RAF officer and engineer; patented the turbojet in 1930
Hans von Ohain
German physicist who developed a turbojet with Heinkel
Anselm Franz
Led the design of the Junkers Jumo 004
Plate 082
1937–1939
England and Germany
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Frank Whittle ran a test engine in April 1937 in England. Hans von Ohain’s engine ran in 1937 in Germany; the Heinkel He 178 made the first jet flight on 27 August 1939.
About credit
Whittle and von Ohain worked independently and did not know of each other’s work.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Jet Engine
Aircraft relied on piston engines and propellers, which lose efficiency at high speed and altitude.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Whittle’s first engine ran on a test bed in 1937; the Gloster E.28/39 flew in 1941. Germany’s Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter entered service in 1944. The de Havilland Comet, in 1952, was the first jet airliner.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Jet Engine, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Compress, burn, expand
A compressor squeezes air, fuel burns in it, and the hot gases drive a turbine and rush out the back.
Compress, burn, expand
Newton’s third law
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Travel
Air travel became fast and affordable.
Geography
Distant places could be reached in hours.
Jets made fast long-distance flight possible and shrank the world. Today’s airliners cross oceans in hours.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Jet Engine
Before
Days by ship.
After
About seven hours.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
VI
Its legacy
What came after
MHI 082
The Jet Engine
Beyond the collection
Gas turbines
Used to generate electricity.
Beyond the collection
Spaceflight
Rocket engines use similar ideas.
VII
Human stories
The people and the moments
Whittle’s patent lapse
Whittle could not afford the fee to renew his 1930 patent in 1935, so it lapsed. He later received a knighthood.
Where accounts differ, this museum follows the documented record and says so.
