A comparison of jet engines. Microsoft Illustration
Frank Whittle and his early jet engine.
Microsoft Illustration |
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The jet engine was invented by Frank Whittle in 1937. It
was not until 1939, however, when it was first used to power a working airplane, in
Germany.Ever since the
development of the first jet engine, people were able to make many improvements to it. We
have invented a jet engine that doubles the thrust of the first jet engine. Many things
were developed as a result of this particular invention. Such engines are the engines used
in jumbo jets, airfreight, and military aircraft. There are now many varients on the
original jet engine, including the turbo-jet, the ram-jet, and the high bypass jet engine,
which is used to power many modern aircraft.
The air entering at the front has its pressure
increased by about 20 times in a rotary compressor. The air becomes heated by compression
and passes through to a combustion chamber where fuel is injected and burned. The air is
super-heated and expanding gases that result can escape at tremendous velocity backward
through a constricting jet nozzle. Their action produces an equal and opposite reaction
that thrusts the aircraft forward. The escaping gases turn turbine vanes drive the air
compressor at the front of the engine, which drags more air into the engine.
Without the invention of the jet
engine many of the transportation we have today wouldn’t exist. Most commercial and
many business aircraft today depend on the jet engine as do almost all modern military
aircraft. It has made travelling around this world much quicker and easier. |
