World War Two JET POWER

"Greetings, this is Greg" Best intro ever. 😎

To quote John Boyd: “Cold air comes in the front door, hot air goes out the back door, and it goes faster, and we call that thrust.”

Norbert Riedel, the engineer who designed the starter motor for the German jet engines, actually went on to design and build motorcycles after the war.

Hi Greg. I believe the Ju287 was never meant as a production/service aircraft, but as a developmental type. Engine placement for jet powered bombers in future was being trialed on it, as well as the novel concept of the FSW (Forward Swept Wing) paradigm. Spatted landing gear were natural for this, especially as the plane was being glued together out of the parts of other aircraft in every way possible. And the Ju287 wasn't a "four engine bomber" as 6 engines were also trialled on it. It was a purely experimental airframe and retractable gear was a later step. Also, how many experimental and prototype planes were lost because of gear failures? A lot. By that measure, the Ju287 (a shoestring project) was the safer alternative.

I could listen to Greg lecture all damn day on history of any kind..He'd be the kind of teacher you'd never show up late to class for..

Thank you for that video. The best report on the theme I have ever seen. The Ju 287 V-1 was a pure low speed testbed for the forward swept wing. It was never ment to fly fast. It had almost nothing to do with the planned production version. It was a real Frankenstein. The fuselage came from a He 177, the tailplanes from a tail turret equipped Ju 188 or 388 prototype, the main landing gear from a Ju 352 and front landing gears in their previous life had been the main landing gears of a downed B-24! It was powered by 4 Jumo 004. The V-2 was basically the same, but with 6 BMW 003. The incomplete V-3 and planned production aircraft had a completely different fuselage, based on Ju 288 and 388 parts and of course with fully retractable landing gears. They were planned to be powered by 6 BMWs. When the Ju 287 V-1 was ready to be tested, there were no airworthy BMW 003 availlable. Some months later the situation changed. Now, BMW 003 were availlable, but Jumo 004 were in short supply, because every 004 was desperately needed for Me 262 and Ar 234. The developement was continued in the USSR as the EF-131 that reused many parts from the wartime prototypes and later with the heavier EF-140, until everything was stopped in favour of domestic sowjet designs with backward swept wings.

The Meteor first flew with an axial engine. The Brits opted for a centrifugal engine because it lasted much longer than the early axial engines. Realize also that the Mig-15 had a centrifugal engine (of British design) and did pretty well against the F-86 with an axial engine.

Greg is the GOAT. Best underrated channel in youtube without doubt

This is the first time I've had a jet engine explained to me where I very nearly understood it! Thanks Greg!

I can't wait for more of the soothing dulcet tones of Greg as he educates us on the engineering of airplanes I grew up loving. My flight instructor in the mid 70's was himself a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain- Like most from that era he was not a talker. Sadly I don't even know if he was in a Hurricane or Spitfire, I regret my shyness. He became my commander at Fulton Airbase and was a great guy and originally my chemistry teacher at my academy. He would highly approve of this. I got to be a Flight Sgt but my poor eyesight doomed my career so I quit, immigrating to NYC dec 1979 never to return to the UK. Never regretted the decision but missed the flying. My childhood dream Greg!

Since I was a kid looking in the encyclopedia and library books -- I'm 60 now -- I have never heard an explanation of why air is not simply pushed into a spiral through the compressor blades with each stage simply increasing the speed of the spirol instead of increasing the compression. Every diagram, video, and graphic I can recall has shown the entire compressor section to be turning along the axis. Until now I have never heard the term stator blades nor heard that they remain static within the compressor group. Finally everything makes sense and I don't feel like I just can't comprehend jet engines. An immense thank you to you, Greg!

Still blows my mind that they were started like a Lawn Boy.

I'm a 1941 metrovick f2 man myself, developed later into the sapphire but not really during the war as us backward brits had jet engines coming out of our ears

An excellent update of your original vid Greg. First time I heard of the afterburner 004! As for short life, Bob Strobel, responsible capturing ME262s, crew chiefs, designers and pilots for Watson’s Wizzers and flying them to Cherbourg for transfer to the US, Bob Strobel says on film that he ‘knows for a fact, that the 262 engine took only 30 minutes to exchange’ as opposed to two/three days for an ICE V12.

SIDE NOTE: The BMW 003 combustor looks very much like the GE90/GEnx combustor! It is a twin annular design with a bunch of small flame "cups" in a circle within a single annular chamber.

Instant upvote for not erroneously pronouncing Messerschmidt as Meshersmidt like everyone else does.

The D ring 2 stroke starter like a lawn mower continues to blow me away. I think they used a starter kart normally but if they were hiding on the autobahn they used the pull starter . It was pure genius !

One important distinction between a jet and a piston engine is "what happens when the fuel is burned". In a piston engine, the fuel is burned at constant volume; pressure and temperature increase dramatically. In a jet engine, the fuel is burned at constant pressure; the volume and temperature increase. The highest pressure in a jet engine is at the output of the compressor, not in the combustion chamber- this is why flames don't (normally) come out the front.

I remember "holding" short of the runway, behind a post-war T33 with the "take off when clear" instruction. The T33 started it's takeoff roll so I waited for a bit before pulling out onto the active runway. I lined up and looked ahead to get a visual on the plane. I looked up...higher...higher...higher. I literally had to lean forward to catch a glimpse of the antique silver jet punching a hole in the sky. At that point I understood what a jet was.

The engine designers certainly nailed it first time,, good to hear them getting the credit they deserve.