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Whittle House is named after Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle.
Frank Whittle was born on 1 June 1907 in Coventry, the son of a mechanic. His first attempts to join the RAF failed as a result of his lack of height, but on his third attempt he was accepted as an apprentice in 1923. He qualified as a pilot officer in 1928.
As a cadet Whittle had written a thesis arguing that in order to achieve long distances and high speeds, planes would need to fly at high altitudes, where air resistance is much lower. Piston engines and propellers were unsuitable for this purpose, so he concluded that rocket propulsion or gas turbines driving propellers would be required. He eventually thought of using a gas turbine and went on to ensure that Britain was the first country to enter the jet age when, in 1941, he developed and flew the jet propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39.
This experimental aircraft achieved a top speed of 370 mph which was faster than the Spitfire or any other conventional propeller driven air craft.
Whittle’s engineering genius led to the creation of several other aircraft: the RAF’s Gloster Meteor, which saw action during the latter stages of the Second World War; the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first passenger jet, and Concorde.
Whittle retired from the RAF in 1948 with the rank of Air Commodore. He was knighted in 1976 and went to work in the USA shortly afterwards, becoming a research professor at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. He died in 1996.
The members of Whittle House are inspired by the vision and determination of this man to use their skills and talents in order to meet the challenges before them and add a new perspective to current issues.
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