History

Dr. Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle are recognized as the co-inventers of the turbojet engine. These men were simutaneously working on the development of this engine but were not aware of each other's work. Ohain was the first to create a functioning turbojet prototype in 1937. Whittle was an engineer and pilot who registered the first patent on the turbojet engine theory in 1930. Not long after, Ohain was granted a patent for his engine in 1936. Ohain's jet first flew in 1939 and Whittle's first flew in 1941.

Whittle's engine had a single-stage centrifugal compressor coupled to a single-stage turbine and was successfully tested in April 1937; it was only a laboratory test rig. After receiving a contract for a Whittle engine, known as the W1, the Gloster Aircraft Co. was chosed to develop the aircraft that the W1 would power. It was called the Pioneer and took the historic first flight on May 15, 1941. The modern turbojet engine used in many British and American aircraft is based on the prototype that Frank Whittle invented.

Doctor Hans Von Ohain was a German airplane designer who invented an operational jet engine. He obtained a doctorate in Physics at the University of Göttingen in Germany and worked as an assistant. German aircraft builder, Ernst Heinkel asked the university for assistance in new airplane propulsion designs and Ohain was recommended. At 22 years of age, he conceived the idea of a continuous cycle combustion engine without a propeller. He patented his idea that was similar to Whittles theory, but with a different internal arrangement in 1934. Ohain joined Ernst Heinkel and a successful bench test of one of his engines was accomplished in September 1937. A small aircraft was designed and constructed by Heinkel - the Heinkel He178. It historically flew for the first time on August 27, 1939.