page_title: Timeline of jet power
section_title: 1942
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of jet power / 1942
caption_attribution_description: English: Messerschmitt Me 262 Werk-Nr. 111711, seen here post-war during a test flight in the USA. It was the first intact Me 262 to fall into Allied hands on March 31st 1945.
context_page_description: Although the most common type, the gas turbine powered jet engine, was certainly a 20th-century invention, many of the needed advances in theory and technology leading to this invention were made well before this time.
  The jet engine was clearly an idea whose time had come. Frank Whittle submitted his first patent in 1930. By the late 1930s there were six teams chasing development, three in Germany, two in the UK and one in Hungary. By 1942 they had been joined by another half dozen British companies, three more in the United States based on British technology, and early efforts in the Soviet Union and Japan based on British and German designs respectively. For some time after the World War II, British designs dominated, but by the 1950s there were many competitors, particularly in the US with its huge arms-buying programme.
context_section_description: The Metrovick F.2 is given test rating delivering between 1,800 and 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN)
  Metrovick start on "thrust augmentation" adding a turbine and propellors to a F2/2 which will lead to the F.3 (a high bypass design) with an extra 1,600 lbf (7,100 N) over the F2/2.
  Work on the BMW 002 is stopped as it is proving too complex. Work continues on the 003.
  Work on the HeS 8 (-001) and HeS 30 (-006) is stopped, although the later appears to be reaching production quality. Heinkel is ordered to continue on the more advanced Heinkel HeS 011.
  The Messerschmitt Me 262 flies for the first time, powered by a Junkers Jumo 211 piston engine in the nose. The BMW 003 has been selected to power the production versions, but is not yet ready for flight tests. The design, offering more internal fuel capacity than the He 280, is selected over its now 003-powered competitor for production.
  A Jumo 004 flies, fitted to a Messerschmitt Me 110
  The Daimler-Benz 007 axial-flow engine is tested, similar to Griffith's "contraflow" design that uses two contra-rotating compressor stages for added efficiency.
  The "production-quality" BMW 003 is first tested.
  March. The Rover W2B/26 experimental engine (STX) is first run, this was the straight-through design made by Rover without the knowledge of Whittle. This design was to be adopted by Rolls-Royce as the basis for their Derwent engine after they took over from Rover (by which time four more W2B/26 engines were under test).
  The British order a single-engined jet design from de Havilland
  July 18, 1942: The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first jet-powered fighter aircraft, flies for the first time under jet power.
  July: Frank Whittle visits the United States to help with General Electric's efforts to build the W.1. The engine is running soon after, known as the "General Electric Type 1", and later as the I-16, referring to the 1,600 lbf (7,100 N) thrust. They also start work on an improved version, the I-40, with 4,000 lbf (18 kN)  thrust.  The majority of United States jet engines from this time through the mid-1950s are licensed versions of British designs.
  Whittle returns to Power Jets and starts development of the improved Power Jets W.2/500 and /700 engines, so named for their thrust in kilograms-force (kgf).
  Westinghouse starts work on an axial-flow engine design, the WE-19.
  October: The Bell XP-59 flies, powered by a General Electric Type I-A (W.1).
  The Fieseler Fi 103 V-1 pulsejet powered "flying bomb" (cruise missile) flies for the first time.
  Armstrong Siddeley starts work on an axial-flow design, the ASX.
  December: After meeting held at a pub, Rover agrees to hand over the jet development to Rolls-Royce, in exchange for their Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory.
caption: The Me 262 flies for the first time in 1942, and would go on to become the first jet powered combat aircraft to enter service.
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