Anobli for its work, “Sir Frank Whittle” (born on June 1st 1907, dead the August 9th 1996) was a British engineer. Officer of the Royal Air Force, he is the inventor of the engine which he patented on January 16th, 1930. The RAF was not convinced of the founded good of the principles defended by Whittle and its patent was not protected any more in 1935 because it did not pay the rights. But with two old of the RAF, it created a small structure the Power Jets Ltd and putting itself part-time it succeeds in building a first engine which turned on April 12th 1937. It was carrying many distinctions (OM, KBE, FRS, Hon FRAeS).

(to see a photograph of Frank Whittle making a speech in front of the employees of the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory (become meanwhile the Glenn Research Center of NASA) in the USA, in 1946, please consult Wikipedia in English language).

Towards the end of the Second world war, the searchs for Whittle led to the development of the most powerful engines until the end of the decade. Whittle and the German engineer Hans von Ohain (which had designed and patented a reaction engine in 1936 and to which it reproached for having stolen its idea to him) met after the war. Ohain could however convince it of the origin independent of its invention and they became then of good friends (see bonds).

Beginnings

Whittle had been born with Coventry in England. His/her father was mechanic. He left the college Leamington in 1923 and engaged in RAF. During its training to become aeronautical mechanic in the RAF (initially in Cranwell then with Halton), it did not cease working for the company “Model Aircraft” where it built counterparts whose quality drew the attention of its officer who regarded it as a mathematical genius.

It if was even impressed that it recommended it to follow a training of officer to the school of Cranwell (Lincolnshire) in 1926, rare thing for a Roturier in a military structure still very marked by the conscience of the classes. For Whittle it was the chance of its life, not so much in optics to become officer but especially because the formation included piloting. Only a percent of the apprentices finished usually the formation. Whittle however finished second of its class at 21 years in 1928 in the “academic” matters and with pilot ranking the “exceptional and above the average”.

One of the requirements of the academic cycle consisted in writing a report. Whittle decided to write to it his on the future developments in aeronautics, in particular the flight at high-speed and high-altitude (above 800 km/h). It showed that the improvements of the propeller engines by small stages had few chances to return creatures of habit the flights with such performance levels. It described on the contrary what was later the ancestor of the Reaction engine , i.e. a Piston engine providing compressed air to a Combustion chamber whose exhaust fumes would provide the push necessary to the displacement of the aircraft ( motorjet or thermojet in English), in other words, a system of “reheating” (or Post-combustion) fixed at an Engine spark-ignition ). The idea was not new, one spoke about it already in industry, but Whittle showed that because of rarefaction of the air, its effectiveness would increase with altitude. On a long-distance flight, a transatlantic connection in the example which it had chosen, the engine would function most of the time with high-altitude and its performances would exceed consequently those of the conventional engines.

Development of the reaction engine

Whittle continued to work with its project of engine after its studies hands gave up it when its calculations revealed that it would be as heavy as a conventional engine providing the same push. It is at this time that it had the idea to replace the piston engine by a turbine. Instead of using a piston engine to provide compressed air to the device of afterburning, a turbine could use part of the power provided by exhaust fumes and involve a Compresseur. The remaining push would be used to propel the apparatus.

In July 1926, Alan A. Griffith published a document on the compressors and the turbines, subject which he had studied with the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). It showed that such devices always had up to that point been employed in a swirling state and that the effectiveness of the blades of compressor would increase considerably if one gave them an aerodynamic form. It continued its demonstration to show how the addition of effectiveness of such compressors and turbines could make it possible to produce a reaction engine although it thought that the idea was not realizable and rather proposed to apply the idea to make an engine “Turbopropulseur”. At the time, the compressors used centrifugal compressors and the idea raised only little interest.

Whittle transmitted its new idea to the ministry for the Air. Having only little knowledge on the subject, it transmitted the document to the only person who had covered the subject, Griffith. This last seems to be convinced that the simplistic concept of Whittle could never reach the level of necessary effectiveness to be applied to an engine. After having raised an error in calculations of Whittle, he added that a compressor centrifuges would be too bulky to be used in aeronautics and that the exhaust fumes used directly would not provide the sufficient push. The RAF returned the comments to Whittle by saying that the concept was not realizable.

