History of the Jet Engine - Who Invented the Jet Engine? By Mary Bellis Updated August 29, 2016. Dr. Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle are both recognized as being the co-inventors of the jet engine. However, each worked separately and knew nothing of the other's work. Hans von Ohain is considered the designer of the first operational turbojet engine while Frank Whittle was the first to register a patent for the turbojet engine in 1930. Though Hans von Ohain was granted a patent for his turbojet engine in 1936, it was Ohain's jet that was the first to fly in 1939. It was't until 1941 that Whittle's jet first flew. Sir Frank Whittle was an English aviation engineer and pilot. The son of a mechanic, Frank Whittle joined the Royal Air Force as an apprentice. He joined a fighter squadron in 1928 and became a test pilot in 1931. The young officer was only 22 when he first thought to use a gas turbine engine to power an airplane.

While often regarded as the father of modern jet propulsion systems, Whittle tried unsuccessfully to obtain official support for study and development of his ideas. continue reading below our video Profile of the Wright Brothers He had to pursue his research on his own initiative and received his first patent on turbojet propulsion in January 1930. With private financial support, he began construction of his first engine in 1935. This engine, which had a single-stage centrifugal compressor coupled to a single-stage turbine, was successfully bench tested in April 1937. It was only a laboratory test rig that was never intended for use in an aircraft, but it did demonstrate the feasibility of the turbojet concept. The modern turbojet engine used today in many British and American aircraft is based on the prototype that Whittle invented. Whittle was associated with the firm Power Jets Ltd., which received a contract for a Whittle engine known as the W1 on July 7, 1939. This engine was intended to power a small experimental aircraft. In February of 1940, the Gloster Aircraft Company was chosen to develop the aircraft to be powered by the W1 engine known as the Pioneer.

The historic first flight of the Pioneer took place on May 15, 1941, with Flight Lieutenant P. E. G. Sayer as pilot. Born: June 1, 1907, Coventry, Warwickshire, England Died: Aug. 8, 1996, Columbia, Md., U.S. Doctor Hans Von Ohain was a German airplane designer who invented an operational jet engine. Hans Von Ohain obtained his doctorate in Physics at the University of Göttingen in Germany and then became the junior assistant to Hugo Von Pohl, director of the Physical Institute at the University. German aircraft builder Ernst Heinkel asked the university for assistance in new airplane propulsion designs and Pohl recommended his star pupil. At the time, Von Ohain was investigating a new type of aircraft engine that did not require a propeller. Only twenty-two years old when he first conceived the idea of a continuous cycle combustion engine in 1933, Von Ohain patented a jet propulsion engine design in 1934 that was similar in concept to that of Sir Frank Whittle but different in internal arrangement.

Von Ohain joined Ernst Heinkel in 1936 and continued with the development of his jet propulsion concepts. He successfully bench tested of one of his engines in September 1937 and a small aircraft was designed and constructed by Ernst Heinkel to serve as a test bed for a new type of propulsion system known as the Heinkel He178. The Heinkel He178 flew for the first time on August 27, 1939. The pilot on this historic first flight of a jet-powered airplane was Flight Captain Erich Warsitz. Von Ohain developed a second improved jet engine know as the He S.8A, which was first flown on April 2, 1941. Born: Dec. 14, 1911 , Dessau, Germany Died: March 13, 1998, Melbourne, Fla., U.S. History of the Jet Engine - Who Invented the Jet Engine? By Mary Bellis Updated August 29, 2016. Dr. Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle are both recognized as being the co-inventors of the jet engine.

However, each worked separately and knew nothing of the other's work. Hans von Ohain is considered the designer of the first operational turbojet engine while Frank Whittle was the first to register a patent for the turbojet engine in 1930. Though Hans von Ohain was granted a patent for his turbojet engine in 1936, it was Ohain's jet that was the first to fly in 1939. It was't until 1941 that Whittle's jet first flew. Sir Frank Whittle was an English aviation engineer and pilot. The son of a mechanic, Frank Whittle joined the Royal Air Force as an apprentice. He joined a fighter squadron in 1928 and became a test pilot in 1931. The young officer was only 22 when he first thought to use a gas turbine engine to power an airplane. While often regarded as the father of modern jet propulsion systems, Whittle tried unsuccessfully to obtain official support for study and development of his ideas. continue reading below our video Profile of the Wright Brothers He had to pursue his research on his own initiative and received his first patent on turbojet propulsion in January 1930.

