighter jet, entered Service July 27 1944., The first V-1 flying bombV-1 flying bombThe V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
s "kill" was made by a Meteor on 4 August 1944 (another followed the same day). This was the first air downing of a jet-powered aircraft by another, although that achievement is usually ascribed to the battles between manned jet aircraft during the Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in November 1950. - De Havilland VampireDe Havilland VampireThe de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was a British jet-engine fighter commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Following the Gloster Meteor, it was the second jet fighter to enter service with the RAF. Although it arrived too late to see combat during the war, the Vampire served...
- Production aircraft entered service in April 1945.
Experimental and test
- Bell XP-83Bell XP-83|-See also:-Bibliography:* Carpenter, David M. Flame Powered: The Bell XP-59A Airacomet and the General Electric I-A Engine. Boston: Jet Pioneers of America, 1982. ISBN 0-9633387-0-6....
- Redesigned P-59 for long-range escort fighter duties. Cancelled after two prototypes. - Consolidated Vultee XP-81 - Mixed power. Two prototypes built, project cancelled due to poor flight performance and war ended
- Douglas XBTD-2 Destroyer - Modified BTD Destroyer, mixed propulsion, two prototypes built. Cancelled due to poor performance.
- McDonnell FH Phantom - Prototype of the FH-1 Phantom
- Northrop XP-79 - Prototype tested 5 July 1944, project cancelled 1945.
Operational
- Bell P-59 Airacomet - First USAAF jet to fly, never saw operational service, only 66 built before contract terminated
- Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star - First operational jet fighter used by the United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
in 1945, grounded due problems until after the war - Ryan FR Fireball - US Navy production, mixed prop and jet aircraft, first flew on June 25, 1944, but never saw combat. 66 units delivered.
Experimental
- Sukhoi Su-5Sukhoi Su-5-See also:...
- Combined propeller/thermojet propulsion. 1 built, first flown 6 April 1945. Grounded after loss of piston engine.
Operational
- Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 (N)The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 was a Soviet fighter aircraft developed as part of a crash program in 1944 to develop a high-performance fighter to counter German turbojet-powered aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me-262...
- mixed power fighter using a thermojet and standard prop engine. 10-20 estimated built. Supplanted by pure jet aircraft.
Experimental and test
- Fieseler Fi 103R - Piloted version of the V-1 flying bombV-1 flying bombThe V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
. - Heinkel He 178Heinkel He 178|-See also:*List of firsts in aviation-Bibliography:* Warsitz, Lutz: The First Jet Pilot - The Story of German Test Pilot Erich Warsitz, Pen and Sword Books Ltd., England, 2009, ISBN 9781844158188.-External links:...
- Pioneering first aircraft to fly under turbojet power, 27 August 1939 - Heinkel He 280Heinkel He 280The Heinkel He 280 was the first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft in the world. It was inspired by Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on research into high-speed flight and built on the company's experience with the He 178 jet prototype. A combination of technical and political factors led to it being...
- World's first jet fighter, cancelled in favour of Me 262. - Henschel Hs 132Henschel Hs 132-Note:There is a widely available image that purports to show the completed Hs 132V1 outside the Henschel plant. This is actually an artist's impression by Gert Heumann.-See also:-References:NotesBibliography...
- Dive bomber. Factory overrun by Soviet forces before test flights could begin. - Horten Ho 229Horten Ho 229The Horten H.IX, RLM designation Ho 229 was a late–World War II prototype fighter/bomber designed by Reimar and Walter Horten and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik...
- Flying wingFlying wingA flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
fighter with stealth characteristicsStealth technologyStealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
. - Junkers Ju 287Junkers Ju 287-Bibliography:* Hitchcock, Thomas H. Junkers 287 . Acton, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1974. ISBN 0-914144-01-4.-External links:*...
- Multi-engine bomber design; proof-of-concept aircraft flying from 16 August 1944; factory and project captured by Soviets before definitive prototype built.
Operational
- Messerschmitt Me 262Messerschmitt Me 262The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...
- World's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. - Heinkel He 162Heinkel He 162The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of...
- Second jet engined fighter aircraft to serve with the LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. - Arado Ar 234Arado Ar 234The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible...
- World's first jet-powered bomber and reconnaissance aircraft.
