turbojetami

Turbojetami, a term that appears as the plural form of turbojet in several languages, refers to turbojet engines—the class of gas-turbine propulsion devices that produce thrust by accelerating air through a combustion chamber and a nozzle. Turbojets are compact, capable of high thrust, and operate across a wide speed range, though with relatively high fuel consumption compared with turbofans.

Air is drawn into an inlet and compressed by a compressor connected to a turbine that extracts energy from the expanding gases; fuel is injected and burned in the combustor, and high-temperature gases expand through a turbine and then out a nozzle to produce thrust. Most turbojets use single or multi-spool configurations and may include afterburners for additional thrust, especially in military applications.

Turbojet development began independently in Britain and Germany during the 1930s. Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany led early programs that culminated in the first flight of a turbojet-powered aircraft in 1939. After World War II, turbojets formed the core of many early jet fighters and civilian jets, later largely supplanted by turbofans for efficiency.

Turbojets provide high specific thrust and excellent performance at supersonic speeds but tend to be less efficient at subsonic cruise and have higher fuel consumption and noise levels than turbofans. They are simple in mechanical design, with fewer moving parts relative to multi-spool turbofans, aiding reliability in some applications.

Notable turbojet engines include the General Electric J79 and J57, Pratt & Whitney J85, and Rolls-Royce Avon and Snecma Atar. Today, turbojets remain in use mainly in certain legacy military aircraft, some high-speed platforms, and specific drones or missiles, while most commercial airliners rely on turbofan engines for efficiency.