sentences:  Frank Whittle, the aerospace engineer and jet pioneer, was born in Earlsdon, and the house in Newcombe Road that he grew up in, which has a commemorative plaque on it, is about half a mile from the common.He was apparently inspired to pursue a career in engineering after seeing an aircraft land on Hearsall Common in 1916, from which grew the urban myth that the aircraft blew his hat off and this in particular inspired him, as a young boy, to become involved in aeronautics.A plaque on the common alludes to this story.