The HeS 30 ''(HeS - Heinkel Strahltriebwerke)'' was an early
jet engine
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...
, originally designed by
Adolf Müller at
Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
, but eventually built and tested at
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with ...
. It was possibly the best of the "Class I" engines, a class that included the more famous
BMW 003
The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II.
...
and
Junkers Jumo 004
The Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use, and the first successful axial compressor turbojet engine. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany late in World War II, powering the Mess ...
. As it started somewhat later than these two designs, and was thus expected to enter service later, the ''Reichluftfahrtministerium'' (
RLM) ordered Heinkel to stop work on the design and put their efforts into more advanced designs.
The HeS 30 was designed before the RLM introduced standardized naming for their engine projects. It was assigned the official name 109-006, and it was sometimes called the HeS 006 as a short form. Development ended just as these names were being introduced, so "HeS 30" naming is much more common.
Design and development
The move
Herbert Wagner started engine developments at Junkers in 1936, placing Adolf Müller in overall charge of the project. In 1938 Junkers purchased
Junkers Motoren
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
(Jumo), formerly a separate company. In October 1939, under pressure from the RLM, Junkers moved all their engine work to Jumo's
Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...
factories from their main plants at
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
. Müller would have ended up in a subordinate role after the move, but decided to leave instead. He and about half of the original Junkers team were scooped up by
Ernst Heinkel
Dr. Ernst Heinkel (24 January 1888 – 30 January 1958) was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, ''Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' in Nazi Germany, and member of the Nazi party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, th ...
and moved to his primary ''Heinkel-Nord'' campus in
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
-Schmarl, where
Hans von Ohain
Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (14 December 191113 March 1998) was a German physicist, engineer, and the designer of the first operational jet engine. Together with Frank Whittle he is called the "father of the jet engine". His first test unit ran ...
was working on the
Heinkel HeS 3
The Heinkel HeS 3 (HeS - ''Heinkel Strahltriebwerke'') was the world's first operational jet engine to power an aircraft. Designed by Hans von Ohain while working at Heinkel, the engine first flew as the primary power of the Heinkel He 178, pilote ...
engine.
Of all of the designs Müller brought with him, the HeS 30 was simplest and easiest to build. Müller had already built a test engine while still at Junkers, however it was only able to run at about half its designed RPM, which limited compression and required a continuous supply of external compressed air. Junkers abandoned the design when Müller left, choosing to develop the Jumo team's simpler design instead. Müller promised Heinkel he could have the engine up and running on a testbed within one year of completing the move, a promise he was ultimately unable to keep.
Key to the engine's working cycle was an
axial compressor
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
of then-unique construction. Most German engines of the era had the stators do all of the actual compression, with the rotors speeding up the air for them to compress. In the HeS 30, the rotor and stators shared compression about 50-50, a design originally provided by Rudolph Friedrich of Junkers. Overall the engine had a five-stage compressor providing air at a
compression ratio
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
of 3:1 to ten
flame can
A flame (from Latin ''flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they a ...
s, which powered a single-stage turbine. The turbine was also unique for the era, using a set of guide vanes that were adjustable for various operating speeds. Like most German axial engines, the engine also included a variable-geometry exhaust cone to lower back pressure when starting, but used an electric starter motor instead of the Riedel piston engine built into both the BMW 003 and Jumo 004.
Argument and resignation
Due to the move, it took considerable time for the team to restart work on the design, and even though three experimental engines were ordered as the 109-006 in 1939, it was not until May 1942 the first engine actually ran. In addition to problems with the move, the compressor turned out to provide more mass flow than initially suspected, forcing a redesign of the turbine. To add to the problems, Müller and Heinkel had an argument in May that eventually led to Müller resigning.
Work on the engine continued, and by October it was running at full speed. Of all of the early engines, the HeS 30 was by far the best design. It produced a thrust of 860 kg (1,895 lb), almost equidistant between the BMW 003's 800 kg (1,780 lb) and the Jumo 004's higher 900 kg (1,980 lb), but weighed only 390 kg (860 lb), providing a much better
power-to-weight ratio
Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...
than the dry weights of either the 003 at 562 kg (1,240 lb) or the 004 at 720 kg (1,585 lb). The HeS 30 concept also had better
specific fuel consumption and was also smaller in cross-section. It has been said its overall performance was not matched until 1947.
Cancellation
Helmut Schelp
Helmut Schelp was the director of advanced engine development at the RLM's T-Amt technical division leading up to and during World War II. He used his office to fund a widespread program in jet engine development, which led to many of the engine c ...
, in charge of engine development at the RLM, refused to give Heinkel a production contract, an event Hans von Ohain claims brought Ernst Heinkel near tears. Schelp noted that while the design was excellent, BMW and Jumo were so far ahead they simply did not need another "Class I" engine – something that would prove ironic in another two years when both of those engines were still not operational. It also appears he had some misgivings about the compressor arrangement, but if this was the case it was never official. He also cancelled von Ohain's
Heinkel HeS 8
The Heinkel HeS 8 (prefix being an abbreviation for "Heinkel Strahltriebwerke 8" - ''Heinkel Jet Engine 8'') was an early jet engine designed by Hans von Ohain while working at Heinkel. It was the first jet engine to be financially supported by ...
at the same time.
Instead of yet another Class I engine, Schelp asked Heinkel to continue work on a Class II engine of about 1,300 kg thrust, which would be needed for reasonably sized single-engine
fighters
Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to:
Combat and warfare
* Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict
* Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...
, and as a useful addition to twin-engine
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s. Thus work on the HeS 30 and HeS 8 ended, and Heinkel turned, grudgingly, to the
Heinkel HeS 011
The Heinkel HeS 011 or Heinkel-Hirth 109-011 ''(HeS - Heinkel Strahltriebwerke)'' was an advanced World War II jet engine built by Heinkel-Hirth. It featured a unique compressor arrangement, starting with a low-compression impeller in the intak ...
, which would not enter production before the war ended. The remains of Müller's team were then moved to the
Heinkel-Hirth
Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet eng ...
plants to work on the new engine.
Starting some time in 1940 or '41, the basic mechanical layout of the HeS 30 was also used on an experimental constant-volume engine known as the
Heinkel HeS 40
The Heinkel HeS 40 ''(HeS - Heinkel Strahltriebwerke)'' was an experimental constant-volume jet engine designed by Adoph Müller's team at Heinkel starting some time in 1940 or 41. It was based on the mechanical layout of the Heinkel HeS 30, HeS 3 ...
.
Specifications
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Spanish-language site with HeS 30 engine details
{{RLM jet/rocket designations
Heinkel aircraft engines
1940s turbojet engines