With private financial support, he began construction of his first engine in 1935. This engine, which had a single-stage centrifugal compressor coupled to a single-stage turbine, was successfully bench tested in April 1937. It was only a laboratory test rig that was never intended for use in an aircraft, but it did demonstrate the feasibility of the turbojet concept. The modern turbojet engine used today in many British and American aircraft is based on the prototype that Whittle invented. Whittle was associated with the firm Power Jets Ltd., which received a contract for a Whittle engine known as the W1 on July 7, 1939. This engine was intended to power a small experimental aircraft. In February of 1940, the Gloster Aircraft Company was chosen to develop the aircraft to be powered by the W1 engine known as the Pioneer. The historic first flight of the Pioneer took place on May 15, 1941, with Flight Lieutenant P. E. G. Sayer as pilot. Born: June 1, 1907, Coventry, Warwickshire, England Died: Aug. 8, 1996, Columbia, Md., U.S.

Doctor Hans Von Ohain was a German airplane designer who invented an operational jet engine. Hans Von Ohain obtained his doctorate in Physics at the University of Göttingen in Germany and then became the junior assistant to Hugo Von Pohl, director of the Physical Institute at the University. German aircraft builder Ernst Heinkel asked the university for assistance in new airplane propulsion designs and Pohl recommended his star pupil. At the time, Von Ohain was investigating a new type of aircraft engine that did not require a propeller. Only twenty-two years old when he first conceived the idea of a continuous cycle combustion engine in 1933, Von Ohain patented a jet propulsion engine design in 1934 that was similar in concept to that of Sir Frank Whittle but different in internal arrangement. Von Ohain joined Ernst Heinkel in 1936 and continued with the development of his jet propulsion concepts. He successfully bench tested of one of his engines in September 1937 and a small aircraft was designed and constructed by Ernst Heinkel to serve as a test bed for a new type of propulsion system known as the Heinkel He178.

The Heinkel He178 flew for the first time on August 27, 1939. The pilot on this historic first flight of a jet-powered airplane was Flight Captain Erich Warsitz. Von Ohain developed a second improved jet engine know as the He S.8A, which was first flown on April 2, 1941. Born: Dec. 14, 1911 , Dessau, Germany Died: March 13, 1998, Melbourne, Fla., U.S. A genius betrayed: The man who invented the jet engine ignored by his country | Daily Mail Online A genius betrayed: The man who invented the jet engine ignored by his country By ROBERT HARDMAN Last updated at 23:49 07 December 2007 He was a giant of the 20th century - and we enjoy the fruits of his genius to this day. Here was a young man, who started life with few advantages beyond a loving family and a good brain. Having battled his way past social, academic and financial obstacles, he succeeded in creating something which changed the world - and shrank it too.

So, 100 years on from his birth, how does a proud and grateful nation honour his memory? Well, apart from unveiling a new statue near his Coventry birthplace earlier this year, Britain has shown a staggering reluctance to celebrate the centenary of Sir Frank Whittle, the man who invented the jet engine. Scroll down for more... A stamp? A bank note? Forget it. Other countries might have named a city - or at the very least an international airport - after a native son who had left such a profound mark on the world. Across Britain, however, Sir Frank is remembered by a ring road in Derby, a couple of roundabouts, six side streets and a university laboratory. There used to be a pub called The Jet And Whittle in Leamington Spa (where he grew up) but then someone decided to drop the Whittle. It is not as if the Government is allergic to retrospection. All year, ministers have been falling over themselves to mark 200 years of the abolition of slavery. Our broadcasters have happily devoted hours of airtime to celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act which legalised homosexuality. Other big events, though, have been strangely overlooked.

Were you aware, for example, that this year has been the 300th anniversary of a moderately interesting moment in our history: the creation of Great Britain? Aside from a £2 coin and a drinks party in January, the Government has managed to gloss over the Act of Union of 1707 and the birth of this country. The merger of England and Scotland, of course, does carry with it a certain amount of baggage. Gordon Brown and his colleagues can hardly celebrate 300 years of a Union which they have dragged to the brink of divorce. But what is wrong with poor Sir Frank? The man was a working-class hero who could have spared us the Battle of Britain and the Blitz if the British Establishment had been quicker to listen to him. As his centenary year draws to a close, the only memento which I can find is a commemorative DVD, Whittle - The Jet Pioneer, by quantafilms.com. It's an engaging portrait of a great life, featuring a lengthy interview with the man himself not long before his death in 1996. And it is quite a story, not that many people are likely to hear it any more.

