14. Jet models

One of the more interesting RC plane model category is certainly the Jet powered model category. Just imagine huge loud models roaring over your heads, leaving black smoke from their exhaust and that incredible jet engine sound! It hardly gets better than that! Well let's get back to jet engines. A short explanation of how it works is a good beginning. To keep it simple imagine jet engines as tubes which compress air, ignite it with fuel and then expel it faster than it (the air) came in. In order to do so, jet engine has some basic components. First is the intake, basically the front part, where the air comes in. Second part is the compressor. It comes as centrifugal and axial (most common today is axial) We'll stick with the axial for now. The compressor has blades which are set more dense as you get "deeper" into the compressor. That gives the effect of compressing the air. Than the air moves to the next component, the combustion chamber, where fuel is added and powerful reaction is unleashed. The hot gases then move through the turbine, which is basically a "wind mill" or in this case a gas mill. The turbine rotates and transfers momentum and power back to the compressor.