Jet engines

[Synthetic]

I had always thought that Sir Frank Wittle invented the jet engine. I was somewhat surprised when a work colleague of mine who had been having a look around the net came upon a site which credited a German engineer with the invention, as early as the late 1930s. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Airbedane]

S,

I believe Sir Frank inventrd the jet engine, but the Germans were the first to get it into the air. As so often happens, there wasn't enough support or money for Sir Frank to develop his invention in good time.

A

[18-Wheeler]

Ya, ya!
It was the combination of Pabst von Ohain & Heinkel.
They take credit for the first true jet engine to start-up & run, and also take to powered flight.
The modern jet engine is also far more based on their efforts than Whittle's, though Whittle contributed a huge amount and in many ways. The modern jet is still based on both groups to a certain degree.