Famous inventors
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"Frank Whittle." Technology, Famous inventors, Q-files Encyclopedia, 16 Mar. 2026.
https://www.q-files.com/technology/famous-inventors/frank-whittle.
Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.
Frank Whittle 2026. Technology, Famous inventors. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from
https://www.q-files.com/technology/famous-inventors/frank-whittle
Technology, Famous inventors, s.v. "Frank Whittle," accessed September 13, 2026.
https://www.q-files.com/technology/famous-inventors/frank-whittle
Frank Whittle
Sir Frank Whittle (1907–96) was an English air officer and engineer, best known for inventing the jet engine. Whittle's engines were developed some years earlier than those of the German engineer Hans von Ohain (1911–98) who was the designer of the first jet engine to go into operation, the Heinkel He-178. To begin with, jet engines were used to power military planes, but after World War II they were fitted to larger passenger planes and so launched the modern era of international air travel.
High-altitude propulsion
While still a young pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF), Whittle realised that, in order for planes to achieve long ranges and high speeds they would need to fly at high altitudes, where air resistance was much lower.
In 1929 Whittle proposed using a fan enclosed inside the plane's fuselage to generate the fast flow of air needed to propel a plane at high altitude. A piston engine would use too much fuel, so Whittle chose a gas turbine engine—a type of engine that had already been invented—instead. The British Air Ministry were not interested in his idea, so Frank Whittle patented his turbojet engine himself in 1930.
Turbojet
In Whittle's turbojet engine, air flowed through a compressor before being ignited, creating a high-temperature flow that both powered the turbine (driving the compressor) and blasted out the rear of the engine producing forward thrust. Using newly available steel alloys that were both strong and lightweight, Whittle built a prototype (working model) and carried out successful tests in a laboratory in 1937.
First flight
Delays in funding from the Air Ministry—essential to the engine's development—hampered progress in producing a working jet aircraft. Meanwhile, a rival design by the German Hans von Ohain had taken to the air by the time World War II broke out in 1939. The first test flight of Whittle's jet aircraft, the Gloster E28/39, was made on 15th May 1941. An American plane using the new jet engine came into operation in 1942.
Consultant: Dave Hawksett
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