Other members of the RAF were not also categorical, in particular Johnny Johnson which it convainquit to make patent the idea in January 1930. The RAF not being interested by the concept, it did not declare secret, with the result that Whittle could preserve of it the intellectual property which in the contrary case would have fallen to the RAF. This refusal proved later to be an unhoped-for chance.

Meanwhile Whittle had joined the training cycle of the officers engineers of the RAF with Henlow (Bedfordshire) in 1932 then with Cambridge (Peterhouse) in 1934, obtaining its diploma in Mechanics in 1936 with the best note (cycle called Tripos).

The company''' Power Jets'''

The patent deposited by Whittle expired in 1935 because it could not pay the 5 pounds sterling for its renewal. A little later he was contacted by two old RAF, Rolf Dudley-Williams and James Tinling, which wished to push the development of its engine. With them three, they founded in 1936 the company Power Jets Ltd. with a bank loan of 2000 £. They began their work with an experimental engine in a factory of Rugby, Warwickshire pertaining to British Thomson-Houston (BTH), a company of steam turbines. The RAF always did not see any interest in the continuation of these efforts but although Whittle was always pilot, it was put of availability partial and authorized to work on this concept provided that it did not devote to it more than 6 hours per week.

To finance the development of the first engine called''' WU''' ('' Whittle Links'') represented a serious problem. Although this financing was private. The majority of the investors were held remotely of a project which seemed to be with half secrecy but the support of the RAF did not have. Something clochait: if the system were to go, then why the RAF finance it didn't? Once more, somebody was not as skeptic as the rest of the world and in October 1936, Henry Tizard, vice-chancellor of the imperial College of London (Imperial London College) and chair committee on aeronautical research (Aeronautical Research Committee) again sent details concerning the engine of Whittle to Griffith. Griffith had meanwhile started to carry out its project and, undoubtedly for not dépriser its own efforts, it gave this time a more positive opinion. It maintained its criticism relating to certain characteristics of the engine, seeming not to hold account owing to the fact that its performances with high-speed and high-altitude constituted the crucial point of the program.

But in spite of these problems, Power Jets could finish the development of the WU which made a first bench test the April 12th 1937. Tizard considered that it had several lengths in advance on any other modern engine and succeeds in raising the interest of the British ministry of the Air sufficiently to finance the development thanks to a contract of an amount of 6000 £ intended to carry out a version avionnable. However, one year was to be passed before the funds are not available, delaying of as much the development.

During this time, the tests of the WU continued, which showed an annoying tendency to pack. Work being dangereous because of nature, the development was transferred into 1938 from Rugby in a foundry to unused half of BTH to Ladywood close to Lutterworth in the Leicestershire. In March 1938, the WU carried out a successful test there. Although the potential of this type of engine had become obvious, the ministry continued to consider only the production of the piston engines.

During this time in Germany, Hans von Ohain which had developed a prototype in 1935, had already exceeded this stage and had started to produce a system intended to fly on the Heinkel He S3. There is little reason to believe that Whittle' S efforts would not cuts been At the same level gold more advanced had the Air Ministry taken has greater interest in the design. During the release of the Second world war in September 1939, Power Jets employed just 10 people and the efforts of Griffith to the RAE and Metropolitan Vickers were quite as modest.

Whittle suffered enormously from the stress resulting these tops and from these bottoms. To hold its rate/rhythm of work 16:00 /jour, it “sniffait” of the benzédrine during the day then took sleeping pills to sleep the night. It loses much and became irascible.

At the beginning of the war, the ministry inverts the priorities and re-examined the various projects in progress. About 1939, Power Jets could hardly pay its invoice of electricity when another visit of representatives of the ministry for the Air changed the course of the things. This time, Whittle could make turn the WU to full power during 20 minutes without problems. One of the Members of the Commission was the director of the scientific research H.E. Wimperis, which entirely left the demonstration convinced of the importance of the project.

