Sir Frank Whittle
1907-1996
English Aviation Engineer
Sir Frank Whittle was responsible for one of the most important inventions to come out of World War II—a machine that, like the computer, arrived on the scene late and only came to prominence in the postwar years: the jet engine. It is a distinction Whittle shares with someone he never worked with, German engineer Hans von Ohain (1911-1988), who simultaneously built a jet engine for the German war effort.
Whittle was born in Coventry, England, on June 1, 1907. His father, a machinist, was also an inventor, and in 1916 the elder Whittle went into business for himself as director of the Leamington Valve and Piston Ring Company. His young son helped out at the factory, where he gained considerable experience with the mechanics of machinery.
Young Frank found little to capture his attention in school, where the subjects that most interested him—astronomy, engineering, and other sciences—were not on the curriculum. In secondary school he became intrigued with aeronautics, and after graduation this led to his joining the Royal Air Force (RAF). Because he was only five feet tall, the RAF very nearly refused to accept Whittle, but such was his record of service that after three years of rigging aircraft, he was accepted to the RAF College at Cramwell as a cadet. During his off time, he participated in the Model Aircraft Society, which he later credited with greatly expanding his knowledge of flying.
After he joined the 111 Fighter Squadron in 1928, Whittle became intrigued with the central problem facing the aircraft industry at that time: overcoming the limitations that both propellers and piston engines placed on altitude and speed. At high altitudes, the air was too thin to properly engage propellers, nor could a piston engine continue to run on the meager oxygen content of high-altitude air. After considering the problem, Whittle proposed a means of doing away both with propellers and pistons by using a turbine engine. The turbine could compress the thin oxygen of the upper stratosphere, combine it with fuel, and ignite it, and the expanding gases would result in a jet blast that would propel the craft.
Instead of being applauded, Whittle met with resistance and objections, chief among them the fact that the RAF possessed no materials that could withstand the heat and stress created by a jet engine. Whittle persevered, however, and eventually found a group of outside backers with whom he formed a corporation called Power Jets in 1936. By April 1941, more than 18 months after the beginning of World War II in Europe, Whittle was ready to test his W.1 jet engine.
On May 15, 1941, an RAF pilot took up the Gloster-Whittle E28/29 aircraft, created by Whittle, for a 17-minute flight. During that time, the aircraft reached a speed of 370 miles per hour (592 km/hour)—unheard-of at the time—at an elevation of 25,000 ft (7,620 m). Duly impressed, the British government supported Power Jets in the process of refining the engine and aircraft in time to begin production in June 1942.
In 1943 Rolls-Royce took over Power Jets, and in the following year Great Britain nationalized it. Only in 1944 did jets reach the skies over Britain, when the Meteor I helped defend the island against German dictator Adolf Hitler's last-gasp bombardment with V-1 rockets. By then it was clear that the Allies would win the war with or without the jet, and enthusiasm waned among Whittle and his colleagues. Whittle himself left the company in 1946.
During the remaining half-century of his life, Whittle accepted a number of honors and awards, among them knighthood in 1948. He had married Dorothy Lee of Coventry in 1930, and they had two sons; they were divorced in 1976. Whittle served as technical consultant for a number of firms, and following his divorce moved to the United States. There he married a second wife, Hazel, and went to work developing jets for the U.S. Navy. He died at his home in Columbia, Maryland, on August 8, 1996, aged 89.
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