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Sir Frank Whittle



Sir Frank Whittle

Sir Frank Whittle
Sir Frank Whittle
Air Commodore, Royal Air Force
Producer of the First Practical Jet Engine
Born Coventry, England, 1 June 1907. Entered Leamington College on a scholarship at age eleven. Graduated Royal Air Force College as pilot officer 1928. Advanced degree Cambridge University. Evidenced an early interest in aircraft propulsion and received his first patent on a jet engine in 1930. By 1936 his designs were ready for prototype production and he patented the concept for the by pass jet engine.

Exigencies of World War II accelerated his efforts and the first flight of his engine in an experiment Gloster aircraft took place on May 15, 1941. Nearly forty years after man first ventured aloft, he had dramatically altered the course of aircraft and powerplant design. Honored throughout the world as the man who gave aviation the jet engine.
Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1977