Today in 1941, the Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft successfully flies over Cranwell England. In doing so, the aircraft became the first of any Allied plane to use Jet Propulsion. The turbojet engine on the aircraft was designed by Frank Whittle, a English aviation engineer and former pilot. Joining the Royal Air Force (RAF) at a young age, Whittle never stopped trying to improve aircraft. Upon graduating the RAF college and being assigned a fighter squadron, Whittle still found spare time to develop a turbojet engine. By 1930 Whittle had patented his style of Jet engine and by 1936 formed Power Jets Ltd. to further test his ideas. The Germans would take credit for the first jet powered flight however, when in 1939 Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain’s design took flight. One week later, WWII began and Whittle’s company would combine with Gloster Aircraft to create a prototype Jet. The Jet would only continue to be improved and played a integral role in the fighting of WWII.
