History of Flight 4: Sir Frank Whittle Mystery Cache

As a cadet in the Royal Air Force, Frank Whittle had written a thesis arguing that planes would need to fly at high altitudes, where air resistance is much lower, in order to achieve long ranges and high speeds. Piston engines and propellers were unsuitable for this purpose, so he concluded that rocket propulsion or gas turbines driving propellers would be required. A piston engine would use too much fuel, so he thought of using a gas turbine. After the Air Ministry turned him down, he patented the idea himself. In 1935, Whittle secured financial backing and, with Royal Air Force approval, Power Jets Ltd was formed.

The first flight was made on 15 May 1941. By October the United States had heard of the project and asked for the details and an engine. A Power Jets team and the engine were flown to Washington to enable General Electric to examine it and begin construction. The Americans worked quickly and their XP-59A Airacomet was airborne in October 1942, sometime before the British Meteor, which became operational in 1944.

The jet engine proved to be a winner, particularly in America where the technology was enthusiastically embraced. Whittle retired from the RAF in 1948 with the rank of air commodore. He was knighted in the same year and went to work in the US shortly afterward, becoming a research professor at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis.

The History of Flight cache series contains micro or small cache containers that are hidden in high muggle areas. Each container contains log only so be sure and take your pen/pencil with you and use stealth when necessary. If you find the log is almost full, feel free to replace it or let us know so we can bring a new one out.

***CONGRATULATIONS TO Super_Nate & Called2Care FOR CO-FTF***

To find the hidden coordinates to the final location of this cache, answer the following question: