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Aerospace · Recorded milestone

Jet aircraft

Recorded year1939

The Heinkel He 178 flies on a turbojet; Frank Whittle had patented the idea in Britain.

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Built on

All-metal aircraftRecorded · 1915enables

Led to

Jet airlinerRecorded · 1952enables
Inertial navigationRecorded · 1953enables
Stealth aircraftRecorded · 1983requires
Electric flight suitForecast · ~2050enables
Jet-lag reset bandForecast · ~2058requires

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.