Chapter 598 Jet Fighter (2)
After the jet engine is started, the compressor rotates to inhale the outside air. The outside air passes through the compression chamber, which presses the gas backwards, causing the pressure to increase. Then it enters the combustion chamber. At this time, the oxygen and the sprayed oil are fully combined and ignited and exploded. The gas instantly expands hundreds of times and is discharged to the nozzle, driving the turbine to work. This process will make a huge sound.
It was the first time for many high-ranking air force officials to hear the sound of this jet engine, and they all showed a novel look on their faces. "This is much louder than the sound of a piston engine."
The MiG-15 fighter jet gliding on the runway was getting faster and faster, and soon it glided a distance of one thousand meters. When it glided to more than 1,300 meters, it finally lifted the front wheel slightly.
Messerschmitt and the engineers were almost in their throats. Whether they could take off or not depended on this time! At the same time, this time is also the most dangerous. If the fighter's take-off attitude is not well controlled, the fuselage may tilt and then run off the runway!
In fact, the take-off distance of a jet fighter is not necessarily longer than that of a piston aircraft. The later F15 can be pulled up at 300 meters without bombs. Moreover, many large piston transport aircraft require a runway of about 2,000 meters, while the jet will be shorter.
Because it was the first flight, the take-off distance was still relatively long, and the test pilot was not in a hurry, especially when it was about to take off, its posture must be maintained well.
Finally, in the eyes of everyone's expectations, the MiG-15 fighter successfully flew off the runway and flew into the sky.
"The speed has exceeded 750 kilometers and is still increasing!" An officer exclaimed loudly, and everyone was shocked by the speed of the plane and was speechless. This plane easily exceeded the speed of all existing propeller planes!
Yannick asked Messerschmitt, who was sitting next to him. "What is the maximum speed of this plane?" Although he knew all the data of the MiG-15 in the original time and space, it was a pirated copy after all, and he could not help much with the engine, and it was all up to the German engineers to explore it themselves.
Messerschmitt said respectfully. "Your Highness, its maximum speed is 900 kilometers per hour."
"It seems there is still room for improvement." Although the original MiG-15 failed to break the speed of sound, its maximum flight speed exceeded 1,000 kilometers per hour, reaching high subsonic speed. Now the maximum speed of this high-imitation MiG-15 is 900 kilometers, and there is still room for improvement.
At this time, Heinkel, who was sitting on the other side, spoke up. "Your Highness, our fighter can reach a maximum speed of 1,150 kilometers when diving."
Many Western companies like to use the family surnames of their founders to name them, such as Dupont, Colgate, Cadbury, Siemens, Louis Vuitton... too many to count.
The founder of Heinkel is naturally Heinkel, Ernst Heinrich Heinkel.
The original Heinkel was also the inventor of the jet aircraft, to be precise, Heinkel and Ohain jointly invented it. In 1939, aircraft designer Heinkel found Ohain, who had suffered repeated setbacks in developing jet engines. Ohain was a gas turbine expert. He had started developing turbine engines since 1934 and had made some progress. The two aspiring young men worked closely together, one designing aircraft and the other designing gas turbine engines, and the research work progressed smoothly. On August 27, 1939, the He-178 jet fighter developed by the two successfully tested.
Yannick nodded. "1,150 kilometers, not bad, it's about to break the sound barrier (1,224 kilometers per hour)."
As he spoke, the MiG-15 had climbed to a high altitude, and it looked only the size of a palm to the naked eye.
The test pilot sent a report. "Altitude 15,000 meters, speed 850 kilometers."
There was a cheer on the viewing stand.
Looking at these cheering air force officials, Yannick smiled slightly. Because in this era, the maximum speed of fighter jets generally remained between 500 and 600 kilometers per hour. Even Germany's most advanced piston fighter, the ta-152, has a design speed of only 750 kilometers. It can fly 850 kilometers in an hour, which is beyond everyone's imagination. The emergence of jet engines has refreshed the upper limit of aircraft speed.
However, Yannick knew that the more popular fighter indicators in the 1960s and 1970s were "double three", which means that the aircraft's maximum ceiling is above 30,000 meters and the maximum speed is above Mach 3.
Later, there were even stealth fighters and supersonic cruise fighters. Advanced fighters can communicate with satellites to obtain real-time battlefield information, and use guided weapons accurate to the meter level to attack targets hundreds of kilometers away...
After sighing for a while, Yannick asked again. "What is its maximum range?"
"About 1,100 kilometers, and it can reach 1,400 kilometers if it carries auxiliary fuel tanks."
The cheering officers suddenly quieted down and looked at each other.
Generally speaking, the range of a fighter refers to the average maximum range of a fighter without aerial refueling. At this time, the fighter plane is not required to reserve load capacity to mount weapons and ammunition. It is only required that the fighter plane itself carry the maximum amount of fuel and fly at the most fuel-efficient cruising speed. In addition to filling up the internal fuel tank, the fighter plane can also mount multiple auxiliary fuel tanks. The maximum flight distance of this fighter plane is the fighter plane's range.
The combat radius refers to the distance that a fighter can safely travel back and forth while carrying certain weapons and ammunition. The combat radius focuses on the combat capability of the fighter. In this case, the fighter needs to take off with normal combat loads, and cannot use all the load capacity for fuel. A considerable part of the load capacity needs to be allocated for mounting weapons.
After arriving at the designated combat area, the fighter also needs to patrol and monitor the war zone, and sometimes may even perform actual combat missions. After completing these tasks, the fighter must have enough fuel to return to the base. Moreover, once the fighter enters combat mode, the engine is completely a fuel tiger when the maximum power output is output, and the fuel consumption rate is very scary, so the combat radius is naturally much shorter than half of the maximum range.
In addition, the fighter needs to reserve a part of the fuel to deal with emergencies, otherwise the fighter may not have enough fuel to perform emergency tasks or return to the base. After reserving the fuel required for the above tasks, there is not much fuel left, which is why the combat radius of the fighter is much smaller than the maximum range of the fighter. Generally speaking, the combat radius of a fighter is only about one-third of the maximum range.
That is to say, the combat radius of this jet fighter is less than 400 kilometers, even with auxiliary fuel tanks, it is only more than 400 kilometers, which is far worse than piston fighters, and it is only enough to escort the short-legged Stuka.
Seeing the disappointed expressions of everyone, Yannick smiled and said. "'Insufficient in attack, more than enough in defense', although this fighter cannot undertake the escort mission, it is at least capable of keeping the enemy out and not letting a bomb fall on European soil. When the Wright brothers first flew, they only flew for 59 seconds and a distance of 247 meters. Who would have thought that in less than 40 years, airplanes could fly at an altitude of 10,000 meters at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour?
Today's technology is changing with each passing day. I believe that it will not be long before jet fighters will fly faster, higher, and farther than today."