This was a turning point, because it was then decided that I must try for London University by way of three more years at school, and by taking a Royal Scholarship in Physics. Whittle’s W2 engine, of 1,600 lb thrust, was approved by the appropriate Ministry, but for manufacture by the Rover company, already fully stretched with Bristol air-cooled radial engine production and repair. In 1952, Hooker was asked by the Folland company whether he could produce a 5,000 lbf (22 kN) thrust engine to power their new lightweight fighter, the Gnat. Bairstow was interested, and it was for this reason he recommended me for the Armourers and Braziers Fellowship.

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While my right arm was no problem, merely requiring to be pulled straight and bandaged, my right leg was in a sorry mess. He was adept at devising experiments to verify his theories, many of them of fascinating simplicity. Then to join Rolls Royce, to deliver his outstanding work on the supercharger development for the Merlin, producing the Merlin 45 and the ultimate version the Merlin 61. Wilks and Hives eventually agreed that Rover would take over production of the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory in Nottingham and Rolls-Royce would take over the jet engine factory in Barnoldswick. The book opens with a graphic description of “ a damp, cold day in January 1938” when he walked along Nightingale Road toward the Rolls-Royce works in Derby.

The Proteus was soon in production, but did not see widespread use, as only a small number of Britannias were built. Sir Stanley Hooker was knighted in 1974 for his contribution to aero engine design and his roll in saving Rolls-Royce. Since there was no escape, I decided to try a little harder, and unnoticed I put in a couple of terms’ good work. In the late 1980s, test pilot Bill Bedford gave a talk in Christie's auction room in South Kensington in London.

I feel that Sir Stanley was perhaps somewhat glib about the harsh realities of the changes, viewing the past with rose-tinted glasses. He won a scholarship for Imperial College London to study mathematics, and in particular, hydrodynamics. I should comment that I am a marine engineer who has worked with steam turbines so I do have some small understanding of rotating turbine engines albeit loosely connected. I was fortunate enough to play a small part in the design of the latest Trent engine design programme and saw the marvel and might of Rolls-Royce today.

Interesting information about aero engine development during the war, and commercial jet engine development afterwards.The economy of the country was very depressed, and jobs were hard to come by, and so it seemed quite reasonable to carry on as a student while I could get such funds to support me. On his 41st birthday in September 1948 he had his final meeting with Hs, but was obliged to work out the final three months of his contract, before he could join the Bristol Aeroplane Company. You give us this jet job, and I will give you our tank engine [Meteor, un-supercharged and de-tuned Merlin] factory in Nottingham. He was shown into an eight feet square office containing a desk, bare bookcase and a telephone, and left alone. All while bringing to life both the many challenges and funny moments he lived during the wartime and the post-war.

to a potential Mach 2, and despite the plane’s controversial cancellation, the way to Concorde was clear.But he earned his keep early on, adding many horsepower and much performance to the famous Merlin engine which powered the hurricanes, Spitfires, Lancaster and Mosquito bombers amongst others. Hooker has more cleverly managed to convey a lot of technical information about jet turbine design and how they work in such a way that even a complete non engineer can understand it. Declining the suggestion to use turbocharging, [6] Hooker instead designed a two-stage supercharger for the engine, with the resulting two-stage-supercharged Merlin 61 being fitted into the Spitfire Mk IX, the second most-produced Spitfire variant, which entered service in July 1942. They didn't know what to do with him, never having had such and esoteric person working there before.