History of the jet engine

The development of air-breathing jet propulsion, from early concepts and pioneering engines to the turbine engines that power modern aircraft.

Connect

Frank Whittle: A British engineer and Royal Air Force officer who patented a turbojet design in 1930. His 1930 patent established an early practical blueprint for the modern turbojet.
Turbojet: A gas-turbine engine that produces thrust primarily by accelerating a jet of exhaust. It was the first practical jet-engine architecture and the basis of the earliest jet aircraft.
Geoffrey de Havilland: A British aircraft designer and manufacturer whose company built the first British jet aircraft. His company developed the Gloster E.28/39 and later the production Vampire fighter.
Messerschmitt Me 262: A German twin-engine jet fighter that entered combat service during World War II. It showed both the combat potential and the wartime limitations of early turbojet aircraft.
Jet aircraft: An aircraft propelled by one or more jet engines. The engine’s development created a new class of aircraft for combat, transport, and research.
Hans von Ohain: A German engineer who developed the turbojet that powered the first jet aircraft flight. His engine powered the Heinkel He 178 in 1939, independently demonstrating aircraft jet propulsion.
Gas turbine: A rotary engine in which hot gas drives a turbine that powers a compressor or other machinery. Jet engines belong to this engine family, whose compressor, combustor, and turbine form the core cycle.
Gloster E.28/39: A British experimental aircraft that first flew in 1941 with a Whittle-derived turbojet. It tested British jet propulsion in flight after government support advanced Power Jets’ work.
Gloster Meteor: A British twin-engine jet fighter that entered Royal Air Force service in 1944. It was the Allies’ first operational jet fighter and used engines developed from Whittle’s work.
Commercial aviation: The operation of aircraft to transport passengers or cargo for commercial purposes. Jet engines enabled faster, higher-capacity airliners and transformed long-distance passenger travel.