There was no single first jet plane: experimental flights, operational fighters, combat missions and airline service mark different milestones. These 11 aircraft trace the Jet Age from early test machines to the first jetliner in passenger service. “Coolest” is an editorial choice, based on historical importance, distinctive design and influence—not an objective ranking.
What counted as an early jet plane?
The shift from piston engines to jet propulsion happened across several countries and over more than a decade. A prototype’s first flight did not mean it was ready for combat; an aircraft entering service did not necessarily fight; and the first jetliner flight was not the same as the start of passenger service. The distinctions matter when comparing these aircraft.
The profiles below include experimental aircraft, fighters and an airliner. Where a date or figure is included, it is tied to the milestone and source that establish it.
11 notable aircraft from the early Jet Age
1. Heinkel He 178
The He 178 represents the experimental beginning of jet-powered flight. It was a research aircraft, not an operational fighter: its significance lies in demonstrating the new kind of propulsion in an airplane. That makes it an essential starting point in the story, even though the later combat aircraft were far more visible.
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2. Bell XP-59A Airacomet
The XP-59A belongs to the early U.S. experimental effort to develop jet aircraft. Its prototype status is the important distinction: it was part of the transition toward American jet fighters, not a frontline combat aircraft in the way later production fighters were.
3. Gloster E.28/39
The E.28/39 was the aircraft associated with the first flight of Frank Whittle’s jet engine in 1941, according to the Jet Age Museum. It was a test aircraft, built to prove a propulsion concept rather than to serve as a fighter. Its importance is therefore technological: it helped turn jet propulsion from an engineering idea into a flying system.
4. Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe
The Me 262 was the world’s first operational jet fighter, according to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. It had two Junkers Jumo 004 B turbojets and four 30 mm cannon; the museum gives its top speed as approximately 540 mph. Its first flight, on 18 April 1941, used a piston engine. Its first takeoff under jet power followed on 19 July 1942.
The Smithsonian records 1,443 Me 262s completed and estimates that approximately 300 saw combat. Its speed and armament made it a landmark, but they did not remove the practical constraints of engine development, airfields and Germany’s worsening strategic position. The museum cautions against reducing delays in fighter deployment to Hitler’s bomber order alone: engine development was a major factor.
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5. Gloster Meteor
The Meteor was Britain’s first jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to engage in Second World War combat operations, according to the Jet Age Museum. It first flew in 1943 and began operations with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The museum’s wording is useful for keeping the milestones straight: “The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations with No. 616 Squadron RAF.”
The Meteor F3 was intended for interception against the Me 262, but the two types did not meet in combat. The Jet Age Museum says 210 F3s were produced and that the type was introduced in Belgium in January 1945; it was used mostly for reconnaissance and air-to-ground support. Those details make the Meteor’s wartime role more nuanced than a story of Allied jets duelling directly with the German fighter.
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6. Lockheed XP-80 Lulu-Belle
The XP-80 was an experimental prototype, not the operational fighter that followed. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum identifies Lulu-Belle as the prototype for the P-80 Shooting Star and records its first flight on 8 January 1944. Testing the XP-80 helped inform tactics against the Me 262. The distinction between prototype and service aircraft is central: the XP-80 tested the design, while the later P-80 became a frontline fighter.
7. Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
The P-80 was the first operational turbojet fighter produced in the United States, according to the Smithsonian. It grew out of the XP-80 program but should not be treated as interchangeable with Lulu-Belle: the XP-80 was the test prototype, while the P-80 was the production aircraft that entered frontline service.
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8. de Havilland Vampire
The Vampire is one of the early postwar jet fighters in this group. Its place in the story illustrates that the first generation of jets was not a single design family: countries developed different aircraft as they adapted jet propulsion to practical military roles. The source material available here does not establish a specific Vampire variant or date, so this profile does not assign one.
9. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters. The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command says it first test-flew in December 1948, production began in 1949, and the Soviet Union built about 12,000, with another 6,000 produced abroad. Its swept wing belongs to a broader postwar effort to make jet fighters effective at higher speeds.
In Korea, the MiG-15 became part of a defining contest with the F-86 Sabre. The Naval History and Heritage Command describes an early advantage over several Western fighters and says the F-86’s arrival in late 1950 brought the aircraft onto more equal terms. That is a more useful summary than declaring one universally superior: combat performance depended on aircraft versions and operational circumstances.
10. North American F-86 Sabre
The F-86A made its initial flight in October 1947 and was the U.S. Air Force’s first swept-wing jet fighter, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The museum identifies the F-86A and later E/F models as the principal U.S. opponents of the MiG-15 in Korea.
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The Sabre and MiG-15 make the clearest paired story in this list: both were swept-wing jets, and their Korean War encounter helped define public ideas about jet-versus-jet air combat. The available institutional accounts support comparing their design and service context, not treating contested victory claims as a simple scorecard.
11. de Havilland Comet
The Comet carried the Jet Age into commercial passenger travel. It made its maiden flight on 27 July 1949, according to the de Havilland Aircraft Museum. That was a prototype milestone, not the beginning of airline service. The first of eight Comet 1s built for BOAC began jet passenger service on 2 May 1952, flying from Heathrow to Johannesburg. The museum describes the Comet as the world’s first jet-powered airliner.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the early jets changed aviation
These aircraft show why “the first jet” is an incomplete answer. The He 178 and E.28/39 belong to the experimental story; the Me 262 and Meteor show how jets entered wartime service; the XP-80 and P-80 mark the difference between a prototype and an operational fighter; the MiG-15 and F-86 represent the swept-wing combat era; and the Comet brought jet propulsion to scheduled passenger travel.
The transition was not instant. New engines brought new engineering and operational demands, and each milestone—first flight, jet-powered flight, squadron operations, combat use or passenger service—describes a different step in the Jet Age.
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