Overview

Jet engines, invented in 1930 by Frank Whittle (1907-1996), have become the dominant form of propulsion for the multimillion-dollar commercial air transportation industry. Jet aircraft's ability to deliver products and services at fast speeds has changed the way business is conducted, and its affordability has enabled more people to travel by air.

Background

Before the development of jet engines, the aviation industry had an absolute limit on how fast, how far, and how high their planes could fly, and how much they could carry. Frank Whittle had a dream to eliminate these boundaries.

In 1923, at the age of 16, Whittle entered RAF College at Cranwell. When he was selected for officer and pilot training in 1926, he wrote his thesis on Future Developments in Aircraft Design. Whittle explored new possibilities for propulsion, which, in 1929, led to his idea of using a gas...