046

Farnborough Air Sciences Museum, Farnborough, England

gkat_046.pdf51° 16′ 56.28″ N, 0° 45′ 10.8″ W

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Making Aircraft Move

The Farnborough Air Sciences Museum has a collection of early aviation equipment focusing on the science of flying. It’s a small and concentrated dose of aircraft and aviation equipment, based on an almost discarded collection of historical artifacts from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.

The most important exhibit is an original jet engine built from Sir Frank Whittle’s design. Whittle patented the jet engine in 1930, and in 1941 the first British jet-powered aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39, was flying. The W2/700 jet engine (see Figure 46-1) on display is the ancestor of all modern jet engines and was the first production jet engine in Britain.

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Figure 46-1. Whittle W2/700 jet engine

There’s an early afterburner (called at the time an “augmenter”) that was designed to fit behind the Whittle engine and generate extra thrust by injecting fuel ...

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