Frank Whittle

Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle OM KBE CB FRS FRAeS was an English Royal Air Force engineer air officer. He is credited with singlehandedly inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for a similar invention however, this was technically unfeasible at the time. Whittles jet engines were developed some years earlier than those of Germanys Hans von Ohain who was the designer of the first jet engine to be used to actually power an aircraft.

Whittle was born in a terraced house in Newcombe Road, Earlsdon, Coventry, England onJune 1907, the eldest son of Moses Whittle and Sara Alice Garlick. When he was nine years old, the family moved to the nearby town of Royal Leamington Spa where his father, a highly inventive practical engineer and mechanic, purchased the Leamington Valve and Piston Ring Company, which comprised a few lathes and other tools and a singlecylinder gas engine, on which Whittle became an expert. Whittle developed a rebellious and adventurous streak, together with an early interest in aviation.

Source: Wikipedia