Commercial Jet Airplanes

The development of military jets led to new engines for airliners. The first jetliners were introduced in the 1950s. They were used mostly on long-distance air routes across oceans and continents. Their great power enabled jetliners to fly nearly twice as high as the older piston – engine planes. Flying above the worst of the weather, the jetliners gave passen­gers a smoother flight. They also were almost twice as fast as the older air­planes, so journey times were halved. In later years, smaller jet planes were developed for shorter routes.

Modern jet engines are amazingly powerful. The most powerful is the General Electric GE90-115B, developed for the Boeing 777 airliner. This engine produces as much power as ten of the engines that powered the first U. S. jet­liner, the Boeing 707.

Jet power does not always require enormous engines. At the opposite end of the size scale, there are miniature jet engines that are small enough to sit in someone’s hand. Tiny jets like these are powerful enough to propel radio – controlled model aircraft.

Jets in Space

Jet engines do not work in space because they need oxygen in the atmos­phere to burn their fuel, and there is no atmosphere in space. Jet power is used