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Posted by brianwood1938 (U10430883) on Monday, 10th December 2007
Why has this goverment allowed America and Germany to claim the glory for all the outstanding work carried out on the development of the jet engine by this man who I think was an absolute genious.
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Monday, 10th December 2007
Where's Tim when you need him?
He's an infrequent poster here, brianwood1938, who is related to your hero. It would be interesting to hear if he agrees with your synopsis.
For what it's worth I don't think it's a question of the British government "allowing" or "not allowing" anyone claim "glory". Whittle was one of the innovators whose work developing jet engine technology enabled subsequent developments in that field to proceed all the faster. I'm not aware that anyone denies him recognition for that achievement. Nor am I aware that Britain was ever in a position where it could have effectively limited the technology or its use to the exclusion of others. Whittle's work was paralleled even as he did it. He did it earlier and better than most, but it was going to be done in any event.
To be fair, the Americans don't claim to have invented the jet engine - only to have made it better!
They also give credit to von Ohain, whose own work was running in parallel, and who they hoovered up in the the Great Brain Grab after WWII ended.(And, as we know, OUR German scientists were better than THEIR German scientists).
Whittle finished his career as a lecturer at the US Navy War College, I think.
Does anyone else remember the set of commemorative stamps from the 60s/70s, with Great British Inventions? The jet engine was one, radar another, and penicillin, but I can't remember the fourth one (think there were only four).
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Monday, 10th December 2007
TV equipment.
TVM
There was an article in the Daily Mail on this subject a few days ago.
Today, Ian Whittle's primary concern is to protect his father's memory from continued erosion. "It is now an accepted fact in America that my father did not invent the jet, but that he and von Ohain - who became an American citizen - co-invented it at the same time," he says.
"Pretty soon, history will be rewritten to say that it was a German or American invention."
Certainly, many engineering institutions now routinely describe von Ohain as one of the "inventors" of the jet. So would the Germans have flown that first jet if they hadn't pinched young Whittle's plans?
"Certainly not. It was Frank's invention and they just copied him," says one of the greatest test pilots in aviation history, Captain Eric Brown, late of the Fleet Air Arm.
He should know. Not only has he flown more planes than anyone - 487 different types - but he was sent to Germany straight after the war to get hold of all the Nazis' aviation technology.
"I interrogated von Ohain, who was very ambivalent about where he had got his ideas," says Capt Brown from his Sussex home.
'But his sidekick was utterly straight-forward about it. He said that Whittle's patent had been in every technical library in Germany even before the war.
"I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that Frank Whittle was the real inventor of the jet engine and that he could have produced a jet fighter by 1937 if the Establishment had been on his side."
Μύ
MB
I don't think wittle was a genius, just a damned fine engineer!
Remember he was working in parallel with other engineers who were working on a simular project...
But IMO, Whittle's basis of design was far superior to the German design.
In regards to the US, many people forget that for Years, they were far behind Europe and the Soviets in Jet design...
A wee anecdote I have told here before was that the Soviets while designing the MIG Jet just couldn't perfect the material composit for the Jet fans. They went so far as to have 'Spies' walk round the lathes at Rolls Royce, but still couldn't reverse engineer the composite.
It came to the point where the head of the mig design outfit was on a tour of RR and asked tghe owner for the spec. He said that he would give it to him for free if he could beat him at Snooker/Billiards - he did, we gave them the design - the rest is history.
LostWeekend
Whittle finished his career as a lecturer at the US Navy War College, I think.Μύ
U.S. Naval Academy
Just returned from Cambridge. While travelling south down the M 6, as traffic was backed up to junction one for the A 14 slip road, we came off and followed the old route. We came across a traffic island with a full scale model of Whitles jet on it.
GF
That wasn't a model, it was a very impressive emergency landing.
, in reply to message 10.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Tuesday, 18th December 2007
By a midget
There is a monument near Lutterworth.
Is that the one you saw?
MB
, in reply to message 11.
Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Tuesday, 18th December 2007
"By a midget"
Airfix Test Pilots are people too.
, in reply to message 2.
Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Friday, 21st December 2007
Hi Nordmann
I agree with everything you say except that I believe that we did give the US a lot of help in their early developmental work on the jet engine on the basis of Sir Frank's previous work.
The sad thing is that if his work had been given greater recognition earlier then the UK could have had a clear head start in the development of jet fighters well before any other nation.
regards
Tim
ps I used to be a more regular poster and hope to be again in the second half of next year.
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Friday, 21st December 2007
Lutterworth celebrates itself as being the workshop of both Sir Frank Whittle and John Wycliffe.
Jet Engines and hand written English bibles.
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