Frank Whittle (Whittle's World)

Sir Frank Whittle was a Royal Air force officer and one of the key creators of the turbojet engine. He in 1930 started work with the air ministry and created the first turbojet engine and went onto develop several successive engines which would eventually become the Rolls Royce Lune which would go onto power the Hawker Cyclone. An RAF officer, he taught mechanical theory and gained practical experience in workshops. He studied to become an officer at Cranwell. While writing his thesis he made the fundmental concepts for the turbojet engine and then went onto work at the Air Ministry on the project. Combined with A.A Griffith and others at the Air Ministry they created the first operation turbojet engines in 1932 and in 1934 creating the first turbojet powered aircraft followed on by work at Rolls Royce over the next four years to create the Rolls Royce Lune which would go onto to be the engine in the infamous Hawker Cyclone. During World War II, he contuined to work for Rolls Rocye and the Air Ministry.

Early life and career
Whittle was born in 1907 and his father was an engineer. He joined the RAF as an apprentice mechanic. In 1926 after having done well during his apprenticeships he was recommended for officer training at Cranwell. He worte his thesis at Cranwell on potential aircraft design developments and described the motorjet.

After graduating as a flying officer second in his class, he contuined work on his thesis and gae up on the idea of the motorjet but decided that he wanted to substitue it for a turbine instead of a piston engine. He became an instructor for the RAF. Whittle's idea for a turbine engine attracted the attention of Pat Johnson who took the idea to their commanding officer.

With the encouragement of Whittle's commanding officer, Whittle sent his idea to the Air Ministry for a turbine powered engine. A.A Griffith had in 1926 published a paper about compressors and turbines and the shape of blades while at the RAE. So when in 1930 Whittle's paper was recieved by the Air Ministry they passed onto Griffith being the only man with knowledge on the subject. Instead of rejecting the paper, Griffith supports the idea and agrees with the paper and under his advice the Air Ministry classifies the project and has Frank Whittle moved to the RAE to work with Griffith on the design.

Royal Aircraft Establishment
Whittle arrived at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in 1930 and began work on designing a jet engine. The Air Ministry provided the team with enough funds to start trying to create a practical engine. The team created the first operational jet engine, the Turbine Unit, comprising a centrifugal compressor, a combustion chamber, turbine and propelling nozzle and it started running on 15 April 1932 but was strictly restricted to labatory conditions. The AIr Ministry's review was favourable and they asked the team for a flyable version.

The team went onto make another 4 engine prototypes over the next 2 years before making the first engine capable of powering an aircraft. The Gloster E.28/25 flew with a jet engine on the 26th July 1934 at RAE Farnborough. While the engine produced high power, it had poor fuel effiency compared to the piston engine. With it's success the team was told by Henry Tizard to design an engine for a two engined interceptor