picture 88713

Only two examples of the He 178 were ever built, and both were destroyed during the war. Therefore, with few high-quality photographs existing of either of them (and none in colour), their true appearance is, to some extent, a matter of guesswork. It appears that both aircraft were test-flown in an unpainted state, and were subsequently exhibited in this fashion also. This artwork depicts the V2, which never flew under its own power. The second aircraft introduced wider-span straight tapered wings (the first prototype had elliptical trailing edges) and had a fully retractable undercarriage.