Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World

(piano music) Frank Whittle was the son of a mechanic. Born in England, 1907. Age four, he was given a toy airplane with a wind-up propellor. Just like the Wright brothers, the toy inspired a life long love of aviation. And so, when he was 16 years old, he joined the Royal Air Force, and learned to fly. (engines buzzing) Then, as a student, he wrote an extraordinary essay outlining his vision of the future of flight, with aircraft able to fly much higher, and much faster. I think that at the age of 21, to make these observations, and to not only think through what might be possible in terms of overcoming them. But actually, to put it down in writing and to publish such a comprehensive almost prediction of where the future should go. I think that's quite a remarkable step. Even as he was learning to fly propellor planes, he was developing his ideas. A completely new kind of engine. Piston engines, and propellors are inherently limited when it comes to propelling aircraft high and fast. Frank Whittle was determined to develop something better. And, he came up with this, the jet engine. (upbeat orchestral music) -

Announcer

Here it is, the precise language of the engineer it's called a jet propulsion gas turbine. To you and me, it's the jet engine. A car engine works by taking fuel and air into a cylinder, into a series of cylinders, and compressing that mixture until you ignite it and the explosion drives the cylinder back. Frank Whittle realized that if you could make that process continuous, it would be far more efficient. (whooshing) (fast chiming music) Whittle's design works like this. At the front, air enters a compressor. Which, as the name suggests, compresses the air. This is mixed with fuel and set alight. Which creates a jet of hot exhaust, which creates the thrust. That exhaust also spins a turbine, like a small windmill. Which is attached to the compressor at the front. Making the whole process self-sustaining. It's a very neat package with a lot of thrust. Whittle believed that a jet engine would have more power than a propellor engine of the same weight. So, a jet plane should be faster. I'm sorry to say, but we've had another blade failure. -

Richard

Unfortunately, Whittle had great difficulty getting anyone interested in his idea. The RAF thought it would never work. And, indeed, some of his early tests ended in disaster. In a film made in 1950, Whittle himself reenacted the story of the jet. (whooshing) Come back. Come back. (exploding) But eventually, after nine years of development, he succeeded in making the world's first working jet engine. (uplifting music) Whittle's first jet powered flight was on the 15th of May, 1941. The jet age had begun. (plane whistling) Frank Whittle was a pioneer of his age. The fact that a huge proportion of the world's population can get on a plane for relatively little money, and travel anywhere in a matter of hours, is almost entirely down to his breakthroughs. Whittle's jet engine, often called the gas turbine, dominates modern aircraft design. Not only because it can operate at high altitudes, but also because of a property that is harder to appreciate. Jet engines, even miniature ones, pack an enormous amount of power for their weight. (chiming music) Here we have a real life jet engine. It's the miniature version of what you get on a plane that you go on holiday on, or even a jet fighter. And, what we're gonna do is fire them up. There's a little control in here. (whirring) You can hear the electric motors whining and starting up now. As that starts to flood the combustion chamber with air, (blowing) and you can hear now, fuel starts going in the combustion chambers. And, if you look carefully down there, you can see that fuel starting to burn. (whooshing) -

Narrator

In Richard Browning's hands, Whittle's invention allows a man to fly in a way that not even Evan Furnace, Leonardo da Vinci, or Otto Lilienthal could have imagined. (dramatic music) When you squeeze that trigger, those engines will be putting out a thousand horsepower. And, as you start vectoring that downwards, the weight just comes off your feet, and you're airborne. As soon as you lift off, it does feel like it's you flying, it doesn't feel like you're in a flight vehicle. It's a real collaboration between man and machine. (blowing) -

Narrator

Today, a new breakthrough in aviation is under way. All over the world companies are developing different concepts of the flying machine.