The jet engine was developed in the late 1930s as an alternative to propellers, accelerating a smaller mass of air to high speeds. The first jet aircraft was flown in 1939, and the design was implemented in the 1960s. Jet engines work through a four-stroke cycle and come in various designs for different speeds and altitudes.
The gas turbine, or jet engine, was the first alternative to the propeller as a means of providing thrust to move an aircraft across the sky. Like most engines, the jet is an internal combustion engine, producing thrust through the classic four-stroke cycle: induction, compression, ignition and exhaust. Unlike propeller-driven aircraft, which convert superheated internal combustion exhaust into mechanical power to drive a rotor, jet engine thrust comes directly from the exhaust, which is expelled from the rear of the tube-shaped engine. While the top speed of a propeller-driven aircraft is about Mach 0.8, various jets can reach speeds of Mach 15 or higher (see scramjet), although Mach 1.0 to 2.0 is more typical.
The world’s first jet-engined aircraft, the He 178, was designed during the late 1930s by German engineer Hans von Ohain and flown from Marienehe Airport by test pilot Erich Warsitz on 27 August 1939. L England flew its first jet aircraft in 1941. The designs that were born were not implemented until the 1960s. The creation of the jetplane was an aviation milestone not seen since the Wright brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk.
The jet engine was originally developed to overcome the diminishing returns of propeller-based designs as the radial velocity of the propellers began to approach the speed of sound. As opposed to accelerating a large mass of air a little, as in a propeller, the jet engine works on the principle of accelerating a smaller mass of air to a very high speed. Instead of being mounted in the front of an aircraft like a propeller, a jet engine is mounted on the wings or rear of an aircraft.
The jet cycle begins when fast-moving air is drawn into a chamber at the front of the engine, then compressed by a series of blades moving at progressively higher RPM. The intake port, as it draws air directly from the aircraft’s flight path, is covered with a wire mesh or grille to prevent foreign matter from entering. When the moving air has reached a high level of compression, it is combined with the fuel and ignited, being expelled from the exhaust port at the rear of the jet engine. Due to the enormous amount of heat generated, sophisticated cooling systems are required to keep the internal engine parts from melting.
There are many different variations on the jet engine design, mixing different structures and techniques to create jet aircraft suitable for different speeds and altitudes. These variants include the turbojet, turbofan, ramjet, scramjet, pulsejet and many more.
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