Frank Whittle (1907 - 1996) was a British aeronautical engineer and Royal Air Force officer who invented the turbojet engine. [1] Working for years with little official backing, he designed and bench-tested the first practical jet engine, which powered the Gloster E.28/39 on its maiden flight in 1941. [1] His work opened the jet age and transformed both military and commercial aviation. [2]
Early life and education
Frank Whittle was born on 1 June 1907 in Coventry, England, into a working-class family; his father ran a small engineering workshop that gave him an early feel for machinery. [1] After repeated attempts he was accepted into the Royal Air Force as an aircraft apprentice in 1923, and his talent won him a cadetship at the RAF College Cranwell, where he qualified as a pilot officer. [1] He later read mechanical sciences at Peterhouse, Cambridge, strengthening the theoretical foundation that underpinned his engineering work. [2]
The turbojet engine
As a young officer Whittle argued that piston engines and propellers could never carry aircraft to the high speeds and altitudes he foresaw, and he proposed instead a gas turbine that generated thrust by expelling a jet of hot gas. [2] He filed his first patent for a turbojet design in 1930, but the Air Ministry showed little interest and he was unable to afford the renewal fee when it lapsed. [1] In 1936 he and several backers formed Power Jets Ltd to pursue the idea, and in April 1937 he successfully ran the first bench test of an experimental jet engine. [1]
Wartime development
Whittle's persistence eventually attracted official support as the approach of war raised the value of faster aircraft. His engine, the Power Jets W.1, powered the Gloster E.28/39, which made its first flight on 15 May 1941 and proved that jet propulsion was practical. [1] The programme led directly to the Gloster Meteor, the only Allied jet fighter to enter service during the Second World War. [2]
Later life and legacy
Power Jets was nationalised in 1944, a decision Whittle deeply resented, and he retired from the RAF in 1948 with the rank of air commodore, receiving a knighthood the same year. [1] He later emigrated to the United States, where he became a research professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. [1] Honoured with the Order of Merit and, in 1991, the Charles Stark Draper Prize shared with Hans von Ohain, Whittle is remembered as a principal inventor of the jet engine that reshaped aviation. [3] He died on 9 August 1996 in Columbia, Maryland. [1]
