Figure timeline
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for a similar invention which was technically unfeasible at the time. Whittle's jet engines were developed some years earlier than those of Germany's Hans von Ohain, who designed the first-to…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · British Royal Air Force engineer and air officer (1907–1996) · military flight engineer · aircraft pilot · inventor · engineer · aerospace engineer · also Frank Whittle, Sir Frank Whittle, Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, Whittle
Born 1 June 1907 · Died 9 August 1996 · Q312547
63 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
14 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
The paper contained example calculations which showed the big increase in efficiency which could be obtained with the gas turbine at great height due to the beneficial effects of low air temperature. It also contained calculations to demonstrate the degree to which range would depend on height with turbojet aircraft.
76%WikipediaSource
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The paper contained example calculations which showed the big increase in efficiency which could be obtained with the gas turbine at great height due to the beneficial effects of low air temperature. It also contained calculations to demonstrate the degree to which range would depend on height with turbojet aircraft.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Guardian: Geraint Thomas and rebranded Ineos face hard truths after Tour de France misery | Jeremy Whittle
King Charles III broke ground on the New Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded National Aviation Hall of Fame (2017).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle's college at the University of Cambridge, Peterhouse, opened the Whittle Building on its grounds
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And situated on the Greenacres estate in Lutterworth
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded National Inventors Hall of Fame (2003).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle was ranked number 42 in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
As Sir Frank Whittle Primary School
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Died 1996-08-09.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Charles Stark Draper Prize (1991).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And von Ohain were awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize for their work on turbojet engines
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Technology) by Loughborough University
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Order of Merit (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle was appointed a member of the Order of Merit (Commonwealth)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Royal Designer for Industry (1985).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won James Watt International Medal (1977).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
His marriage to Dorothy was dissolved and he married American Hazel S
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Accepted the position of NAVAIR Research Professor at the United States Naval Academy from 1977 to 1979
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Nessim-Habif Award (1966).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Rolls-Royce purchased Bristol Siddeley, but the financial pressures and eventual bankruptcy because of cost overruns of the RB211 project led to the slow wind-down and eventual disappearance of Whittle's "turbo-drill"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle again met him at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1978 while von Ohain was working there as the Aero Propulsion Laboratory's Chief Scientist
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was awarded an honorary degree, doctor techn
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded John Scott Award (1957).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
To work for Bristol Aero Engines, who picked up the project in 1961, setting up "Bristol Siddeley Whittle Tools" to further develop the concept
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Franklin Medal (1956).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Accepted a position as a Mechanical Engineering Specialist with Shell, where he developed a new type of self-powered drill driven by a turbine running on the lubricating mud that is pumped into the borehole during dri
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Albert Medal (1952).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And spent the next year working on a biography, Jet: The Story of a Pioneer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won FAI Gold Air Medal (1951).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Rumford Medal (1950).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Melchett Medal (1949).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1948).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle retired from the RAF and received a knighthood
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Fellow of the Royal Society (1947).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Kelvin Gold Medal (1947).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath (1947).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Commander of the Legion of Merit (1946).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1946).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whittle accepted a post as Technical Advisor on Engine Design and Production to Controller of Supplies (Air); was made a Commander of the US Legion of Merit; and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1947
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won James Alfred Ewing Medal (1944).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Gold Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (1944).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
When Power Jets was nationalised he again suffered a nervous breakdown, and resigned from the board in 1946
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
No 2 Augmentor, a conventional two-stage system with the fan blades external to the turbine blades, was used by GE in the Convair 990 Coronado
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Asking BTH, Vauxhall and the Rover Company to join
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Rolls-Royce, Hawker Siddeley, the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and de Havilland became interested in gas turbine aircraft propulsion
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
De Havilland started a jet fighter project, the Spider Crab – later called Vampire – along with their own engine to power it, Frank Halford's Goblin (Halford H
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Metropolitan-Vickers set up a project to develop an axial-flow design as a turboprop but later re-engineered the design as a pure jet known as the Metrovick F
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
But Leret was executed months later by Francoist Moroccan troops after commanding the defence of his seaplane base near Melilla at the onset of the Spanish Civil War
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
But having earlier reviewed and critiqued Whittle's patents, had to narrow the scope of his own filing
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Which in 1939, led to the world's first flyable jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, powered by the Heinkel HeS 3
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Through Tinling's father, Whittle was introduced to Mogens L
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was permitted, though the scheme for RAF officers had been ended the year before, to take a two-year engineering course as a member of Peterhouse, the oldest college of Cambridge University, graduating in 1936 with a
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was posted to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe as an armament officer and test pilot of seaplanes, where he continued to publicise his idea
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Studied at Royal Air Force College Cranwell (1923–1928).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
At the age of 21 and was commissioned as a pilot officer in July
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recommended Whittle for officer training at RAF College Cranwell
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For a similar invention which was technically unfeasible at the time
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1907-06-01.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections