JET-PROPELLED FIGHTER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 8 January 1944, Page 5

JET-PROPELLED FIGHTER

EARLY USE EXPECTED SUCCESSFUL TESTS MADE London, Jan. 6. Aircraft without propellors may become familiar in the near future. Jet-propelled fighter aircraft have successfully passed* - the experimental tests and will soon be in production. A joint statement by the U.S.A.A.F. and the 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. The Air Ministry placed the first order in 1939 for aircraft using jet propulsion engines with the Gloster Aircraft Company. The engines were to be built by Power Jet Limited in a special factory in England to whom Group Captain Whittle was loaned. The first successful flight was in May, 1941. The pilot was Flight Lieutenant P. G. Sayers, chief test pilot to the Gloster Company. It was Group Captain Whittle’s genius and energy th|t made this fine performance possible. CO-OPERATION WITH U.S. Full information about the engine was disclosed in July, 1941, to General Arnold, Chief of the United States Air Force, who, like the R.A.F. and the Ministry of Aircraft Production, had the foresight to appreciate its tremendous possibilities. He at once asked that the engine b e sent to the United States. The engine which made the first flight was sent to the General Electrical Company in September 1941. As a result of the close co-operation 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 the first flight in the United States was made in under 12 months. Several hundred successful flights have been carried out since by British pilots in the United States and England. many at high altitudes at 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 plans to be made for production in the United States and England of a sufficient quantity for training purposes. The U.S.A.A.F. has also given some to the United States Navy for additional trials and experiment. PRINCIPLE OUTLINED Jet-propelled aeroplanes, which have successfully passed the experimental tests and will soon be in production. end the need for the orthodox engine and airscrew, says “The Times” aeronautical writer. The new type of plane without an airscrew has need for the 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 the ducts in the leading edgqf of the wings or nose fuselage. It is then mixed with liquid fuel compressed by a turbodriven impeller and fired in the combustion chamber then, expanded by heat, it is forced out at high speed through jets or nozzles emerging from the rear edges of the wings or from the tail fuselage. The jet propulsion system may not only have extremely important war applications. but may 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 jet propelled planes, but their performance was mentioned as not impressive, though they 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-American practice not to announce a new weapon till it has been tried against the enemy and the enemy is aware of its existence.