Jets bring in new era of air power

Spokesman Magazine, Jan, 2004 by Gary Null

The director immediately felt that a full scale engine should be built along with an aircraft to be designed to employ it. Power Jet Ltd. began working on the project and expanding the company to handle the workload at the same time. The government awarded a contract to build the airframe to Gloster Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

By May 1941 the aircraft was completed and the engine installed. It was time for the test flight. Flight Lieutenant and Gloster test pilot, P.E. Gerry Sayer took the new aircraft, named the Gloster E.28/39 up into the air. It was a success and the British began working on further development right away. England was the third country to get a jet aircraft into the air.

Somewhat shortsightedly, the United States was a late starter in the jet propulsion field. United States military leaders had been aware of the potential for jet propulsion prior to the war. In 1939 the chief of the Air Corps requested the National Academy of Sciences to study the problem of jet-engine development.

Eventually the California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Academy of Sciences, began research into jet engines.

Two aircraft manufacturers decided independently to do research into the field. They were the Northrup company, who focused on turbo-prop designs, and Lockheed company, who decided to research pure jet propulsion systems. In 1941 Northrup was awarded a joint Army/Navy developmental contract. Lockheed received another developmental contract from the Army Air Forces in 1943. General Henry "Hap" Arnold traveled to England in April of 1941 and while there was informed of the British progress with the Whittle engine.

On their part, the British were more than willing to share their knowledge with the Americans. The British were having similar problems with production, as were the Italians. It was difficult to produce an entirely new concept of aircraft while still manufacturing the large quantities of conventional aircraft needed to prosecute the war.

Particularly with the German submarine effort severely curtailing the importation of the needed raw materials. America was, at the time, the industrial giant of the world, and the British could see the advantage of having that industrial capability supporting their wartime production efforts.

On September 4, 1941 General Arnold met with representatives of the General Electric Company, who agreed to produce the Whittle engine and, at the same time, begin research to improve it.

The British sent the plans for the engine to the United States in October and production and research began immediately. The following year, at Muroc Dry Lake now Edwards AFB, Calif., Colonel Laurence C. Craigie flew America's first jet, the Bell XP-59. Since there was also a pilot training facility near the test site, great effort was made to keep the project a secret.

One of the civilian test pilots probably had the best idea for security, since the student pilots were frequently in the air the same time as the new jet. He wore a costume rented in Hollywood while he was flying the jet. Imagine the effect when a student pilot returned to his area after a flight and reported that he saw a propeller less airplane flown by a gorilla wearing a hat and smoking a cigar.