A contract of development had immediately signed with Power Jets and an invitation to tender was launched near several companies to set up a line production able to provide 3000 engines in 1942. Power Jets not having any means of manufacture, the ministry for the Air proposed to distribute the contracts of development and manufacture between BTH, Vauxhall and Rover. Finally, only Rover was recipient with the contract the ministry proposed also a contract to carry out a simple cell and it was Gloster which gained the market.

Whittle had already thought of the possibility of adapting the very massive WU in a device avionnable and the new agreement related to a system called " Standard Whittle Supercharger W.1." However, Rover was in the incapacity to ensure the production of the W.1 engine before the cell of experimental Gloster is ready. Whittle then arranged an engine starting from recovered elements of the tests and called it the W.1X which made its first bench test on December 14th, 1940. This engine equipped the Gloster E.28/39 to carry out rolling tests and the apparatus made a first jump in the air on April 7th, 1941.

There exists a treating film of the first secret tests of E.28. One sees there citizens “lambda” alive close relations of the site interviewed by BBC 10 years later. They remember their amazement by seeing a plane flying without propeller and the question discussed in the advertizings of the area at that time: how that did it go?

A new study gave rise to the W.2 engine. Just like W.1, it was characterized by a “reversed flow”, i.e. the outgoing gases of the combustion chambers were first of all redirected forwards engine before entering the turbine. This made it possible “to fold up” the flow, the combustion chambers being laid out around the turbine, from where an important profit over the length of the engine.

Power Jets devoted also in May 1940 some time to the study of the W.2Y, a similar concept but presenting an only longitudinal flow, which on the one hand increased the length of the engine and caused a certain criticality of the driveshafts but simplified the general design. To reduce to the maximum the mass of the driveshaft, the W.2Y had a hollow tube whose diameter was almost equal to the disc of turbine with a hammering at each end on the level of the connections with the compressor and the turbine.

The ministry for the Air, languishing to obtain an operational jet, gave its green light to BTH to produce a twin-engine interceptor which became the Gloster Meteor. Meteor was to be equipped or with W.2 or the similar engine Halford H.1 (called " later; Goblin") but De Havilland decided to preserve all the engines Halford for their own concept, the De Havilland Vampire.

Rover

In 1941, Rover installed a laboratory for the team of Whittle and a line production in the abandoned factory of Barnoldswick like for its own engineers in Waterloo Mill, Clitheroe. It is there that Adrian Lombard tried to develop starting from W.2 a concept of a level of quality suited to the series production, disregarding combustion chamber to reversed flow of Whittle and by carrying out a body more lengthened and of simpler design. Work continued in Barnoldswick on the original idea of Whittle renamed W.2B/23, the concept of Lombard to him being baptized W.2B/26. Whittle was made indignant by this evolution, considering that all the efforts were to be centered on only one concept and this, as soon as possible.

Towards the end 1941, it became obvious that alliance between Power Jets and Rover did not function. Whittle was frustrated by the incapacity of Rover to provide parts of a level of quality “series” as by their haughty attitude (“one knows that better than you”) and more and more often raised the voice. Rover lost little by little its interest in the project following the delays and with the permanent reproaches of Power Jets.

Rolls-Royce

In 1940, Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce had met Whittle and had then presented it to the director of Rolls, Ernest Hives. Hooker directed to Rolls the division of the compressors which was very indicated to work on the turbine engines. Hives agreed to provide the essential parts to advance the project and they were engineers de Rolls who helped to solve the problems on the first engines. At the beginning of 1942, Whittle ordered from Rolls six engines, called WR.1 and identical to W.1.

The problems of Rover became a secrecy of Polichinel and Spencer Wilkes (Rover) met Hives and Hooker with the pub Swan and Royal close to the factory of Barnoldswick. They decided to exchange the factory of engines of Barnoldswick against that of engines of Tank S of Rolls with Nottingham. The agreement was ratified by a handshake. The exchange was done in fact on January 1st, 1943, although the official date of the transfer of property is later. Rolls closed soon the factory “parallel” of Rover to Clitheroe, although it had continued the development of the W.2B/26 there.

