biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1907–96)
|
| biography:
| Aviator and inventor of the British jet engine, born in Coventry, West Midlands, C England, UK. He entered the RAF as a boy apprentice, became a fighter pilot (1928) and a test pilot (1931–2), then went to Cambridge to read science (1934–7). He had been considering jet propulsion since joining the RAF, and patented a turbo-jet engine in 1930, but received no government support for his ideas until the outbreak of war. His engine successfully powered an aircraft flight in 1941, and by 1944 was in service with the RAF. He was knighted in 1948. |
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