A. R. Howell — Father of the British Axial Compressor

The history of Sir Frank Whittle’s invention of the jet engine is well known. Somewhat less well known is that the Royal Aircraft Establishment embarked in 1926 on developing the gas turbine as a way of driving a propeller. In 1938, A.R.Howell joined the team as a new graduate, and by 1944 he had played a major role in evolving successful axial compressor design methods, which were used in the first two generations of UK gas turbine engines. He was appointed Head of Aerodynamics Department in the National Gas Turbine Establishment when it was created in 1946, and led that team for twenty years. For many years he was a key figure in compressor design in the UK. He returned to personal research before retiring in 1980, and he died in 1988. This paper summarises his personal research contributions and some of the pioneering research he led in NGTE.