Motorjets, an early type of propulsion system, use a separate power source to drive a compressor which forces air into a combustion chamber, providing thrust. Although considered obsolete, hobbyists still use motorjet technology. The Caproni Campini N.1 and the AI Mikoyan-MI Gurevich I-250(N) are examples of aircraft that employed motorjets. Turbojet technology became the norm as the need for more powerful jet aircraft grew.
An engine jet, also called a thermojet or jet hubrid, is an early type of propulsion system in which a separate power source, usually a piston engine, drives a compressor. This compressor forces cold intake air into a combustion chamber, where the air ignites and accelerates through the exhaust, providing thrust. Motorjet technology is similar to that of modern ducted motor fans. Many aviation researchers experimented with this form of propulsion system in the early 20th century, but it was superseded by turbojet technology shortly after World War II. Although motorjets are considered almost commercially obsolete, dedicated hobbyists regularly employ motorjet technology when building RC airplanes and models.
Rene Lorin first experimented with motorboats in 1908. The French intended motorboats to be attached to the wings of aircraft to provide thrust, which would have been possible because motorboats were independent of the crankshaft. Others picked up on the concept and used the motorjet in their own designs. An engine jet built by Henri Coanda powered the first jet-powered flight in 1910, though historians dispute his claims that the plane ever flew. The term was patented in 1917.
The two most commonly known aircraft to employ the motorjet are the Caproni Campini N.1 and the AI Mikoyan-MI Gurevich I-250(N). The Caproni Campini was an Italian experimental research aircraft developed in 1939 and studied until the early 1940s. The term termojet was coined by Campini at this time. The Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) was a Soviet jet aircraft that was the only jet engine used by a military. It flew from 1946 to 1950 and was considered a hybrid as it also had a nose propeller.
At the end of World War II, the Japanese also experimented with the concept. They developed the Tsu-11 jet engine that was used in the Japanese Ohka kamikaze plane. It was reasoned that the use of the Tsu-11 would outweigh a great liability of the aircraft. It had to get very close to enemy aircraft to attack and was frequently shot down before it could carry out its mission, a problem the Japanese hoped the Tsu-11 would correct. An example of this is at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
In 1942, the Americans investigated motorcycle jets in the Naca Jeep project, but never completed the investigation due to interest in turbojets. The German company BMW experimented with jet engines and turbojets in the early 1940s. By the late 1940s, interest in power engines had waned because turbojets tend to be more fuel efficient than engines.
As the need for more powerful jet aircraft grew, turbojet technology became the norm. Some argue that powerboats are actually more fuel efficient than turbojets at the lower speeds, lower altitudes, and shorter flights that characterize most air travel. Although jet engines are generally considered a primitive type of jet power for commercial use, they are enjoyed by many airplane hobbyists as they are easy to build.
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