The Invention Of The Jet Engine

The Air Force and University of Dayton leaders Friday will celebrate the 65th anniversary of the most significant aviation achievement since the Wright brothers' powered flight.

In 1939, the first operational jet engine, designed by former University of Dayton mechanical engineering professor Hans von Ohain, roared over a German airfield at 435 miles per hour. Great Britain's Frank Whittle invented the jet engine, and received a patent in 1930, but did not perform a successful test flight until 1941.

Hans von Ohain's career will be celebrated with a ceremony and lecture from 9:30 -10:45 a.m. at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's Research Lab/Propulsion Directorate Building 18. A luncheon follows from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Kennedy Union's presidential suite on UD's campus. UD leads all Ohio universities in aerospace research funding received, according to the Ohio Aerospace Institute.

"Dr. von Ohain helped revolutionize the world's transportation system, transformed the relationship between people from various nations and made possible the global economy we live in," said Dilip Ballal, director of UD's von Ohain Fuels and Combustion Center, the largest center of its kind in the United States.

Since its dedication in February 2003, the von Ohain Center has been awarded millions in state and federal grants to find better and cheaper jet fuel alternatives.

Hans von Ohain's list of honors is lengthy, including the Air Force Systems Command Award for Meritorious Civilian Service and the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award. He also was inducted into the International Aerospace, Engineering and Sciences, and National Aviation halls of fame.

Col. Michael Heil, director of the Air Force's propulsion directorate, and Alan Garscadden, the propulsion directorate's chief scientist, will present a replica of Heritage Hall to von Ohain's widow, Hanni. Heritage Hall is a building on the base dedicated to Hans von Ohain as a tribute to the history of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Garscadden will present "Propulsion Challenges: Past, Present and Future" and will be honored with a plaque by Hanni von Ohain.

The program finishes with a luncheon at UD during which Ballal will offer an update on the von Ohain Center's progress. The von Ohain center has received two $1.1 million grants - from a state of Ohio Wright Center of Innovation to develop better, cheaper fuels for military and commercial aircraft and from Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center to help develop a more efficient and less polluting combustor for jet engines.

The center also won a five-year, $31.5 million Air Force contract to improve conventional fuels and develop advanced fuel additives and fuel combustion technologies for advanced aircraft and aerospace systems.

Von Ohain brought his technology and expertise to the United States in 1947 as part of Operation Paperclip, a Cold War initiative that brought German scientists to this country to research advanced propulsion systems at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

He eventually rose to the position of chief scientist at the Aerospace Research Laboratories and Aero Propulsion Laboratory, which is now the Air Force Research Lab Propulsion Directorate. After retiring from the Air Force in 1979, von Ohain worked at UD and was a Lindbergh Professor at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington (DC).

Von Ohain died on March 13, 1998, at his home in Melbourne (FL).

FMI: www.udayton.edu