††A jet engine is a powerful engine used in aircraft and ships. It works by releasing hot gases under great pressure from the back of the engine. This pushes the engine forward. In 1680 Isaac Newton thought of a way of using a jet of steam to propel a carriage. This is considered to be an early reference to the principle of jet propulsion. The first working jet engine was patented by Frank Whittle in 1930 but was not used to power planes at the time. In 1939 a version built by a German aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel became the first jet engine to successfully take to the skies. In 1941 an experimental aircraft with a Whittle jet engine made its first flight.
