Frank Whittle

Frank Whittle invented the turbojet and spent years being told it was impractical. Born in Coventry in 1907, the son of a mechanic and inventor, he was rejected twice by the RAF as too short before passing on a third attempt as an apprentice, and was selected for officer training on the strength of his ability. In 1928, aged twenty-one, he wrote a cadet thesis arguing that future aircraft would need to fly at high altitude and high speed, where piston engines and propellers become inefficient, and proposed gas turbine propulsion instead. He patented the turbojet in 1930. The Air Ministry examined it and concluded that it was impracticable, and the patent lapsed in 1935 because he could not afford the five pounds to renew it. He formed Power Jets Ltd in 1936 with two former officers and private backing, and ran the company while serving as a serving officer, on a small salary, testing engines that repeatedly ran away or disintegrated. Official support was minimal until 1939. The Gloster E.28/39 flew on 15 May 1941 with a Whittle engine, and the technology was passed to the United States, where General Electric built it. Hans von Ohain in Germany had reached the same conclusion independently and flew first, in 1939, with better funding. Power Jets was nationalised in 1944 and Whittle received £100,000 later; he suffered breakdowns from overwork and stress. He was knighted in 1948, moved to the United States, and died in 1996. Ohain and Whittle met after the war and became friends, lecturing together.

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