The rate/rhythm of the tests and the production passed at once to high speed. In December, Rover had tested the W.2B during a total of 37 H but during the next month, Rolls-Royce tested it during 390 h. the W.2B carried out its first test of 100 H with full power, that is to say 725 kgf or 7,11 kN) the May 7th 1943. The cell of the prototype of the Meteor was already finished and took off the June 12th 1943. Versions series started to leave chain in October, first of all under designation W.2B/23, then RB.23 (Rolls-Barnoldswick) and finally Rolls-Royce Welland. The factory of Barnoldswick was too small to produce there engines in series and it became again a simple research center under the direction of Hooker, while an other factory left ground to Newcastle-under-Lyme. The W.2B/26, renamed Rolls-Royce Derwent, inaugurated the new production line and replaced soon Welland, which made it possible to stop manufacture with fine Barnoldswick 1944.

In spite of delays (Hitler had initially required that the Messerschmitt 262 was to Me a bomber), the Luftwaffe preceded the 9 month old Great Britain. The Germans were to face enormous problems of supply light alloys resistant to the high temperatures and the engines with axial compressor designed by Anselm Franz) had one average lifespan of 10-25 H, a little more with the hands of an experienced pilot and some exploded sometimes with the first starting. The engines which equipped Meteor were thus much more reliable. The corresponding British engines had a average Lifespan between revisions (MTBO) of 150 H, a double Taux thrust and a specific Consommation lower by half. Towards the end of the war, all the companies of Great Britain worked on concepts of reaction engines inspired by that of Whittle or manufactured it directly under license. During the War of Korea, the American F-86 Saber been driven by engines with axial flow inspired by that of Franz fought Mig-15 Mikoyan-Gourevitch equipped with copies of the engine Nene of Rolls Royce plc. Towards the end of the year 1950 however, the majority of the engines installed on the hunters étatsuniens or Soviet did not apply already any more the principle of Whittle but functioned with an axial flow.

Later developments

Whereas the development of the W.2 engine advanced without tears, Whittle was sent on mission to Boston (Massachusetts) about the middle of the year 1942 to help the program of engine of General Electric. GE, the leading vendor of Turbocompresseur S of the United States was an ideal candidate to quickly launch the production of reaction engines. An airframe simplified, realized by Bell Aircraft Corporation and been driven by an engine W.2B made a flight in autumn 1942 under designation Bell P-59 Airacomet.

Work of Whittle at Power Jets continued and led to the improved engines W.2/500 and W.2/700. Both were instrumented to be tested on of Meteor, W.2/700 being equipped later with a system of Postcombustion (also called “reheating” in the jargon of the trade) as well as experimental device of water injection intended to cool the engine and making it possible to increase the power without the turbine founding. Whittle studied also the principle of the axial flow recommended by Griffith and designed engine L.R.1. Other developments included the use of blowers which brew a more important mass of air, either upstream (entered of air) as on the Turboréacteur S with double modern flow, or downstream (at exit of conduit), more unusual provision but a little simpler to realize.

Work of Whittle had caused a small revolution in the British motor mechanics and even before E.28/39 did not fly, the majority of the companies had already created their own departments of research. In 1939, Metropolitan- Vickers launched a project to develop a Turbopropulseur with axial flow but modified the concept later on to make a pure reaction engine of it baptized Metrovick F.2. Rolls-Royce had already copied W.1 to manufacture the WR.1 (less powerful) but stopped working on this project after having begun again the research results of Rover. The company De Havilland had launched in 1941 a project of jet fighter called first of all “Spider Crab”, then later Vampire with an engine house, the Goblin (Halford H.1) of Frank Halford. Armstrong Siddeley had also developed a concept with axial flow, ASX but followed later the opposite advance of Vickers and made of it a turbopropeller, the Python.

