A PROPELLERLESS PLANE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22785, 8 January 1944, Page 5

A PROPELLERLESS PLANE

Production Commenced Revolutionary Development British Official Wireless ’ (8 p.m.) RUGBY, Jan. 6. Aircraft without propellers may become familiar in the near future. A jet-nropelled fighter aircraft has successfully passed experimental tests and will soon be in production. A joint statement by the U.S.A.aF. and R AF. describing this revolutionary development in air warfare says that 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 be built by Power Jet Limited at 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. C Sayers, chief test pilot for the Gloste: Company. It was Group Captain Whittle’s genius and energy that made this fine performance possible. Full Information about the engine was disclosed in July, 1941. to General H. H. Arnold. Chief of the United States Air Force, who, like the R.A.F. and Ministry of Aircraft Production, had the foresight to appreciate its tremendous possibilities. He at once asked that an engine be sent. The engine which made the first flight w’as sent to the General Electrical Company in September. 1941. As the result of. 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 less than six months. An aircraft company, was given an order to build aircraft,, suitable to take two of the engines, and the first flight in the United States was made in less than 12 months. Several hundred successful flights have been carried out since by British pilots in the United States and England, many at high altitudes and extreme sneed without a single mishap. In view of this successful .record and the obvious advantage of the new tvpe 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 trainlpg purposes. The U.S.A.AF. is also giving some to the United States Navy for additional trials and experiment. Principles of Engine Aeroplane jet-propulsion, which "has successfully passed the experimental tests and will soon be in production ends the needs for the orthodox engine, and airscrew, says the aeronautical writer of “The Times.” 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 ,j§,, drawn into ducts in the leading edges of the wings or nose of the fuselage. . It is then mixed with liquid fuel, com- ■ pressed bv a turbo-driven impeller and fired in the combustion chamber. Then expanded bv the head, it is forced out at high speeds 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 also presents 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 Coy. two years ago disclosed that it had made successful flights with Jetpropelled planes, but the performance mentioned was 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 the new fighters may soon make their debut on the war fronts. Some observers believe that the planes are already in action, stating 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.