FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0077.PDF
JANUARY 13TH, 1944 F LIG HT 37 An example of a plain jet power plant, using the axial type of compressor and turbine. A Great British Achievement *Jet~propelled Aircraft Have Been Flying Since 1941 J British Pioneers Qiven Due Credit at Last "FLIGHT" can justly claim to have given 'ts readers more information about the subject of jet propulsion of aircraft in all its possible forms than any other journal. From August, 1941, onwards we have published articles and drawings explaining the principles involved and the different solutions of the many problems. In the following is given the history of the Whittle jet-propulsion development from 1937 onwards, including the first test flights made on a Gloster aircraft in 1941. H||| Nr **.» '"" , sup?.: ^m '***!*s\ v^JH !»™- • ^^^^ Group Captain Frank Whittle, the designer of the jet power unit. THE first British-designed and British-built jet-pro pelled aircraft made its first test flight in,. May, 1941. The aircraft was a Gloster machine de signed by Mr. W. G. Carter, M.B.E., Gloster's chief designer, and the power plant was a jet-propulsion unit designed by Group Captain Frank Whittle, R.A.F., and, built by Power Jets, Ltd. The pilot was Fit. Lt. P. E. G. Sayer, who was killed later in an orthodox air craft. It was in Flight of August 28th, 1941, that we began publication of the series of articles on jet pro pulsion by G. Geoffrey Smith, Managing Editor, -which aroused such world-wide interest that it became necessary to publish the articles, with additions, in the form of a book, " Gas Turbines and Jet Propulsion for Aircraft.'' Thus our readers have been kept well informed of what has been done in the way of jet propulsion pro jects to as full an extent as security considerations per mitted. The one thing which we were not allowed to do was to publish the fact that this country was ahead of all others, or even to mention that we were doing any work on jet-propelled aircraft at all. The ban has now been lifted by the joint statement by the U.S. Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force, issued by the U.S. War Department on January 6th. Since those days much development work has been done, and great pro-
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