The son of a toolmaker, Whittle had an early fascination with flight. His childhood heroes were the dashing aces of the early Royal Flying Corps and he went straight from school to the Royal Air Force's apprentice school at RAF Cranwell. He made such a mark that he was one of a handful picked out for the officer training college next door where he continued to excel as a pilot and an engineer. When not flying, he wrote a thesis on future developments in aircraft design in which he argued that if man was going to fly faster, he would have to fly at a greater altitude where the air was thinner. Whittle concluded that the conventional propeller would never be sufficient and that an entirely new sort of engine would be required. His arguments were so advanced that he was awarded 30 out of 30 for his work - even though the professor who marked it admitted that he did not really understand it. His thesis had raised a very important question. A year later, he had a brainwave which provided the answer. Everyone was still wondering how a conventional piston engine could make a conventional propeller go round and round more quickly. Whittle realised that you did not need the piston engine or the propeller at all.

Instead, you could use a gas turbine which would blast air out of a high-powered exhaust pipe at the back. It would be faster than anything in existence. It was his 'Eureka' moment. "It came out of the blue," he recalled. He had, effectively, dreamed up the turbojet - the early jet engine. But when the young RAF officer took his idea to the Air Ministry later in 1929, they were not sure what to make of it. They ran it past a senior boffin called A.A. Griffith who had already done some work on the subject. Whether he was misguided or simply disliked this young pup in uniform, Griffith gave the idea a thumbs down. As a result, the Air Ministry rejected Whittle's design as impractical and carried on ordering traditional planes with propellers. So Whittle took out a patent to protect his turbojet idea which was duly published by the Patent Office. Others saw its merits, however, and German diplomats in London wasted no time ordering copies of the patent. When the patent expired in 1935, Whittle could not even afford the £5 renewal fee.

Meanwhile, according to German prisoners interrogated after World War II, Whittle's plans were being circulated around Germany. The secret of an invention which might have stopped the war was well and truly out. The RAF remained supportive of their young genius, however, financing Whittle through Cambridge where, needless to say, he took a First Class degree in Mechanical Sciences. All the while, he was still designing the jet engine he knew would work. Finally, two friends helped him secure enough backing to start a company called Power Jets Ltd, and in April 1937 he fired up an experimental jet engine for the first time. In 1941, a Gloster E28 plane took off with a Whittle jet engine inside it - 12 years after he had first had the idea. Britain had taken the lead in what would be known as the jet age. Whittle had been proved right all along. Production of his jet engine could finally begin. By then, however, the Nazis - equipped with Whittle's original patent - had already beaten him into the air. In 1939, a German engineer called Hans von Ohain had built the first jet plane to take to the sky.

It was unreliable and could travel for only six minutes, but history had been made. Back in Britain, industry could see the commercial merits of Whittle's vision and there was no shortage of scheming and incompetence, notably by his supposed business "partners" at Rover. They were supposed to be manufacturing his new engines. In fact, they wanted to pinch his know-how. Eventually, Rover was dumped in favour of Rolls-Royce - still the world leader in jet engines - but the dithering meant that Whittle's jet would not actually be of any great use until the war was over. Until 1944, Whittle had worked in secret. But the Government was looking for public heroes and Whittle was suddenly outed as a national treasure whose secret weapon would help win the war. The reality was that he had been obstructed all the way. And then the Government nationalised Power Jets in 1944. Whittle was still making great advances and was working on the world's first supersonic plane. But, once again, Whitehall was not interested in pursuing his idea. With America now in the war and providing crucial men and matÈriel, Britain was providing scientific know-how in return.

All Whittle's research was handed over to the Americans and Britain's early lead in what would become one of the great post-war industries was simply surrendered. Suffering from nervous exhaustion, Whittle retired from the RAF in 1948. He left with the consolation of a knighthood and a tax-free thank-you of £100,000, before embarking on a career as a consultant to the new jet industry which he himself had created. Years later, the Queen would honour him personally by elevating him to the ranks of the Order of Merit, of which he was extremely proud. But there has always been a sense of that classic British tragedy - the brilliant inventor done down in his own land. "Dad was incredibly patriotic and loved any opportunity to jump into his RAF uniform," says his son, Ian Whittle, 73, himself a former RAF fighter pilot who went on to fly Cathay Pacific jumbo jets. "He certainly never grumbled about his financial situation.

