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Quest for Performance: The Evolution
of Modern Aircraft
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- Part II: THE JET AGE
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- Chapter 9
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- Introduction
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- [219] The
development of the propeller-driven aircraft from a curiosity to a
highly useful machine has been described in part I of this volume.
As the first 40 years of powered flight drew to a close, aircraft
equipped with reciprocating engines had about reached the end of
their development in what must be ranked as one of the most
spectacular engineering achievements in history. Although some
further technical refinement was possible, the technology of that
class of aircraft had reached a plateau with little prospect of
major improvement in the future. In the closing months of World
War II, however, there emerged a revolutionary new type of
propulsion system: the jet engine. Although operationally
introduced in somewhat primitive form, the subsequent development
of this entirely new type of propulsion system resulted in
advancements in aircraft design that have been almost as
spectacular as those which characterized the first 40 years of
powered flight.
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- Jet propulsion was initially applied to
military aircraft of various types. Indeed, since the inception of
jet fighters, the performance of these aircraft and their
offensive and defensive weapons have resulted in a capability far
exceeding anything imagined in World War II. Speed, rate of climb,
maneuverability, range, and payload of military aircraft have
increased spectacularly as a result of the turbine engine and
associated radical changes in aircraft design concepts. Maximum
speeds have exceeded Mach 3, and maximum sea-level rates of climb
in excess of 50 000 feet per minute have been achieved with some
modern fighter aircraft. Gross and payload weights of many modern
fighter and attack aircraft are greater than those of heavy
bombers of World War II vintage.
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- Perhaps the greatest impact of the jet
engine on our modern way of life has been in the area of mass
transportation. Introduction of the jet-powered transport in 1952
heralded the beginning of a revolution [220] in domestic
and international air transportation that has accompanied the
development and refinement of the Jet-powered transport. The
modern jet transport with its high speed, safety, and economical
appeal has altered peoples' concepts of the relative accessibility
of various places in the United States and throughout the world.
Methods of communication have accordingly changed, as have methods
of conducting business operations. Whereas air travel was once
regarded as the province of the adventurer and the affluent, all
classes of people are now traveling by air both for business and
pleasure. Americans are traveling today by air in unprecedented
numbers, on schedules undreamed of 20 or 30 years ago, and are
seeing and experiencing cultures in other parts of the country and
the world to an extent that would have been incomprehensible to
past generations.
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- Some indication of the size and scope of
past, present, and projected future airline transport activity is
given in the following tabulation (based on data from refs.
146, 156, and 181):
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|
Year
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Domestic flights, billions of RPM
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International flights, billions of
RPM
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Total
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1949
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-
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-
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8.8
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1959
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25.4
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7.1
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32.5
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1969
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106.0
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30.1
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136.1
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1976
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147.0
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41.5
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188.5
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1986 (projected)
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267.5
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79.0
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346.5
|
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- The total number of revenue passenger
miles (RPM) flown by scheduled United States carriers is seen to
have increased from 8.8 billion in 1949 to 188.5 billion in 1976.
The corresponding number in 1986 is forecast to be 346.5 billion.
Thus, the number of revenue passenger miles has increased by a
factor of more than 20 in the 27-year time period from 1949 to
1976. The introduction of the jet transport marked the beginning
of the end of the ocean-going ship as a serious means of overseas
travel. The statistics in the tabulation show that overseas travel
by air comprised 7.1 billion revenue passenger miles in 1959, 41.5
billion in 1976, and is projected to increase to 79.0 billion by
1986. By way of comparison, in 1939 steamships of all nations are
estimated to have operated about 3 billion revenue passenger miles
[221] between the United States and other
countries of the world. Thus, the airplane has not only supplanted
the steamship but has, in fact, generated a new and greatly
enlarged market for overseas travel. Air travel today is accepted
as a major component of the common-carrier transportation system,
and the modern jet transport is largely responsible for the
revolution that has made air travel for the masses what it is
today.
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- The technology, development, and design
features of various types of civil and military jet-powered
aircraft are discussed in part II of this book. To limit the scope
of the material, the discussion is restricted, as in part I,
primarily to aircraft developed in the United States. No adverse
reflection on the quality of the many fine foreign designs
developed over the years is intended by their exclusion.
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- The aircraft discussed, together with some
of their performance and physical characteristics, are listed in
tables V to VIII in appendix A. The quantities tabulated are defined in the list
of symbols contained in appendix B and generally require no further elaboration. Some
of the quantities listed are discussed in more detail in the
introduction to part 1. The references used in obtaining the
characteristics of the aircraft are listed in the tables or are
specifically cited in the text. Jane's All the World's Aircraft (refs. 125 to 131) has been used extensively in compiling the
characteristics of the aircraft presented in the tables, as have
various directory issues of Flight
International Magazine (for
example, refs. 150, 167, 168, and 177) and other well-known reference works. A few
references that provide useful background material but are not
specifically cited are offered for additional reading on the
subject of aircraft development. For convenience, references
132 to 210 are listed alphabetically.
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