Today’s random object was a toy jet plane. I looked at its wing shape, tried to match it to something real, and finally had to admit it was just “toy.” That was enough reason to dive into the world of jets.
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The history runs back to the 1930s when Britain patented the first working jet design. By 1939 the Nazis had one carrying people. By the 1950s, jets had gone from a weapon of war to commercial service, moving the wealthy across the oceans. Instead of days on an ocean liner, you could get across in hours. That speed is what kicked off the Jet Age.
A jet pulls air in the front, mixes it with fuel, burns it, and pushes it out the back. A rocket cannot do that, so it brings its own oxygen along. That is why rockets work in space and jets do not. Astronauts still call their compressed-gas packs “jetpacks,” even though technically they are not jets. It is the same Newton’s law principle, blasting material one way to move the other.
The fastest commercial jet ever was the Concorde at Mach 2, but that ended in 2003 when costs and restrictions caught up. Scramjets are the future. They have already reached Mach 9.6, and that could mean crossing the Atlantic in just an hour or two. Unless we figure out warp drives or teleporters, scramjets are the next big leap.
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Also, if you, or a teacher friend, would like a 20-30 minute lesson plan about jet planes, feel free to download and share this one:
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