First Allied jet flies

On this day in 1941, the first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion is made in Britain. The W-1 turbojet engine, which produced a powerful thrust of hot air, was devised by Frank Whittle, a Royal Air Force engineer who also flew the initial tests. The German Heinkel He 178, designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain, made the first jet flight in history in 1939. The Allied jet aircraft went into war service in 1944, when the British Gloster Meteor flew into the skies over Europe. The German Me 262 followed soon after.