Frank Whittle
Frank Whittle in the 1920's
Frank Whittle was born on the first of june 1907, in Coventry, England, to Moses Whittle and Sara-Alice Garlick. From an early age Whittle demonstrated an aptitude for engineering and an interest in flying. At first he was turned down by the RAF but Determined to be a pilot, he overcame his physical limitations to be accepted into the RAF, where his abilities earned him a place on the officer training course at Cranwell. He excelled in his studies and became an accomplished pilot. There he formulated the concepts that led to the creation of the turbojet engine.
The Gloster Meteor and V-1 flying bomb
This is the newer gloster meteor, with two seats, one pilot, one gunner
The Gloster Meteor was the first British plane to fly with Whittle's turbojet engine, it was also the answer to defence against Nazi V-1 flying bombs in world-war-two. The flying bomb was a German machine designed to fly over the english channel using thrusters on it's rear end, when it reached London the thrusters would turn off, and it would dive into the heart of London and explode with a force great enough to destroy an airport runway. The Gloster meteor Mk1 was used to catch up with these bombs and knock them down into the sea. The mk2 had two seats and was used as a recon aircraft.
The Turbojet engine
The turbojet engine
The turbojet is the oldest kind of general-purpose airbrathing jet engine. Two engineers, Frank whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s.Turbojets consist of an air inlet, an air compressor, a combustion chamber, a gas turine (that drives the air compressor) and a nozzle.