Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (died 1998)

Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain was a German physicist, engineer, and the designer of the first aircraft to use a turbojet engine. Together with Frank Whittle and Anselm Franz, he has been described as the co-inventor of the turbojet engine. However, the historical timelines show that von Ohain was still a university student when, in January 1930, Whittle filed his first patent for a turbojet engine and successfully tested his first engine in April 1937, some 6 months before von Ohain. Additionally, prior to building his engine and filing his own patent in 1935, von Ohain had read and critiqued Whittle's patents. Von Ohain stated in his biography that "My interest in jet propulsion began in the fall of 1933 when I was in my seventh semester at Göttingen University. I didn't know that many people before me had the same thought." Unlike Whittle, von Ohain had the significant advantage of being supported by an aircraft manufacturer, Heinkel, who funded his work.