But he was in no doubt that if Britain had researched his turbojet idea properly in 1929, its viability would have been recognised and we'd have had a jet fighter in time for the Battle of Britain." History is littered with what-ifs, of course. We will never know what a Whittle-powered jet Spitfire could have achieved in 1939. But it is safe to say that the Luftwaffe would probably not have picked a fight with it. Today, Ian Whittle's primary concern is to protect his father's memory from continued erosion. "It is now an accepted fact in America that my father did not invent the jet, but that he and von Ohain - who became an American citizen - co-invented it at the same time," he says. "Pretty soon, history will be rewritten to say that it was a German or American invention." Certainly, many engineering institutions now routinely describe von Ohain as one of the "inventors" of the jet. So would the Germans have flown that first jet if they hadn't pinched young Whittle's plans? "Certainly not.

It was Frank's invention and they just copied him," says one of the greatest test pilots in aviation history, Captain Eric Brown, late of the Fleet Air Arm. He should know. Not only has he flown more planes than anyone - 487 different types - but he was sent to Germany straight after the war to get hold of all the Nazis' aviation technology. "I interrogated von Ohain, who was very ambivalent about where he had got his ideas," says Capt Brown from his Sussex home. 'But his sidekick was utterly straight-forward about it. He said that Whittle's patent had been in every technical library in Germany even before the war. "I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that Frank Whittle was the real inventor of the jet engine and that he could have produced a jet fighter by 1937 if the Establishment had been on his side." A few die-hard supporters still do their best to preserve Whittle's memory. Gerald Howarth, Tory MP for Aldershot and a keen flyer, staged a small week-long exhibition in Parliament earlier this year to mark Sir Frank's centenary.

"Modern society isn't interested in brilliant men who muck about with oil and spanners and create great things which allow the rest of us to jet around the world," he says. "Today, we worship celebrities. But it is vital that our children know who Frank Whittle was, where he came from and what he did." I suspect most of them do not have a clue. And it is hardly surprising, I reflect, as I wander through London's Science Museum. Up in the flight section on the third floor, a group of schoolboys charge past in search of something interactive and fun. None of them pauses to look at a steel contraption on a rack. Why should they? It looks likes something you might find in the corner of a scrapyard. A small label says it was the "first British turbojet" and that it was first tested in 1937. There is nothing to single it out as Whittle's original engine, nothing to say that this is the Stephenson's Rocket of jet aviation. Indeed, there is little to distinguish it out from all the other British, German and American engines parked down the side of this wall.

An information panel next to it says that an RAF officer called Frank Whittle made an "imaginative leap" in the use of the gas turbine and went on to produce the first British jet engine. The panel concludes that it was Nazi Germany which produced the "first jet aircraft to enter service". So, there we have it. The man who invented the jet engine is not even credited in his own homeland. Oh well. At least he's got his ring road in Derby. Invention: Jet Engine Jet Engine The jet engine was invented by a couple of engineers, Sir Frank Whittle who was a Royal Air Force Pilot and Hans von Ohain who developed the turbojet engine in the 1930s. In 1791, a patent was filed by John Barber in England for his stationary turbine. The first gas turbine was built in 1903 by Norwegian engineer, Aegidius Elling. Due to limitations in design and and some metals that were not yet discovered prevented such engines from reaching the manufacturing stage. Invention of the Jet Engine. Date of Invention. Sir Frank Whittle who was a Royal Air Force Pilot and Hans von Ohain who developed the turbo jet engine in the 1930s.

History of the Jet Engine Jet engines can be dated back to the first century AD when the aeolipile was invented. Hans von Ohain's jet engine got patented in 1936 and flew in 1939.He later developed the axial flow engine, which is now the standard for gas turbine engines. While, Whittle got his patent for the jet engine in 1930, his jet flew later than Ohain's in the year 1941. His engine featured a multistage compressor, a combustion chamber, a single stage turbine and a nozzle . The jet engines were received a lot of funding during the World War II and the coldwar and major advancements took place in the engine during these times. Working of the gas turbine engine Rockets work on the same principle as jet engines except that they do not require atmospheric oxygen as they carry all their propellants unlike jet engine which uses the atmospheric oxygen and cannot be used in space. Airplane moves through air when thrust is produced by a propulsion system. The early gas turbine engines worked similar to the rocket engine by creating a hot exhaust gas which was passed through a nozzle to produce thrust.

