A diagram showing the difference between a turbojet engine and a turbofan engine
The Jet Engine is a type of reaction engine which discharges a fast-moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion. Normally, the term refers to an air-breathing jet engine in which they exist in both scientific and magical versions in the New World.
Overview[]
The basic function of a jet engine is as follows:
- Air is drawn in through the front by an intake.
- Air is combined with fuel and ignited.
- The reaction of combustion is then expelled through a rear nozzle. By Newton's Third Law, for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. The resulting thrust propels the engine forward.
Types of Jet Engine[]
Pulse Jet[]
The pulse jet is a very simplistic design and has no turbine. The engine is able to produce thrust even when standing still, but it is noisy, has poor compression ratio, and can only generate thrust in short bursts or pulses. The Light-Discharge Air-Compression Engine is similar to the pulse jet.
Ramjet[]
A ramjet is another jet engine that uses no turbine, but unlike the pulse jet, it cannot produce thrust when it isn't moving. Instead, it can only operate when the aircraft is already moving. Its peak performance is when it reaches supersonic speeds. The SR-71 Blackbird switches to ramjet function after breaking the sound barrier.
Turbojet[]
Turbojet is the first gas turbine engine used for aircraft. The turbojet is very efficient in supersonic flight but problematic in subsonic flight, especially in terms of fuel consumption. Mostly, the turbojet nowadays is used for guided missiles propulsion.
Turbofan[]
Turbofan is the step-up version of the turbojet engine. There are two types of turbofan engine, the high-bypass turbofan that is used mainly for commercial flight and transport aircraft and the low-bypass turbofan that is used for military fighter planes. Both types increase the amount of air intake, thereby increasing air-compression. This gives the engine better fuel-efficiency at subsonic speeds. Since constant supersonic speeds are not necessary, the turbofan is generally the preferred type.
Jet Engines in the New World.[]
Third Civilization Area and Outside the Civilized Areas[]
Since most nations rely on Wyverns and other flying beasts for flight, jet propulsion is basically unknown and seen as miraculous.
Second Civilization Area[]
The nation of Mu was able to develop flight through mechanical means. However, they relied on their internal combustion engine to drive propellers to generate thrust, instead of using the chemical reaction itself. Though they were aware of the jet-propelled aircraft of the Holy Milishial Empire, they lacked both the magic and fundamental knowledge of jet propulsion to develop similar technology.
With the arrival of Japan, Mu engineers see that jet propulsion is possible through scientific means and are now trying to learn the fundamentals of Japanese jet technology. They were also able to build the X Shinden Kai, Mu's first prototype jet fighter. However, this was achieved by cobbling together existing Japanese materials and designs as well as using an XF3-400 engine from a Kawasaki T-4 Trainer Jet Aircraft. Mu has yet to develop a jet engine on its own.
Gra Valkas Empire[]
The Gra Valkas Empire have attempted to develop their own jet aircraft, but would eventually abandon the project due to high cost. As a result, their propeller-driven planes are superior to all other New World aircraft, but are lacking against Japan's.
First Civilization Area[]
Through their research of the Ravernal Empire's technology, the Holy Milishial Empire was able to reverse-engineer a crude copy of their magical jet engines. These are the Chant Powered, Light Magic-Compressed Air Discharge Engine. However, due to the Milishial engineers not understanding the basic fundamentals of jet propulsion and the engines lacking turbines, their shoddy copies of the original magical engines have poor performance and are drastically underpowered.
Japan[]
Arriving with 21st century technology, Japan's jets are the result of decades of experimentation and refinement. Even early and outdated turbojet designs are seen as very advanced by the other nations. The jet fighters of the JSDF are considered the mightiest in the skies of the New World and civilian jet transport are the envy of all other countries. With the ability to achieve Supersonic Flight, Japan has set the bar quite high for the rest of the New World to reach.