Frank Whittle

A British Royal Air Force officer and engineer who conceived the turbojet engine while writing his thesis at RAF Cranwell and patented the design in 1930. Without early Air Ministry support, he founded Power Jets Ltd in 1936 with retired RAF colleagues; its prototype engine first ran in 1937. On 15 May 1941 the Gloster E.28/39, powered by his W.1 engine, made its maiden flight from Cranwell, flying for seventeen minutes at up to around 340 miles per hour and demonstrating that jet propulsion was operationally viable, opening the jet age of aviation. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/