Albert Fonó

Albert Fonó (1881, Budapest - 1972, Budapest), was a Hungarian mechanical engineer who was one of the early pioneers of turbojet and ramjet propulsion and was first to patent a turbojet engine, in 1928, predating both Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain.

Fonó graduated from the József Technical University in Budapest in 1903 and travelled widely, gaining experience working for German, Belgian, French and Swiss manufacturers, before attaining his Ph.D.

In 1915 he devised a solution for increasing the range of artillery, comprising a gun-launched projectile which was to be united with a ramjet propulsion unit. This was to make it possible to obtain a long range with low initial muzzle velocities, allowing heavy shells to be fired from relatively lightweight guns. Fonó submitted his invention to the Austro-Hungarian Army but the proposal was rejected.*Citation | last1 = Gyorgy | first1 = Nagy Istvan | contribution = Albert Fono: A Pioneer of Jet Propulsion | title = International Astronautical Congress, 1977 | publisher = IAF/IAA | date = | year = 1977 | contribution-url = http://iaaweb.org/iaa/Studies/history.pdf ]

After World War I Fonó returned to the subject of jet propulsion, in May 1928 describing an "air-jet engine" which he described as being suitable for high-altitude supersonic aircraft, in a German patent application. In an additional patent application he adapted the engine for subsonic speed. The patent was finally granted in 1932 after four years of examination (German Patent No. 554,906, 1932-11-02). [cite book | last = Dugger | first = Gordon L. | coauthors = | title = Ramjets | publisher = American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | year = 1969 | pages = p. 15 | month = | isbn = ]

From 1954 he was a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and received the Hungarian Kossuth Prize in 1956 (awarded for outstanding merit in the cultural and artistic fields). In 1968 he became a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Finally, in 1960, the American Rocket Society reviewed his patents and acknowledged him as the inventor of the jet engine.Fact|date=June 2008

He is remembered by the Albert Fonó Award, which is awarded by the Hungarian Astronautical Society.

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References

*cite book | last = Ordway III | first = Frederick I. | coauthors = | title = 9th - 11th (1975-1977), History of Rocketry and Astronautics | publisher = Univelt Inc. for the American Astronautical Society | year = 1989 | pages = | month = | isbn = 0-87703-309-9