Revolutionary Development In Air Warfare

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 6, 8 January 1944, Page 5

Revolutionary Development In Air Warfare

(British Official Wireless.) Received Friday, 9.20 p.m.

RUGBY, Jan. 6.

Aircraft without propellers may become familiar in the near future. Jetpropelled fighter aircraft have successfully passed the experimental tests and will soon he in production. A joint statement by the U.S.A.A.F. and R.A.F. describing this revolutionary development in air warfare says the work was started in Britain in 1933 by Group Captain Frank Whittle. The first engine ran successfully in April 1937 and the Air Ministry placed its first order in 1939 for aircraft using jet propulsion engines with the Gloster Aircraft Company. The engines were to he built by Power Jet Limited’s special factory in England to whom Group Captain Whittle was loaned. The first successful flight was in May 1941 and the pilot was Flight Lieutenant P. G. Sayers, chief test pilot of the Gloster Company. It was Whittle’s genius and energy that made this fine performance possible. Pull information about the engine was disclosed in July 1941 to General Arnold, Chief of the United States Air Force, who, like the RA..F. and the Ministry of Aircraft Production, had the foresight to appreciate the tremendous possibilities. He at once asked that an engine be sent. The engine which made the first flight was sent to the General Electrical Company in September 1941, and as a result of close cooperation between the two air forces and their material suppliers and the General Electrical Company a number of these engines were built. The first was ready for test in under six months. An aircraft company was given an order to build aircraft suitable to take two engines and tbe first flight in the United States was made in under twelve months.

Several hundred successful flights have been carried out since by British pilots in the United States and in England, many at high altitudes and extreme speed without a single mishap. In view of this successful record and the obvious advantage of the new type of aircraft, General Arnold, the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Aircraft Production directed that plans be made for the production in the United States and England of a sufficient quantity for training purposes. The U.S.A.A.P. is also giving some to the United States Navy for additional trials and experiment.

“The aeroplane jet propulsion, which has successfully passed its experimental tests and will soon be in production, ends the need for the orthodox engine and airscrew,” says the Times’ aeronautical writer. The new type of plane without an airscrew has no need for a heavy undercarriage which is merely dead weight when the plane is airborne. There are many varieties of the jet propulsion system, but broadly the principle is that air is drawn into ducts in the leading edges of the wings or nose of the fuselage. It is then mixed with liquid fuel, compressed by a turbodriven impeller and fired in a combustion chamber. Then it is expanded by heat and forced out at high speed through jets or nozzles emerging from the rear edges of the wings or from the tail of the fuselage. The jet propulsion system may not only have extremely important war applications, but will also present tremendous possibilities for air transport after the war. Big strides have already been made though many problems remain to be solved, among them fuel consumption. The Italian Caproni Aircraft Company two years ago disclosed that it had made successful flights with jetpropelled planes, hut the performance was mentioned as not impressive though it may have been better than the published results.

The Washington correspondent of the New York Times says the indications are that new fighters will soon make their debut on the war fronts. Some observers believe the planes are already in action, stating that it is the standard British and American practice not to announce a new weapon until it has been tried against the enemy and the enemy is aware of its existence.