Catalogue description Records of the National Gas Turbine Establishment and predecessors

The National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE) which was created in June 1946 and formerly known as Power Jets (Research and Development) Ltd, originated in the merger, under the aegis of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, of Power Jets Ltd and the Gas Turbine section of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Pyestock in 1944. This followed the purchase by the government of Power Jets Ltd, which had been formed by flight lieutenant Frank Whittle in 1936 to develop the jet engine.

The NGTE was responsible for basic research and development of gas turbine and related jet propulsion engines, including the experimental design of components for test purposes and the associated design of test apparatus and equipment. The results of their investigations and suggested improvements in component design were made available for both service departments and industry by way of technical reports and meetings with interested bodies.

Control of the establishment passed to the Ministry of Supply in 1946, Ministry of Aviation in 1959 and then with each successive change in departmental organisation to the Ministry of Technology in 1966 and the Ministry of Aviation Supply in 1970. The Ministry of Defence took over control in 1971 and this led to the absorption by NGTE of both the Admiralty Engineering Laboratory and the Admiralty Oil Laboratory in 1977 as outstations. In 1982 NGTE was itself absorbed in the Royal Aircraft Establishment as RAE Pyestock.