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The Gloster E.28/39, (also referred to as the "Gloster Whittle", "Gloster Pioneer", or "Gloster G.40") was the first jet engined aircraft to fly in the United Kingdom.

In September 1939, the Air Ministry issued a specification to Gloster for an aircraft to test one of Frank Whittle's turbojet designs in flight. Working closely with Whittle, Gloster's chief designer George Carter laid out a small low-wing aircraft of conventional configuration. The jet intake was in the nose, and the tail was mounted atop the exhaust. A contract for two prototypes was signed by the Air Ministry on February 3 1940 and the first of these was completed by April 1941.

The aircraft was delivered to Hucclecote for ground tests beginning on April 7, using a non-flightworthy version of the Power Jets W.1 engine. With these satisfactorily completed, the aircraft was fitted with a new engine, and on May 15, Gloster's chief test pilot, Flt Lt Gerry Sayer flew the aircraft under jet power for the first time from RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. The flight lasted seventeen minutes and was a complete success. Tests continued with increasingly refined versions of the engine over the following months.

The second prototype joined the test programme on March 1 1943, initially powered by a Rover W2B engine. It was destroyed on July 30July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. Events 1608 At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shot two Iroquois chiefs to death. This was to set the tone for Fren in a crash resulting from an aileronAilerons are hinged flaps attached to the trailing edge of an airplane wing, usually near the wingtips. They are used to control the aircraft in roll. The two ailerons are interconnected so that one goes down when the other goes up: the downgoing aileron failure. The first prototype continued flight tests until 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin;.

Experience with the E.28/39 paved the way for Britain's first jet fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft. Compare with bomber. Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and highly maneuverable, and have been fitted with increasingly sophisticated tracking and weapons syst, the Gloster MeteorThe Gloster Meteor was the RAF's first jet fighter aircraft, introduced into service only weeks after the Messerschmitt Me 262 in August 1944. Versions of the Meteor remained in front-line service for many years, and as a night fighter even longer. Develo. The E.28/39 specification had actually required the aircraft to carry two Browning .303 machine gun s in each wing, but these were never fitted.

In 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar, the first prototype was placed in the British Science Museum (London)The Science Museum on Exhibition Road, Kensington, London, is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction. Origin A museum was founded in 1857 under Bennett Woodcroft from the collection of the Roya, where it is still exhibited. A full sized model has been erected on an obelisk on a roundabout near the northern perimeter of Farnborough airfield in HampshireHampshire is a county on the south coast of England. The 2001 census gave the population of the administrative county as 1. 24 million; the population including Portsmouth and Southampton was around 1. It borders on Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey an as a memorial to Sir Frank Whittle.

See also List of World War II jet aircraft