[WalterBright]

Of course Heinkel wanted to sell the jet to the government. But the fact remains that jet engines and jet aircraft were not developed with government research & development contract money.

Neither the US, British, nor German governments wanted anything to do with funding jet research until they saw flying jet airplanes.

Jet aircraft are a poor example of foresighted government research.

[vacri]

How did we get onto government money? No-one was talking about government funding until your second-last comment. You were saying that the first jet engine was tested before WW2. I said 'sure, four days before WW2, but nevertheless was significantly influenced by the events directly leading up to WW2'. Not sure why it matters whether the money was public or private.