The modern passenger and military planes are powered by gas turbine engines, or jet engines. Jet engines come in a variety of shapes and sizes but all jet engines have certain parts in common. A gas turbine engine has a burner, compressor and a turbine. These three together are called the core of the engine. At the front of the engine, on the left hand side is the inlet. At the exit of the inlet is the compressor. The compressor is connected by a shaft to the turbine. The compressor and the turbine are composed of many rows of small air foil shaped blades. Some rows are connected to the inner shaft and rotate at high speed called the spinning rotors, while other rows called rotors, remain stationary. The shaft, compressor and turbine together make the turbo machinery. Between the compressor and the turbine flow path is the burner. In the burner the fuel and air are mixed and burned. The hot exhaust then passes through the turbine and out through the nozzle . The nozzle performs two tasks. One to to accelerate the hot exhaust gas so as to produce thrust. And the second, nozzle sets the mass flow through the engine. Depending on the requirements of the plane, they are fitted with different types of jet engines.

After Burners: Fighter jets need to fly at supersonic speed to escape their enemies. So need a lot of thrust to propel them against air drag.These jets are provided with an afterburner jet to increase its thrust. In a basic jet some of the energy from the exhaust is used to turn the turbine. The afterburner is used to put fuel back into the hot exhuast. What this does is create more thrust for the fighter. That means it also increases the temperature of the exhaust and the flow area of the nozzle has to be increased to letthe same amount of mass flow. Afterburners are much more complex in design and used only in fighters and supersonic planes such as the Concorde. Turbofans: Most modern airliners use turbofan engines because of their high thrust and good fuel efficiency.The incoming air is captured by the engine inlet. While some of the incoming air, passes through the fan and continues into the core compressor and the burner, the hot exhaust passes through the core, fan turbines and out the nozzle . This airflow is called the core airflow. The rest of the incoming air passes through the fan goes around the engine, and is called the fan flow.

A turbofan therefore gets some of its thrust from both the core flow and fan flow. The fuel flow rate is not changed very much and so the turbofan provides more thrust for almost the same amount of fuel.They have a high bypass ratio and are very fuel efficient. This is why turbofans are used on high speed transport. Turboprops: The turboprop engine has a core and a propeller. The core is the similar to the basic jet engine. But the exhaust from the nozzle is used here to turn the turbines instead of providing thrust. Here there is an additional turbine which is connected to the drive shaft and the drive shaft in turn to the gear box. The gear box is connected to the propeller which provides the thrust. The exhaust velocity of turboprops is low as little thrust is produced and most of the core exhaust is used in turning the drive shaft. They become less efficient when used in high speed and so are used in low speed cargo carriers. Turboshaft engine: In the turbo shaft engine the drive shaft is not connected to a gear box like in the turboprop but to another driver device. They are mostly used in helicopters and tanks.

They are also the Ram jet engines, Scram jet engine, Propfan engines. Applications and uses of Jet Engines Jet engines are used in almost all of the aicrafts flying today. Jet engines are also used in missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Used in high speed cars,industrial gas turbines to generate electricity . jet engines provide propulsions in ships . Link Keywords: Who invented the Jet Engine? - PPRuNe Forums PPRuNe Forums Jet Blast Topics that don't fit the other forums. Rules of Engagement apply. Page 1 of 2 Posts: n/a Who invented the Jet Engine? Another thread suggested Sir Frank Whittle as a person of note...no doubt for the discovery of the jet engine. I've often wondered how it was that the Germans had the ME-262 flying combat in the latter part of WW2, but they never got any credit for the development. As far as I know the Whittle engine wasn't powering any serious a/c until after the war ended. Is this a case of the victor re-writing history? No disrespect to Sir Frank, just curious for the real facts. Have you not heard of Baron Fritz Von Turbinehausen ?.

Posts: n/a Perhaps parallel development is the answer rather than a single "first". Junkers, BMW (Wilhelm Messerschmitt designed for BMW) and Heinkel were all in the race with the He280 (Heinkel) being the first aircraft with jet propulsion only as opposed to a combination of jet/piston. Posts: n/a I think Sir Frank Whittle was first with the engine, but not first to get a jet flying. ME262, V1 & V2 could have lead to another conclusion to WW2 very easily. "Who is first" arguments are a giggle anyway, it's amazing how many historical facts are omitted from the school curriculum and popular culture of certain nations (one superpower in particular comes to mind). Are you speaking of Canada? Posts: n/a Henry Coanda invented the first jet engine around the 1920's french bloke. Will look it up and get back with the details. The other you refer to is claimed as the first jet fighter - but AFAIK it never saw either entered Luftwaffe service or saw combat.

