Jet Aircraft

A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as 10,000–15,000 metres (33,000–49,000 ft). At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower altitudes. Some jet aircraft can move faster than sound.

Frank Whittle an English inventor and RAF officer developed the concept of the jet engine in 1928, Hans von Ohain in Germany, a decade later developed the concept independently at the end of the 1930s. He wrote in February 1936 to Ernst Heinkel, telling him of the design and its possibilities. However, it can be argued that the British engineer A. A. Griffith, who published a paper in July 1926 on compressors and turbines, also deserves credit.