JET AIRCRAFT
The jet engine was developed in the late 1930s, both by Hans von Ohain in Germany and Frank Whittle in Britain. The first jet aircraft flew in 1939. Jet engines powered new jet fighters with swept-back wings, such as the MiG-15 and later the Mirage, and a new generation of airliners. Rocket-powered aircraft such as the X-15 were built for research into high-speed flight. The X-15 still holds the world speed record of 7274 kilometres per hour.
The introduction of long-range, economical, jet-powered airliners, such as the De Havilland Comet and the Boeing 707, the first “big jet”, led to a huge boom in airline travel. The first (and so far the only) supersonic airliner, the Concorde, was introduced in 1969, and the first wide-bodied airliner, the Boeing 747, came into operation in 1970.
The latest airliners, fighters such as the Eurofighter, and bombers such as the Northrop B-2, have sophisticated control systems, such as “fly-by-wire”. In an aircraft with a fly-by-wire system, the pilot controls where the aircraft goes, but a computer actually does the flying. In an airliner, fly-by-wire can prevent the pilot making mistakes such as stalling. In a fighter, it allows the pilot to make manoeuvres that would be impossible if he or she were using a standard mechanical control system.
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