FIRST felt power of flight - Frank Whittle, Coventry, UK
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N 52° 24.279 W 001° 32.120
30U E 599638 N 5807055
This plaque was put up to mark an occasion in 1916 when a crowd of youngsters, including eight-year-old Frank Whittle, gathered round an aeroplane that had been forced to land on the common. As it took off it nearly hit him - knocking his cap off and triggering a lifelong fascination that led to his invention of the jet engine more than 20 years later.
Waymark Code: WM519J
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/25/2008
Views: 9
After leaving school in 1923, he joined the RAF as an apprentice aircraft fitter. In 1926 he was selected for pilot training and entered the Royal Air Force (RAF) College in Cranwell in 1926 as a flight cadet and soon qualified as a pilot. He was posted to a fighter squadron in 1928 and served as a test pilot in 1931-32.
The first flight powered by Whittle’s engine was on May 15, 1941, during the Second World War.
The experimental fighter plane flew for just 17 minutes, but it was a turning point in aviation history that made world travel available to ordinary people.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1916
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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