Posts: n/a I seem to remember that Whittle invented the jet engine but the War Ministry didn't think it could work so never clasified it, which is why the Germans were able to build them as well; from Whittles un-classified design. Posts: n/a After last years film offering from the septics about capturing the enigma coding machine in which it was proven beyond all doubt to have been an achievement by their good selves, it would not surprise me to discover that the jet was in fact invented by one of them. No doubt right now someone is working on a script featuring Mel Gibson playing Frank Whittle who it turns out was born in Sioux City or some other damp patch in a hole in the ground. After all, look at the service already rendered to history by Mel in other films connected with this sceptred isle. ... and strangely enough Mel Gibson is an Australian!

Posts: n/a I have just finished reading "Enigma" by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore - one of the fullest histories of the battle to decode the different versions of Enigma cyphers, the original production of a replica Enigma before the war by the Poles, and the several captures of actual machines, the encoding wheels and settings books by the RN. In fact, there was a capture of an Enigma machine and settings books by a US Navy vessel. But only one. And the commander screwed up badly. He allowed the captured German crew of the U-Boat to see his officers descending into it, and then he was crassly stupid enough to try to tow it into port. Luckily it sank. The Germans had to be interned separately from any other POW's, their mail virtually embargoed in case they got a message back to the Fatherland that the Allies were reading German messages. And this was shortly before D-Day. Had we been unable to read their codes, we would have not known whether the Germans had swallowed the bluff about landing across the Pas de Calais instead of Normandy, and the whole invasion of Europe was endangered. The commander of the US Navy ship was recommended for a court martial for his stupidity.

What do we get from Hollywood? That they single-handedly sorted out the U-Boat menace. Pah! Posts: n/a Here's a cut & paste from my 'Avitaion Trivia' page The first patent for a turbojet as a powerplant for an aircraft was made by Sir Frank Whittle. The first jet engine to ever run was made by Professor Ernst Heinkel, in March 1937. It was the hydrogen fuelled Heineken He S 2. The engine only ever ran on a test stand, and its construction was overseen by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain. (Whittle's engine first ran on 12-4-1937, a couple of weeks later than the Heinkel engine) The first jet powered aircraft to fly was the Heinkel He 178, on 27-8-1939, powered by a Heinkel He S 3B engine, which made about 450kg (1,000lbs) of thrust. The flight lasted six minutes, and the pilot was Erich Warsitz.

The first twin engined jet to fly was the Heinkel He 280, on 30-3-1941, powered by two Heinkel He S 8's, and lasted only three minutes due to concerns of the chance of the engines overheating. The first four engined jet to fly was the Arado AR 234C, in April 1944. It was powered by four BMW 003 jet engines. The first six engined jet aircraft to fly was the Junkers Ju 287 derivative, the Junkers EF 131. The aircraft was built in Dessau, Germany, and finished in late 1946. The factory had been taken over by occupying Soviet troops, and for some reason for its first flight it was disassembled and taken by train to Podbererez'ye, near Moscow. The date is not definite, but it was around late 1946. Each forward swept wing had a large pod, each containing three Jumo 004C engines. The Heinkel factory was the first to use catapults to assist aircraft in taking off from ships.

The Heinkel factory invented the explosive and counter-sunk riveting methods. The first ejection seat was made by Heinkel, for the He 280. It was pneumatically powered, and accelerated the pilot upwards at between 7 and 9 gees. The first use of an ejection seat was made by pilot Schenk, on 13-1-1943. He required it's use when the He 280, which was powered by two Argus pulse-jets that required a high forward speed to start up, refused to separate from the tow aircraft due to the cable release mechanism icing up. As a precaution, Schenk ejected and landed safely. The first aircraft to have variable sweep wings was the Messerschmitt Me P1101, though it never flew due to he end of the Second War War bring its construction to a halt. The wings, however, could not be moved in flight, only on the ground. Its design was later copied and improved on by Bell in the US, when they made the Bell X-5 experimental aircraft, which flew six years later on 20-6-1951.

The axial flow compressor, later used by the vast majority of all jet engines, was invented by Frenchman, Maxime Guillaume in 1921. The ramjet engine was invented by Frenchman, Renï¿½ Lorin, in 1908. It's use was not realised for many decades. The first afterburning jet engine was a modified Jumo 004E. It ran in mid 1945, and made 1000kg (2200lbs) thrust 'dry', and 1200kg (2650lbs) when afterburning. The first by-pass jet engine (like the engines on modern large jet airliners) was to be the Heinkel He S 10 'dual cycle engine', in late 1939, but its development was halted in favour of the He S 011. [This message has been edited by 18Wheeler (edited 19 March 2001).] Posts: n/a I've always understood Throtlemonkey to be correct. Henri Coanda flew his jet-propelled biplane in 1910.

