"Whittle's jet engine design was a paradigm shift from the piston engines that were used in aeroplanes until that point," he said. "To understand a jet engine required a different understanding of aerodynamics and thermodynamics. A lot of very distinguished British engineers could not get their heads around that. As Whittle and his young family stood outside their Warwickshire home to witness the November 1940 bombing raid on Coventry, he was in despair. "He was born and bred Coventry," said Ian. "It was awful for my father. On 15 May 1941, Whittle and a party of interested engineers and RAF...