BAKEWELL AND DISTRICT PROBUS CLUB – FRANK WHITTLE
- peakadvertiser
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
Air transport these days is so overwhelmingly dominated by jet-powered aircraft that it can be easy to overlook the amount of effort and determination that was involved in developing the jet engine. Perhaps the most famous pioneer in jet engine technology was Frank Whittle, the story of whose life and career was related to the Bakewell and District Probus Club by club member Brian Holland. Although now retired, Brian had been an aeronautical design engineer in his career, and therefore he was well qualified to talk on this subject, much of which involved an understanding of the detailed technology underlying the evolution, over several decades, of the jet engine.
Frank Whittle was born in Coventry in 1907, but his family soon moved to Leamington Spa. Having won a scholarship to the local grammar school, Leamington College, he displayed practical engineering skills and spent much of his spare time in the local reference library studying, amongst other things, the theory of flight. Between 1923 and 1926 he served an aircraft apprenticeship which culminated in a recommendation by his commanding officer for officer training at RAF Cranwell College. It was during his time at Cranwell that he learned to fly and, as a requirement of his academic course, he produced a thesis on potential aircraft design developments. Recognising the limitations of propeller engines at higher altitudes he examined ways of developing an alternative means of thrust which resulted in his patent for a turbojet which was granted in 1930. The proposal consisted of a compressor delivering air to combustion chambers which in turn delivered heated and expanded air to a turbine to drive the compressor, the residual energy being accelerated through propelling nozzles to generate thrust.
The speaker continued by describing Whittle’s RAF career, during which time he continued working on his concept designs but was unable to get support from the Air Ministry. Then, in 1936, with others, he set up Power Jets Ltd with the aim of further developing his ideas. Eventually, during the height of World War II, the first British turbojet-engined aircraft, the Gloster E28/39 was produced. This was followed in 1943 by the Gloster Meteor – the only British jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the war. Thus, the stage was set for the rapid development of military and civil jet aircraft after the end of hostilities.
Details of the Bakewell and District Probus Club, including reports of earlier meetings, can be found on its website at www.bakewellprobus.org
