FRANK WHITTLE AND JET PROPULSION

Born in Coventry, Frank Whittle was just 21 years old when he first discussed his idea of turbo jet engine propulsion with the Air Ministry. Like all "old farts" anything out of the norm was of no interest to them.  Sadly, through lack of interest and funding, the Patent Frank Whittle had taken out was allowed to lapse.  However, in 1934 as a mature student, Flight Lieutenant Frank Whittle of the RAF joined Peter-house College Cambridge where his  ideas were encouraged.
Incredibly, just two years later he left Cambridge with a 1st class degree in Mechanical Sciences.  He then started the Power Jets Company to develop his jet engine idea.  Finally, in 1939, the Air Ministry awarded Whittle’s company a  contract to develop a prototype 'plane for the RAF.  In true Whittle fashion, in less than two years, on 15 May 1941, Britain’s first jet powered flight took to the sky.  Disappointingly, Germany, in 1939, had already laid claim to the world’s first jet powered flight. Those “Old Farts” at Air Ministry had taken some ten years to give constructive support to this simple idea, but with earlier backing Frank Whittle would surely have been able to supply jet powered aeroplanes for the Battle of Britain. 
Following the end of WW2, I am intrigued by the Government's decision to nationalise Frank Whittle’s  company. As a result of nationalisation, responsibility for the development of the jet engine was handed to Rolls Royce & others. The Government even gave a Rolls Royce jet engine to the Soviet Union, allowing them to develop their own jet fighters.
Sir Frank sadly suffered a number of nervous breakdowns and in 1945 was invalided out of the RAF.  I understand Sir Frank Whittle considered his time at Cambridge with great affection, donating all of his papers to the Churchill Archives Centre shortly before his death in 1966.
In 1972 the Whittle Laboratory was named after him and is dedicated to the study of the aerodynamics of turbines.
Working on Newton's Third Law of Motion: ''To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction', the jet engine is so very simple. It sucks air in at the front and propels it out at high speed at the back, forcing it forwards as the air streams backwards. The engine has to be powered by a fuel, commonly a form of paraffin