Hayne Constant, CB,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

., MA., FRAeS., FRS, (26 September 1904 – 12 January 1968) was an English mechanical and aeronautical engineer who developed jet engines during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Education

Constant was born at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

, the son of Frederick Charles Constant and his wife Mary Theresa (Tissie) Hayne. His father was a dental surgeon in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

. Hayne was educated at King's College Choir School Cambridge,

King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

, The Technical Institute Folkestone, Sir Roger Manwood's School,

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

Career

Constant stayed at Cambridge for a post graduate year in 1927/28 and then joined the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

at Farnborough. He became a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. After six years he joined

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

. In 1936

Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...

persuaded Constant to return to the RAE from Imperial College to help with the development of A. A. Griffith's

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

engine designs. A series of engines to Griffith's design were built under Constant's direction at the RAE. He was the Head of the Research Department at Power Jets (R&D) from 1944 to 1946. Hayne was director of the National Gas Turbine Establishment from 1948 to 1960, and was awarded the Gold Medal of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

in 1963 for his outstanding contribution to gas turbine development. In 1964 he became Chief Scientist (R.A.F.) at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Constant died unmarried at the age of 63.

References

External links

News item on the death of Constant in ''Flight''

an excerpt from a Hayne Constant lecture in a 1957 issue of ''

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

'' - Part 1
"Gas Turbine Development"
an excerpt from a Hayne Constant lecture in a 1957 issue of ''Flight'' - Part 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Constant, Hayne 1904 births 1968 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge English aerospace engineers Fellows of the Royal Society Jet engine pioneers People educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School Power Jets Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire