Harnessed lightning.

[Applause] [Music] you small fry are experimenting with jet propulsion and that's all right because in the world you'll be in charge of Tomorrow jet propulsion will be a standard method of getting around you'll understand why those Jets zip through the air when you understand that the principle behind the balloon and the Jet is the same when a balloon is blown up it is full of potential energy in the form of air pressure however nothing will happen as long as the opening is held shut but when you let it go the air rushes from the opening at high speed the balloon travels in a direction opposite to the flow of air escaping from the balloon this action can be explained by Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in this example of Sir Isaac Newton's law the action that is the force of the air escaping from the balloon causes an equal and opposite reaction or Force which pushes the balloon through the air this this is the principle of jet propulsion reduced to its simplest terms and it's been working a long time 200000 years ago hero of Alexandria a famous Greek mathematician experimented with jet propulsion hero developed the first jet engine in fact the first heat engine of any kind instead of using air pressure his engine used steam steam spurted into the air through nozzles and the reactive force in the opposite direction turned the engine it's a long long step from hero of Alexandria's primitive engine to the turbo jet engines of today but that's the step we had to take when late in World War II our army command heard disturbing news the Germans had Jets and as crude as they were by today's standards their speeds far exceeded the best we could throw against them here was a challenge to American Ingenuity using preliminary designs already in existence in both England and this country our Engineers went to work to answer the challenge to build a vast quantity of jet engines in record time this is where the Allison organization came into the picture with the experience of five wartime years in the production of high-speed aircraft engines they had the knowhow and the production facilities to do the jet job in fact since the early days of the Indianapolis Speedway in 1913 Allison had been working on speed and more speed they had helped build the famous Liberty 12 in World War I the first high-powered aircraft engine in our nation's history 20 years later at the approach of World War II they came up with the liquid cooled V 1710 the first 1,000 horsepower engine which successfully met all mil milary specifications more than 70,000 of these compact engines with their 12 cylinders arranged in two Banks of six were delivered to the world's fighting Air Forces this engine powered six of the US Air Force's hardest hitting fighter planes the Curtis P40 Warhawk the Workhorse of the aaf in the early days of the war the Revolutionary Lockheed P38 Lightning the North American p-51a Mustang the Bell P39 air Cobra and p63 king cobra later came the North American f82 twin Mustang the last US Air Force fighter to be powered by reciprocating engines meanwhile the 24 cylinder v3420 had been developed an engine which produced what was then the terrific output of 3,000 horsepower but now the day of the reciprocating engine was fading it had become apparent that in the search for higher horsepower to produce greater airplane speed a new type engine would be required already piston type engines had approached a practical limit in size weight and complication in order to achieve higher horsepowers weight would have to be increased still further and accessories would become even more complicated the gas turbine engin seemed to be the answer for preliminary development had shown that jet engines could produce much more power per pound of weight than any other engine known so in this country the emphasis turned to Jets the need for jets was urgent as we know the jet engine operated on an entirely different principle here's how the modern jet engine works air is drawn into the engine here compressed and forced into the combustion chamber fuel gasoline or kerosene is injected at this point and the mixture of compressed air and fuel is ignited by spark plugs after starting the burning is continuous and the spark plugs are no longer used the hot gases expand rapidly and are directed against the blades of the turban wheel causing it to spin more than half of the power of the gases escaping from the combustion chamber is used to drive the compressor to pump vast quantities of air in a steady flow the rest of the power and the the heated gases rushes into the atmosphere through the tail cone the equal and opposite reaction to this rearward blast is the thrust which drives the airplane forward theory is one thing but putting Theory to work is something else again it takes plenty of knowledge backed up by plenty of facilities and money to put jet engines into the sky here at Allison all the experience and facilities in the field of engines for high speed aircraft were concentrated on the task of developing a jet engine in record time there were more than 4,000 design modifications before the engine came up to required standards for performance and new tooling was required new processes were necessary new Test Facilities needed no engine ever received so much test attention as the jet for technicians were far out in no man's land of scientific exploration the turban blade caused more Sweat and Tears than any other part in the development of the jet engine a single blade which you can hold in your fingers produces more power than the engine in your automobile it rotates at about 12,000 revolutions per minute and is heated almost to the melting point by blazing gases these were problems entirely new in the handling of metals parts were assembled then burned to death over speed tests were run at more than 19,000 revolutions per minute and metals ripped and tore like paper but the design engineers and the metallurgists and the process Engineers came up with the answers this successful jet engine produced more power at less weight than the world had ever known the first Allison jet engine came off the production line on schedule and they kept coming by VJ Day in August 1945 around 60 of these jet engines were coming off the assembly line every month continuing experiments increased the original Power output per pound of engine weight by 64% at the same time they gained 15% fuel saving for greater range for the airplane this jet puts out three times as much horsepower at less than half the weight of the 3,000 horsepower reciprocating engine 9,000 horsepower measured in smooth concentrated thrust at 600 mph but all the requirements for high-speed aircraft power were not satisfied the search for more power more speed is never ending constant Improvement brought a second jet engine smaller in diameter which uses a slightly different method of air compression this new engine developed rapidly for experience accumulated on one engine is quickly applied to another this model now in production develops 5,000 lb thrust 1,000 lb more than the first model for still more power engineers have developed the After Burner a Long Hollow tube which attaches to the tail coal at the rear of the jet engine since only 1 fif of the air brought into the jet engine is used for combustion the other four fifs used for cooling the engine reaches the tail pipe with its oxygen unburned in the After Burner the unused oxygen from this air is mixed with a new supply of fuel and is ignited this after burning increases the original thrust of the engine by about 1/3 after burning gives an extra surge of power in takeoffs or in combat but all these new developments in jet power have not yet made all propeller type airplanes obsolete long range heavy bombers still require the fuel economy of propeller type engines this new Allison t40 model 500 Turbo prop engine which has been developed for the US Navy is the most powerful propeller type engine in the world it develops 5,500 horsepower for only 2500 lb of weight over 2 horsepower for each pound and approaches today's reciprocating piston engines in fuel economy here's how it works air is drawn into the compressor here forced into the burners and mixed with fuel exactly as in the turbo jet engine the burning gases again operate the turbine however the turbo prop engine is designed so the turbine will draw off much more of the energy of the escaping gases this turbine not only drives the compressor but also through a reduction gear box drives a propeller the energy which is left less than 10% escapes from the exhaust in the form of a small amount of jet thrust first installation of the t40 turbo prop engine is in this US Navy xp5y flying boat which with four of these powerful engines will fly in excess of 400 mph designed as a twin unit engine the t40 consists of two identical power sections each unit operates both Contra rotating propellers and for economical Crews one power section can be shut down entirely also one power section by itself is another complete engine meeting the requirements of a lower power range this engine designated the t38 by the Navy has important implications in Commercial and Military transports the commercial version Model 51 is being proved first in the conveyor turbo liner which has been purchased by Allison as a flying test bed and as an investment in the future of turbine powered transports from this pioneering the air traveler will get his first taste of vibrationless turbine power test pilots will prove turbo prop engines for the commercial passenger just as they have turbo jets for the military pilot for the Jets have already proved that they can take it when the test pilot saunters out to his jet for a takeoff he does so with confidence confidence in himself and his equipment and his jet engine the Jet Pilot has a thorough knowledge of his airplane he wears equipment to protect him as he travels close to the speed of sound his flying suit inflates automatically to prevent the blood from rushing away from his head when he goes into a sharp turn or pulls out of a dive his hard plastic helmet absorbs shock he has his parachute oxygen mask emergency oxygen bottle but above all he has the skill and courage for highspeed flight and when he steps into his jet plane he has more power at his fingertips than ever before handled by one man in the air in a twin jet fighter he controls 20,000 horsepower 50 times more power than in the fighter plane of World War I five times that of any fighter in World War I too yet servicemen can pull the engine from an airplane and replace it in less than 30 minutes ground Crews swear by its ease of Maintenance you will feel the power of these engines when you hear the whoosh of the Navy's North American Fury or Grumman Panther the Air Force's Republic thunderjet Lockheed shooting star Northrup Scorpion or flying wing [Applause] [Music] today many of the finest fighter aircraft of our Aviation Services are powered by the two jet engines which have helped bring about a complete revolution in military power plants in spite of the limited time they have been in routine military operation the Jets now approach the reciprocating engine end durability and dependability jet engine developments have off moded every fighter in and bomber of World War II and are the basis for revolutionary new trends in commercial Aviation they have brought about such dramatic achievements as Coast to Coast flights in 3 hours and 45 minutes Mass flights of f8s have flown the Atlantic in purely routine fashion a feat that would have been Unthinkable a few years ago Jets like these have flown more than 100 million miles the equivalent of about 4 ,000 times around the world already jet engines have lifted airplane speeds a full 200 mph over the top speeds of World War II and it seems that designs now on the drawing boards can double today's power with continued increases in speed and reductions in fuel consumption and cost these new developments will play an important part in the World of Tomorrow where a growing parade of new engines and airplanes promises a new era of speed in the sky transportation from any point in the world to any point in the world in a matter of a few short hours air power didn't win World War II alone but in every campaign the side that won had control of the air we Aviation minded Americans are proud of our aircraft which daily are crossing New Frontiers of science the whole peaceful world watches each new accomplishment and looks with grateful appreciation to our eyes where the growing parade of new engines and airplanes spells out the words air power is peace power