Cancelled or incomplete
- Focke-Wulf Ta 183Focke-Wulf Ta 183The Focke-Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262 and other day fighters in Luftwaffe service during World War II. It was developed only to the extent of wind tunnel models when the war ended, but the basic design...
"Huckebein" fighter, used swept wingSwept wingA swept wing is a wing planform favored for high subsonic jet speeds first investigated by Germany during the Second World War. Since the introduction of the MiG-15 and North American F-86 which demonstrated a decisive superiority over the slower first generation of straight-wing jet fighters...
s for increased transonic performance, never completed. - Heinkel He 343Heinkel He 343The Heinkel He 343 was a four-engine jet bomber project.-Design and development:It was designed by the German Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the beginning of 1944. 20 of these aircraft were ordered. For shortening the development time and for re-use of existing parts, its general design was...
- Four-engined jet bomber/recon/Zerstörer, design broadly based on the Arado Ar 234Arado Ar 234The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible...
, not flown. - Messerschmitt Me P.1101Messerschmitt Me P.1101|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Myrha, David. Messerschmitt P.1101- X Planes of the Third Reich Series. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1999. ISBN 0-7643-0908-0....
- Experimental aircraft with ground-set variable-sweepVariable geometryVariable geometry may refer to:* Variable-geometry ways to alter the shape of an aircraft's wings in flight in order to alter their aerodynamic properties* Multi-speed Europe, a proposed strategy for European integration...
wings. ~75% complete at conclusion of war, led to the Bell X-5Bell X-5-See also:-Bibliography:* Hallion, Richard P. On The Frontier: Flight Research At Dryden 1946-1981 . Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1984 . ISBN 1-58834-134-8....
US experimental aircraft. - Lippisch P.13aLippisch P.13aThe Lippisch P.13a was an experimental ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor aircraft designed in late 1944 by Dr. Alexander Lippisch for Nazi Germany...
- Experimental ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor with an engine powered by coal. Unpowered glider prototype (DM1) constructed. - Lippisch P.13bLippisch P.13bThe Lippisch P.13b was a World War II German ramjet powered fighter aircraft designed by Alexander Lippisch. Designed in December 1944, the P.13b was a further development of the similarly delta-winged Lippisch P.13a, which was also a ramjet fighter. The cockpit was located in the nose of the...
- Further development of the P.13a.
Experimental and test
- Campini Caproni CC.2 - First experimental Italian thermojet.
Projects
- Reggiane Re.2007Reggiane Re.2007The Reggiane Re.2007 was thought to be an Italian fighter aircraft designed in 1943 by Roberto Longhi.Longhi himself spread the word on his design and construction of a jet aircraft prototype during the war.-Design:...
- First Italian turbojet fighter design. - Campini Caproni C.A.183bis - Piston-thermojet engined high-altitude interceptor
Operational rocket aircraft
- Kuugisho/Yokosuka MXY7 - "Ohka" Model 11 Type 22 Suicide Attacker - prototype jet version of rocket-powered kamikazeKamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft was constructed but failed to enter service.
Cancelled or incomplete
- Kawanishi "Baika" - Mk.I,II,III (Fieseler Fi-103 R derivation) Pulsejet Suicide Attacker, project only.
- Kayaba "Katsudori" - Ramjet Interceptor
- Nakajima "Toka" - Turbojet Suicide Attacker
- Heinkel He 162Heinkel He 162The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of...
- A-2 (Tachikawa Ki-162?) Jet fighter Japanese version under license. - Kugisho/Yokosuka MXY-9 - "Shuka" Rocket Interceptor operative training glider with turbojet
- Nakajima Ki-201Nakajima Ki-201-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London, Putnam & Company, 1970 . ISBN 0-370-30251-6....
- "Karyuu" turbojet interceptor/attack - Kawanishi K-200Kawanishi K-200The Kawanishi K-200 was a concept for a turbojet-powered flying boat proposed in Japan late in World War II. There is very little data on the K-200 and contemporary illustrations of the K-200 are based on speculation....
- Six engined turbojet flying boat - Yokosuka "Tenga" - Yokosuka P1YYokosuka P1Y|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam 7 Company Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0-370-00033-1 ....
/Ginga - "Frances" medium bomber converted to turbojet power, never completed - Kugisho/Yokosuka R2Y2 - "Keiun-Kai" turbojet Reconnaissance/Attack Aircraft