Frank
Whittle, the son of a mechanic, was born in Coventry, England, on
1st June, 1907. He joined the Royal
Air Force as an apprentice in 1923. He showed outstanding
ability as a scientist and in 1929 took out a patent on a turbo-jet
engine. However, the Air Ministry rejected his ideas as impractical.
Whittle
studied at Cambridge University (1934-37)
before forming the Power Jets Company. The Royal
Air Force became more interested in Whittle's ideas in
1939 when they heard the news that Hans Ohain
in Nazi Germany had developed the
world's first jet plane, the HE 178.
At first, it was thought that Ohain must have stolen Whittle's ideas
but in fact they had both been working independently of each other.
Whittle's
jet-propelled Gloster E28 took its first flight on 15th May, 1941
and travelled at speeds of 350 mph. This was followed by the Gloster
Meteor that was used to intercept German V1
Flying Bomb. Power Jets Company was taken over by the British
government in 1944.
Whittle
retired from the Royal Air Force
in 1948 with the rank of air commodore. He was knighted and granted
a tax-free gift of £100,000 in recognition of his role in
developing the jet-engine. He wrote about his experiences in his
book, Jet: The Story of a Pioneer
(1953).
In 1977
Whittle was appointed research professor at the US Naval Academy
in Annapolis. Frank Whittle died in Columbia, Maryland, on 8th August,
1996.
(1)
Basil Embry met Frank Whittle while an
instructor at the Central Flying School in the 1920s.
It was during this time that I first met Frank Whittle, the designer
of the first jet engine. He came to Wittering on the instructors'
course, but he was also hard at work on his first jet engine, and
it happened that one of the instructors in my flight, Patrick Johnson,
was a qualified patent lawyer. They would sit for long hours in
my office, when the weather was unfit for flying, discussing the
principles of the new engine; and I believe Johnson drafted the
deeds of patent there. Little did I realise I was witnessing the
birth of one of the greatest inventions of modern times. I frankly
own I thought the idea of an aeroplane flying without a propeller
seemed crazy. Evidently I was not alone in this, since later when
it was suggested by the Cambridge authorities that Whittle should
remain there for an extra year to carry out engine research after
completing his engineering course, the Air Ministry would not agree.
Ironically enough, when the request was changed to research into
airscrew design, official permission was given.
