On 12 April 1937 Frank Whittle became the first person to successfully start and run a turbojet engine. In may 1941 the engine took to the air in an experimental Gloster-Whittle aircraft, but despite the RAF's desperate need for air supremacy over her enemies, little support was forthcoming from the military establishment. It was the enthusiasm of the American General 'Hap' Arnold that took the next stage of development to the USA and within six months Whittle's invention was powering more Am...