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Engine

Jet engine

Aircraft Engines

The jet engine is a type of reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of heated gas, usually air, to generate thrust by jet propulsion, typically using a rotating compressor driven by a turbine in a Brayton thermodynamic cycle. Britain's Frank Whittle and Germany's Hans von Ohain independently developed practical turbojets in the 1930s, Whittle patenting a centrifugal flow design in 1932 and von Ohain an axial flow design later adopted by most manufacturers, and the jet engine went on to transform aviation, enabling routine long-haul flight by aircraft with far fewer engines than the piston era required.

Connections

Exemplified By

Early British turbojet, a direct instance of the jet-engine class

Pioneered By

Frank Whittle, Figures

Patented the turbojet and built the first British jet engine

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