Today’s jet aircraft are impressive. French, American, Russian and English fighter jets have the capability to fly several times faster than sound. Passenger transport has been revolutionized, with the capability to carry hundreds of passengers speedily and efficiently over long distances.
How has this become possible? The answer lies in the depths of aviation history, with two men, who made the entire endeavor possible. They are Dr. Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle.
Ohain and Whittle worked separately from one another, without knowledge of the other’s attempts at the same goal, and spent the near entirety of the 1930’s in developing jet technology. Whittle flew his first prototype in 1941, and Ohain managed to do it in 1939.
Let’s begin with Frank Whittle’s journey to success. In 1928, he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot, and by 1931 received status a test pilot. By then, he had already formulated ideas about how jet engines would work, but he needed funds to begin research and construction on the project. In the early 1930’s he tried, without success, to attract interest in the project from the government, and was thus forced to pursue it with resources from his own pocket.
However, he did receive his first patent in turbojet propulsion in January of 1930.
Five years later, in 1935, Whittle was successful in acquiring private financial backing to begin construction on the first prototype. His jet engine consisted ot a single stage centrifugal compressor, coupled to a single stage turbine, was eventually tested successfully in 1937, in laboratory conditions. Despite the fact that it did not fly, the event was significant in the demonstration of the feasibility of the use of turbojets in aircraft.
In 1939, a few months before the breakout of the Second World War, Whittle received a contract for one of his engines, which was to be used in an experimental aircraft, built especially for the purpose by the Cloucester Aircraft Company. The monumental flight took place on May 15, 1941, and with it, propelled Frank Whittle into the pages of aviation history.
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No less remarkable is the account of Dr. Hans von Ohain. Graduatingwith a degree in physics from the University of Gottingen, Ohain went on to investigate his own design for jet propulsion, based on a principle of continuous combustion, and without a propeller. The idea first occurred to him in 1933, and tin 1934, he produced a successful prototype.
Two years later, in 1936, he joined Ernst Heinkel in his effort to produce an operational jet engine. The undertaking was a success, and the prototype was successfully bench tested in 1937. By that time, Heinkel had been developing an air frame, capable of accommodating and withstanding the new piece of technology; the end result was the Heinkel He178, an experimental aircraft for the purpose. It first flew in 1939, on August 27, and just a bit less than two years in advance of Whittle.
The accomplishments of the above men show that perseverance, inspiration, and forward thinking are the qualities pioneers of technology have to push knowledge and application further outward. It was Ohain and Whittle, which gave the world jet engines, and with their contribution, the world today has become a much smaller place, allowing for the development of faster, more powerful aircraft, and later on, jet engines would also be the basis for pioneering space technology. Today, we continue to push the envelope, and it is with people, as inspired as Ohain and Whittle were, who will advance our knowledge forward.
Source: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljetengine.htm
