Ernst Heinkel

Ernst Heinkel (1888-1958) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer, born in Grunbach in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, who founded the Heinkel Flugzeugwerke aircraft company in 1922. His company built the Heinkel He 178, the first turbojet powered aircraft in the world, which flew on August 27, 1939, and the Heinkel He 176, recognized as the first rocket powered aircraft. During the Second World War his factories produced the He 111, He 59 and He 115 aircraft for the Luftwaffe, and the Nazi government designated him a Wehrwirtschaftsfuhrer, a defense industry leader, and awarded him the German National Prize for Art and Science in 1938; he was a member of the Nazi Party and his company used forced Jewish labor during the war, although he had earlier criticized the regime persecution of Jews. After the war, when aircraft production was restricted, he adapted his factories to build scooters, mopeds and bubble cars. He died in Stuttgart in 1958. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/