Albert Fonó

Who was Albert Fonó?

Albert Fonó, a successful Hungarian mechanical engineer who was one of the early pioneers of turbojet and ramjet propulsion and was first to patent a ramjet engine in 1928,.

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.

His main specialty was energetics. He had 46 patents in 20 topics of research, including a steam boiler and an air compressor for mines. In 1915 he devised a solution for increasing the range of artillery, comprising a gun-launched projectile combined 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.

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.