All industry working on its own projects, Power Jets was not any more able to make benefit. In April 1944, Power Jets was nationalized and became National Gas Turbine Establishment on the experimental site of Ladywood. It amalgamated in 1946 with divisions of RAE within the framework of a reorganization.

Post-war period

Whittle, private of rights to vote, gave up what remained of Power Jets in 1948. Socialiste of long time, the experiment lived through the nationalizations made it change opinion and it made countryside for the conservative party, in particular in favor of his friend Dudley Williams, director of Power Jets, and elected later appointed of Exeter. It left also the RAF, complaining about health issues, with the rank of Air Commodore (Commodore of the air). A little later it accepted the sum of 100.000 pounds sterling of the royal commission of reward of the inventors ('' Royal Commission one Awards to Inventors''), partly intended to compensate it to have given the totality of its shares in Power Jets at the time of the nationalization. It was high with the rank of Knight about the British Empire ('' Knight off the Order off the British Empire'', KBE) the same year.

It integrated then BOAC like adviser technical for the gas turbines. He travelled then during several years to supervise the development projects of engines in several countries of which the USA and Canada, in Asia and in the Middle East. He left the BOAC in 1952 and worked the following year with his memories Jet: The Story off has Pioneer . It was decorated this year by the Royal Society off Arts with the medal Albert Medal.

It turned over to work in industry in 1953 as specialist in engineering in a subsidiary company of the company Shell. It developed to with it a new type of motorized Trépan mû by a turbine actuated by the mud pumped under pressure in the well of drilling which was used as lubricant. Drilling is normally carried out by means of tubes fixed one at the other and actuating the trepan by their own rotation, the concept of Whittle implied that one did not need more to have a solid connection mechanical with the superficial structure, which made it possible to use lighter pipings.

Whittle left Shell in 1957 but this project was taken again in 1961 by Bristol Siddeley Engines, which developed the Bristol Siddeley Whittle Tools to continue the development of the concept. Rolls Royce acquired Bristol Siddeley in 1966 but the financial pressure and the bankruptcy due to the going beyond of costs of the project of engine RB211 caused the slow death of the device of drilling by turbine (turbo seed-planting drill) of Whittle. The idea was taken up at the end of the years 1990 when it was combined with the device of spiral piping in only one part (continuous coiled pipe), making it possible to make uninterrupted drillings under any angle. This type of drilling makes it possible to reach a hydrocarbon pocket to the vertical then to incline itself on the side to accelerate pumping.

Whittle emigrated in the United States in 1976 and accepted the following year the station of “NAVAIR Research Professor” with the academy of navy US Naval Academy of Annapolis. Its research related primarily to the study of the Boundary layer then it worked part-time of 1978 has 1979. That enabled him to write a work on the thermodynamics of the gas turbines. It is at that time that it met Hans von Ohain which worked then with Wright-Patterson air base. They exchanged their points of sights and Ohain could convince that it had not pirated the idea of Whittle.

(A source locates this meeting in 1966 - to see external bonds) It became friendly and made rounds together through the United States. In 1991, von Ohain and Whittle accepted the price Charles Stark Draper in reward of their work on the reaction engines.

Private life

Frank Whittle had married Dorothy Lee in May 1930 and they had two wire. This marriage was dissolved in 1976 and Whittle married Hazel Hall. He died the August 9th 1996 with Columbia (Maryland).

Monuments and commemorations

Several monuments perpetuate the memory of Whittle:

Sources (translation of WP in and of )

  • John Golley, Frank, Sir Whittle, Bill Gunston (1997). Genesis off the Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention off the Jet Engine . Crowood Near. ISBN 1-85310-860-X.
  • David S Brooks (1997). Vikings At Waterloo: Wartime Work one the Whittle Jet Engine by the Rover Company . Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust. ISBN 1-872922-08-2

External bonds

  • News carryforward - Memorial for University off Cambridge Student who Invented The Jet Engine
  • More butt Frank Whittle.
  • More butt Frank Whittle and the old jet At the “Royal Air Force History” website

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