Father of the jet engine takes centre stage in film
No Caption ABCDE
LEAMINGTON played a crucial role in the creation of the jet engine, says the producer of an exclusive and intimate film about its inventor.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the jet engine’s first fight in the USA, which falls on Tuesday next week, television and film producer Nicholas Jones has released a DVD that centres around a lengthy interview held in 1986 with former Leamington schoolboy and father of the technology, Sir Frank Whittle.
Having met him on several occasions through Whittle’s relationship with his father, Mr Jones, who runs his own company, Quanta Films, from an office in Milton Keynes, grew to know the man he describes as a “genius” and found him extremely fascinating.
Mr Jones said: “When I was eight years old, I remember reading about Frank Whittle. I thought the idea of the jet engine was really interesting. I never imagined that 20 years later, I would be filming him.
“My father wanted to write a book about jet aircraft and Whittle agreed to meet us. What began as a shorter version for the History Channel progressed into a feature-length documentary.
“I was constantly being contacted by people who had an interest in the jet engine who wanted to know more. A lot of people identify with Whittle because he really was an ordinary boy.”
Mr Jones, who has devoted much of his time “ploughing through” the hundreds of pages of Whittle’s biography, found out that, during his time as a pupil at Binswood College for Boys in Leamington after the First World War, the family went through a tough period of poverty.
He said: “I suspect that he spent a lot of time at the old Leamington library in Avenue Road because it was a lot more comfortable than being at home. There, he became fascinated by what was then a new technology called gas turbines. Somehow it planted a seed in his mind.
“Leamington was crucial to the forming of the jet engine. If he had not studied in the library, it might not have happened.”
Whittle - the Jet Pioneer is available by calling 01666 826366 or it can be purchased online, where people can read more about the film. www.quantafilms.com
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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