The History Of Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine Development In The United States

This absorbing, anecdotal history of gas turbine aircraft engine development in the United States was ten years in the making. It spans over 50 years of scientific discovery, corporate intrigue, and insight into the minds of the inventors, the sponsors, and the manufacturers. It conveys the danger of world war and the tension of the Cold War. Approximately 600 pages, it includes 19 chapters and 68 engine addenda, plus hundreds of photographs and figures, a comprehensive index, engine specifications, and performance ratings.

This landmark joint publication between the National Air and Space Museum and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics chronicles the evolution of the small gas turbine engine through its comprehensive study of a major aerospace industry. Drawing on in-depth interviews with pioneers, current project engineers, and company managers, engineering papers published by the manufacturers, and the tremendous document and artifact collections at the National Air and Space Museum, the book captures and memorializes small engine development from its earliest stage. Leyes and Fleming leap back nearly 50 years for a first look at small gas turbine engine development and the seven major corporations that dared to produce, market, and distribute the products that contributed to major improvements and uses of a wide spectrum of aircraft. In non-technical language, the book illustrates the broad-reaching influence of small turbinesfrom commercial and executive aircraft to helicopters and missiles deployed in recent military engagements. Detailed corporate histories and photographs paint a clear historical picture of turbine development up to the present. See for yourself why The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines is the most definitive reference book in its field. The publication of The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines represents an important milestone for the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). For the first time, there is an authoritative study of small gas turbine engines, arguably one of the most significant spheres of aeronautical technology in the second half o

Traces the history and development of the jet engine

The primary human activities that release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere are the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) to generate electricity, the provision of energy for transportation, and as a consequence of some industrial processes. Although aviation CO2 emissions only make up approximately 2.0 to 2.5 percent of total global annual CO2 emissions, research to reduce CO2 emissions is urgent because (1) such reductions may be legislated even as commercial air travel grows, (2) because it takes new technology a long time to propagate into and through the aviation fleet, and (3) because of the ongoing impact of global CO2 emissions. Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research develops a national research agenda for reducing CO2 emissions from commercial aviation. This report focuses on propulsion and energy technologies for reducing carbon emissions from large, commercial aircraftâ€" single-aisle and twin-aisle aircraft that carry 100 or more passengersâ€"because such aircraft account for more than 90 percent of global emissions from commercial aircraft. Moreover, while smaller aircraft also emit CO2, they make only a minor contribution to global emissions, and many technologies that reduce CO2 emissions for large aircraft also apply to smaller aircraft. As commercial aviation continues to grow in terms of revenue-passenger miles and cargo ton miles, CO2 emissions are expected to increase. To reduce the contribution of aviation to climate change, it is essential to improve the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to reduce emissions and initiate research into new approaches.

The German war machine resulted in many innovations in jet engine and gas turbine development. The most noteworthy was the Me262, the world's first operational jet fighting aircraft.

Our stories of industrial innovation tend to focus on individual initiative and breakthroughs. Hermione Giffard uses the case of the development of jet engines to offer a different way of understanding technological innovation, revealing the complicated mix of factors that go into any decision to pursue an innovative, and therefore risky technology.

From propellers to turbofans, this illustrated history of engines will be “of interest to modelers and aviation historians alike” (AMPS Indianapolis). The first efforts of man to fly were limited by his ability to generate sufficient power to lift a heavier-than-air machine off the ground. Propulsion and thrust have therefore been the most fundamental elements in the development of aircraft engines. From the simple propellers of the first airliners of the 1920s and 1930s, to the turboprops and turbojets of the modern era, the engines used in airliners have undergone dramatic development over a century of remarkable change. These advances are examined in detail by aeronautical engineer Reiner Decher, who provides a layman’s guide to the engines that have, and continue to, power the aircraft that carry millions of travelers across millions of miles each year. Decher also looks at the development of aero engines during the Second World War and how that conflict drove innovation and explains the nature of wing design, from the early twentieth century to the present. To enable an easy understanding of this intriguing subject, Powering the World’s Airliners is profusely illustrated, transporting readers back to the time of each major development and introducing them to the key individuals of the aero industry in each era. After reading this comprehensive yet engaging story of the machines that power the aircraft in which we fly, no journey will ever seem quite the same again.