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Sir
Frank Whittle (1907 - 1996)
Frank
Whittle gave Britain the technology that turned the 20th century
into the jet age of international air travel - but the path to his
highflying place in history was not without turbulence.
A hero
can be defined as an illustrious fighter as well as a man admired
for noble qualities, great deeds or attempting great things.
Whittle
was all of these things, and a fighter in particular, with enemies
including an industrialist who tried to steal his ideas, lack of
funding, government interference and a military that lacked the
vision to back his ideas.
His
invention changed all our lives - making the world a smaller place
and playing a key role in the development of in the West's major
industry, aerospace.
Faster
and further
Interested
in engineering from childhood, Whittle's first attempt to join the
RAF failed because he was considered too short. He was accepted
as an apprentice on his third try in 1923 and qualified as a pilot
officer in 1928.
As
a cadet he wrote a thesis arguing that in order to to travel faster
and further, planes would need to fly at high altitudes where air
resistance is lower.
He
was still only 21 when he first put the idea of turbo-jet propulsion
- using a gas turbine to power a fan in the fuselage - to his bosses
at the Air Ministry.
 |
| Cheltenham's
Regent Arcade shopping centre now stands on the garage site
where Frank Whittle worked |
When
they were not interested he patented the idea himself in 1932 -
but had to let the patent lapse as he didn't have the cash to renew
it.
Whittle's
dream of jet travel stayed with him while he studied aero engineering
at Cambridge. In 1935 he got financial backing and set up a development
company, Power Jets, with Air Ministry approval.
After
years of trial, error and testing, his dream was finally realised
when Britain’s first jet-powered aircraft, the Gloster Aircraft
Company's E28/39 Pioneer, took off from Brockworth airfield on April
8th 1941.
Frank
Whittle spent hours tinkering with his invention in Cheltenham garage
on the site where the town's Regent Arcade shopping centre now stands.
Transforming
air travel
The
technology that was to transform air travel was embraced more quickly
in the US than in Britain, and the American XP-59A Aircomet was
airborne in October 1942, some time before the British Meteor, which
first flew in 1944.
Whittle,
however, always felt that with earlier support from his employers,
he could have supplied jet-powered planes for the Battle of Britain.
After
the war Power Jets was nationalised and responsibility for development
of the jet engine was passed to Rolls Royce, Armstrong Siddeley
and American manufacturers.
In
1948 Whittle retired from the RAF with the rank of Air Commodore,
after suffering a series of nervous breakdowns.
Frank
Whittle was knighted in 1976 and went to work in the United States
shortly afterwards. The following year he became a research professor
at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He was awarded the
Order of Merit in 1986 and died in 1996.
VOTE
FOR SIR FRANK WHITTLE
Sir
Frank joins four other local heroes voted by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ local radio listeners
and website visitors in the West.
They
are:
- David Hempleman-Adams, explorer and motivational speaker
(Swindon)
- William Henry Fox Talbot, photographer, philosopher
and classicist (Wiltshire)
- John James, businessman and philanthropist (Bristol)
- Michael Eavis, Glastonbury Festival organiser and farmer
(Somerset)
And
don't miss the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½1 documentary on the life and achievements of
Sir Frank Whittle, presented by Adam Hart-Davis, which will be screened
on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½1 on Sunday March 21, 2004.
Digital
satellite viewers from outside the West can watch on channel 956.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Radio Gloucestershire has organised a special public screening at
the University of Gloucestershire for those unable to watch as it
is broadcast.
If
you would like to comment on this or any other story in this section get in
touch at gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk |
The
votes are in and jet engine pioneer Sir Frank Whittle is the judges'
choice as the county's Local Hero. 