I saw a photograph of the machine once and to judge by the width of the intake, it was also quite likely the first high bypass ratio/shrouded propeller in the world as well. But then, I've also understood that a Richard Pearce, (Pearse?) a Kiwi farmer, flew a heavier than air machine a couple of months before Orville and Wilbur. But, (as so often happens in the Antipodes to this day with anything new), he was treated as a crank and a "flying machine" was regarded by all who heard about it as nothing more than a novelty. The attitude displayed then has been used by Australian MP and author Barry Jones as the 'Pearce syndrome', which reads along these lines: anyone in Australia with a new idea is asked only one question by the idiots we elect or promote to positions of power. "Have they done this already overseas?" If the answer is 'no', the reply is, "Well, it won't work 'cause it hasn't been done overseas." If the reply is yes, the reply is "No need to press on with it then, 'cause they'll do it better than we could".

And HugMonster, regarding the U-Boat captured intact by the USN in June 1944, (it was the 4th June), it didn't sink enroute to the States. (I suspect the USN announced that it had at the time for obvious reasons.) Visitors to the Chicago Museum can actually walk through the U-Boat (a fantastic tour) and see an excellent movie including actual film of its capture and interviews with both American and German veterans of the engagement. The USN destroyer flotilla Commodore who made the capture drilled his crews for months beforehand in boarding sinking U-Boats and closing the sea cocks. Now if you want to talk about heroes, spare a moment to think about the young sailor who went into the bowels of an (unfamiliar) sinking enemy vessel, right down to the lowest deck, to close the sea cocks, with the very real possibility of the boat's sinking before he got there, to say nothing of possibly meeting some die-hard Nazi down there intent on stopping him. When the long boat drew alongside, only the conning tower was above water and the boat was sinking fast.

Off the subject of jet engines, I know, but since you brought the subject up, HugMonster, in my book, I don't care what nationality the guy was. That took real balls. [This message has been edited by Wiley (edited 21 March 2001).] Location: at the edge of the alps Posts: 242 AFAIK Coanda was not a Frenchman but a Romanian living in France and his engine was more like a ducted propeller. It was definitely driven by some kind of petrol engine. As for the Heineken engine, that was a Freudian slip, I guess..... The invention of the jet engine was something that was "in the air", just like internal combustion engines a few years earlier. I don't think anyone can be accused of copying here, just different people arriving at similar conclusions at the same time.... BTW, impressive ramjet airplanes with the pilot sitting or lying inside the cone at the center of the engine were built by Leduc after the war. Prototypes are on show at the Paris Air and Space museum. The Jet Engine - History Learning Site The Jet Engine Citation: C N Trueman "The Jet Engine" historylearningsite.co.uk.

The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. The Jet Engine Sir Frank Whittle’s jet engine transformed travel. The jet engine has allowed millions of people now to do something that was barely thinkable just 70 years ago – crossing the Atlantic at speed. The Wright’s may have invented the first real aeroplane, but the credit for the invention of the jet engine goes to Sir Frank Whittle. In the 1920’s, a young RAF man, Frank Whittle, had presented to the Air Ministry a design for a jet engine. They were unimpressed and rejected his idea. Regardless of this set-back, Whittle still patented his “turbojet engine” in 1930. His design appeared to solve the problem that had baffled inventors for some years – how do you create a chamber strong enough to house an engine that would create a lot of heat and vast directed thrust ? Many combustion chambers had simply been too weak to cope and had exploded under the strain.

Whittle’s engine had ten combustion chambers which produced impressive thrust : rather than having just one large chamber which would produce a volatile and potentially uncontrollable reaction, his engine effectively divided up the combustion created into the ten chambers but still did not decrease the power of the engines. Increasing fears about problems in Europe, lead to the government having second thoughts about Whittle’s jet engine. In 1936, he went to Cambridge University, but he left and set up a company called Power Jets Ltd. In 1937, using newly available alloys that were strong and light, he produced the first viable jet engine to be successfully tested in a laboratory. Now it had to be put onto a plane and the respective safety measures taken – as with all new planes. Sir Frank Whittle in front of one of his jet engines In 1941, a new jet fighter-prototype flew. Its successor, the Gloster Meteor, entered service with the RAF in 1944. However, the Gloster Meteor was not the first jet fighter. This claim goes to the Heinkel He 178 which first flew on August 24th 1939 – just days before World War Two started.

