Hans von Ohain

Hans von Ohain
Hans von Ohain in the 1970s
Born	Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (1911-12-14)14 December 1911 Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt German Empire
Died	13 March 1998(1998-03-13) (aged 86) Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Education	University of Göttingen
Occupation	Engineer (jet propulsion)
Spouse(s)	Hanny von Ohain
Children	4

Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (14 December 1911 – 13 March 1998) was a German physicist, the designer of the first operational jet engine. His first design ran in March 1937, and it was one of his engines that powered the world's first flyable all-jet aircraft, the prototype of the Heinkel He 178 (He 178 V1) in late August 1939. In spite of these early successes, other German designs quickly eclipsed Ohain's, and none of his engine designs entered widespread production or operational use.

Ohain started to develop his first turbojet engine designs independently during the same period that Frank Whittle was working on his own similar designs in Britain, and their turbojet designs are said by some to be an example of simultaneous invention. However, Frank Whittle was already working on his design in the late 1920s and openly patented the design in 1930, a full seven years before Ohain's design ran. Ohain's first jet engine, the Heinkel HeS 1, ran successfully in April 1937, the same month that Whittle's first engine, the Power Jets WU First Model, also ran successfully. Ohain's jet engine was the first to fly operationally within the Heinkel He 178 aircraft in 1939, which was followed by Whittle's engine with-in the Gloster E.28/39 in 1941. Operational jet fighter aircraft from both Germany and Britain entered operational use virtually simultaneously in July, 1944. After the war the two men met and became friends.

Born in Dessau, Germany, Ohain graduated PhD in Physics and Aerodynamics from the University of Göttingen, then one of the major centers for aeronautical research, having attended lectures by Ludwig Prandtl. In 1933, while still a student, he conceived what he called "an engine that did not require a propeller."

After receiving his degree in 1935, Ohain became the junior assistant of Robert Wichard Pohl, then director of the Physical Institute of the University. In 1936, while working for Pohl, Ohain registered a patent on his version of a jet engine, Process and Apparatus for Producing Airstreams for Propelling Airplanes. Unlike Frank Whittle's Power Jets WU design, Ohain's used a centrifugal compressor and turbine placed very close together, back to back, with the flame cans wrapped around the outside of the assembly.