Originally Posted by
FlightlessParrot
As Brunel wasn't all that highly thought of by his contemporaries (grandiose, I believe they thought him, and not as good as the Stephensons), looking good for Hooker.
Two things stick in my mind from Hooker's autobiography, perhaps summing up the good and the bad of the UK aircraft industry.
He examined Whittle's impeller design, and concluded that he couldn't improve it. As Hooker made his reputation on the design of the supercharger impeller for the Merlin (and evidently had a proper pride in that), it suggests that Whittle was seriously good.
On the other hand, he spent some time at Bristol, and developed a very poor opinion of the management. It seems that lunch was good, so good that very little got done afterwards.
It's not especially well-put together as a book, but a very interesting read.
The book was actually written by Bill Gunston. Bill mentions in one of his own books "in his autobiography, which I much enjoyed writing"!