When the war finished, it seemed a logical move to apply this new invention to passenger planes. Journeys became quicker and the more powerful jet engine allowed passenger planes to get bigger so that more people could be carried on them. The first proper jet engined passenger airliner is considered to be the De Haviland Comet. This came into operation in a blaze of publicity. Within two years, it was withdrawn from service after a series of tragic accidents which killed many. This, however, was not due to its jet engines but to a fault in its fuselage which lead to the pane breaking up in flight. Boeing then took over the lead in jet-powered airliners. The Boeing 707 entered service in 1958. It was safe and allowed people to travel distances at speeds that would had been impossible just 10 years earlier. Whittle’s invention has transformed the world. History of Jet Engines - Hans Von Ohain Next Page The most important part of a jet is the engine. As such, jet history closely follows the engine development. It is important to give credit were credit is due. Hence the names of the key engine inventor and aircraft designer is included.

The first jet aircraft to fly was the Heinkel He 178 powered by the He S3B jet engine shown below. As other engines, such as the Jumo 004, were developed, new jets such as the Me 262 followed. Dr. Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain, "father of the gas turbine engine," beside his He S 3A jet engine which he invented, developed and successfully tested in 1936.1 He and Dr. Herbert Wagner are the father's of the jet engine. At about the same time, Frank Whittle in England also worked on a gas turbine engine but his engine did not run until 1937 at Power Jets. The He 178, using the He S3B engine, made its maiden flight on 27 August 1939. In subsequent tests it reached 400 mph. It was without a doubt the world's first jet aircraft. It's designers were Dr.

Hertel, Siegfried Gï¿½nter (later designed MiG 15 in Russia), Karl Schwaerzler.1, 4 In comparison, the first British jet, the Gloster E.28/39 powered by a Whittle engine first flew almost two years later in 1941. Only two Gloster's were built and one crashed supposedly because of icing? The real cause may never be determined. However, the fist one accumulated 25 hrs of bench testing and ten hrs of flight. The first US jet was the Bell XP-59A which made its maiden flight in October of 1942. It maximum speed was 380 mph. Because of its low performance and high fuel burn, it was a big disappointment. See Ed Heinemann by Heinemann and Rausa. Available from Scientists and Friends. The He 178 first flight in 1939 Prof. Dr. Herbert Wagner started the design of the world's first axial gas turbine at Junkers, Magdeburg in 1935. He was in charge of advanced developments at Junkers until 1939. Then a fellow Austrian, Dr. Ing.

Anselm Franz, also a graduate from the University of Graz, continued its development which during the war years led to the Jumo 004 axial gas turbine engine. Wagner is also the father of the turboprop engine which he patented in 1935. See British Patent No. 495 469. Sketch shown below.2 The first axial gas turbine engine designed by H. Wagner. Drawing of German Patent 724091 of 1942 is shown below. This engine was further developed into the Jumo 004 engine under the direction of Dr. Anselm Franz at Junkers Motorenbau (Jumo).1 The axial gas turbine engine was a big improvement over the centrifugal compressor turbine engine such as the von Ohain or the Whittle engines. All large jet engines today are axial gas turbine engines. Dr. Ing. Anselm Franz, director of the gas turbine engine development at Junkers in Germany from 1940 to 1945 came to the US with Operation "Paperclip" in 1946 and became vice president and assistant general director at AVCO Corp.

Lycoming Division in Connecticut were he continued his management efforts developing gas turbine engines. Most of the Lycoming gas turbine engines were designed by Franz and his team of engineers. Over 7,900 Jumo 004 engines were built at Junkers from 1943 to 1945. The engine produced 2,000 lbs of thrust and it was the first engine to be fitted with an afterburner.1 The Junkers Aircraft and Motor Co., on the right, employed over 147,000 workers; 52,880 on aircraft engines and 91,000 on aircraft. After the war, the complete company was dismantled and taken to Russia as war bounty and rebuilt exactly as it stood in Leipzig.3 All design offices were set up and the blue prints of the German jet and rocket aircraft were stored so that when the German "Specialists" arrived on October 1946, they could work on the new Russian "Wunder" jets such as the MiG 15.4

Question: Who invented the jet engine?
Answer: Frank Whittle