I found this
article in the April 1945 issue of "Mechanix
Illustrated" magazine (no longer published). As I said
before, jet engines were new to the general public and held a
deep fascination to the inventors and tinkerers of the time. This
offer from the magazine demonstrates this keen interest.
I just wonder if anyone collected the $350 in prizes.
The following
illustrations were meant to be helpful hints
for designing a working engine. Some ideas were being worked
on at the time but none were considered successful. With a fresh
approach, it was hoped that someone might make one work.
Figure 3 (below)
was similar to a modern jet engine, but used a small
reciprocating engine to drive the compressor instead of a turbine
in the exhaust.
Figure 4 was even more of an odd idea that came so close to the
modern engine.
It used a turbine spinning from the incoming air to operate a
rotary valve and
set of contact points to fire a spark plug. It might have been
better to have had
the valve powered by a turbine in the exhaust.
WHOA!!! What's
this? A disclaimer in 1945?
You should never hug a hot jet engine.
E-mail: turbojer@geetel.net
