Born at Coventry in 1907, Frank Whittle became a Royal Air Force (RAF) apprentice in 1923. During the next several years he advanced to pilot, flight instructor, and RAF officer.

Between World War I and World War II, aircraft designers realized that propeller-driven planes were limited both in terms of velocity and optimal altitude. To reach speeds in excess of 350 miles (560 km) per hour, planes required larger internal combustion engines. Of course such engines meant additional weight, which would, ironically, slow down the aircraft and reduce propeller efficiency. This technical problem was aggravated by an atmospheric problem. Attempts during World War I to fly at extremely high altitudes--a definite tactical advantage--had been thwarted by the thinness of the air itself, which likewise reduced propeller as well as engine efficiency.

Whittle had been contemplating a solution to the matter for some time. In 1928 he learned that a French inventor had suggested...