Just to add fuel to the fire:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/04/concorde.memories.reut/index.html
I remember seeing one on a pylon on display at either Heathrow or Gatwick last year. Was that one of the prototypes, or was it an early production model? The SST is one of the most beautiful non-military aircraft I’ve ever seen. Even on the ground it looks like it is flying. O’le Whittle is probably grinning from ear to ear.
For those who do not know Whittle, an Englishman, developed the jet engine. I think his first name was Frank, but I cannot recall at the moment. Anyone from the UK want to jump in here. The English air Ministry brushed him off as a kook, so he took his ideas to Germany in the 30’s. Does the ME 262 ring a bell?
rangerj
Hi there Ranger, you are corect sir whittle’s first name was indeed Frank but he didn’t take his ideas to Germany (the ME262 was powered by turbojet with an axiel flow compressor - the whittle unit was a centrifugal compressor) instead he persevered with his research, formed a company called powerjets and eventually sucseeded in making his dream come true, the first aircraft to fly with his engine in was the Gloster E28/39 it later powered the meteor and the Bell aircomet (the design was handed to the US by the british government they also handed it to the russians (guess what powered the MIG 15?you guessed it, a derivetive of the whittle engine. i hope this info is of use to some of you. Greg
I believe he designed the Whittle Engine That Could.
GE still have the early whittle motors in their basement apparently [8)] -
and i think the Russians got a RR (nene ?) engine for the MiG 15. look out for the noisey Olympus motors on ebay soon ! [:D]
Multi Media,
I didn’t mean to imply that the Germans built Whittles engine, but if I remember correctly Whittle did present his Ideas at some sort of Scientific conferance in Germany in the early to mid 1930s. The Germans took an interest, where as the Air Ministry was less than enthusiastic about “jet engines”. I do, non the less, stand corrected.
It may also be that the authors I have read concerning Whittle have been a little on the inacurate side, or somewhat incomplete. There is very little about Whittle available, and it seems to me that he does not get anywhere near the credit he diserves for his contribution to the advancement of aviation. Maybe he was just lost in the shadows of the times, the big war and all.
Anyways, I think he would be thrilled at the accomplishments of the Concord. In my opinion anyone interested in aviation should know the name Frank Whittle as well as the names Orville and Wilbur Wright.
A separate topic discussing Frank Whittle, and others who contributed to the development of aviation, perhaps! Anybody interested? rangerj
Rangerj - the display Concorde just outside Heathrow in a 1/3 scale model. Wish I could have that in my back garden!
Brian - Prototype Concorde 001 was French, while 002 was British. Pre-production Concorde 01 was British, while 02 was French. And indeed the new ‘hot’ end of the engine nacelles were only installed from Concorde 01/02.
dj
Why be selfesh and have it in your garden. Put it in Kew Gardens!
That’s a great looking model. I saw it from a distance and did not realize it was a model.
rangerj
Thanks for even more info, Deej! I know pitifully little about the Concorde.
The jet engine developed in parallel in both Engalnd and Germany in the late 1930s, with Germany’s effort being the work of Dipl.Ing. Pabst von Ohain.
Von Ohain’s work was the first to get into the air with the diminutive Heinkel, can’t remember the number, in mid 1939, with Whittle’s work not getting airborn until 1941 in the again diminutive Gloster aircraft machine.
The Concorde outside Heathrow was built by BA apprentices a few years back, and apparently cost several million!!!
Karl