It’s down to a techno leap for the jet engine before
passenger service breaks its deadlock between Airbus and Boeing. The gold rush
is on for going out of the Jet engine box with something no one saw ten years
ago from jet propulsion. Maybe it’s not conventional jet power and it’s
something different. After-all the jet engine builders are tweaking jet power
with ceramic, and carbon fiber fan blades.
This becomes like using new shoe laces
on a sports shoe or a new ground breaking new sole for better performance. It’s
still a shoe giving the athlete a micro advantage over another competitor. That
is where the marvel of the jet engine resides and where airline competes like
an athlete.
A jet engine needs movement ahead of a centuries old idea of
propelling a balloon across the room in a gasp of air through its mouth piece.
The whole time since WII, jet engines came from the idea people have been
wrestling with the “next step”. Rockets were reserved for moon shots and the
stars. Jet engines were reserved with making a basic concept for every action
there is an opposite reaction.
Newton’s three laws came from: The
three laws of motion were first compiled by Isaac
Newton in his PhilosophiƦ Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687.
The jet engine came from the Newtonian principles. The best
engine is down to composites, ceramics and designs within that law.
Newton’s 3rd
law remains after all these centuries of trial and error.
The next great airplane will use Newton’s 3rd
principle, but it will come from the action side of the equation. Propulsion
will indeed need a new format not necessarily labeled as a jet. Carbon fiber
fan blades will carry Jet engine efficiency only so far.
The source of action must change from a carbon fuel source
such as “Jet A” fuel or kerosene as most in the industry know it. There is only
so much energy stored in a 100 pounds of “Jet A”. The jet principle must change
beyond efficiency within its current configuration of burn and push out. The
lack of finding a new source of power has limited jet power improvement to its
internal workings.
The source of power will form around its delivery system
which is called an engine. Even though the word engine become a simple
understanding for most, it is perhaps a lynch pin and the most complicated part
of using a source power for its propulsion.
Perhaps the word propulsion is the
proverbial brick wall. The answer may come from a new manipulation of the
universe’s mystery of energy or power. The simple magnet exercise from
childhood comes to mind where opposing magnets try break away from each other’s
polarity when opposite to the other magnet. This may not be a pathway to pursue
but is definitely a compass bearing towards finding an answer.
The earth is the world’s biggest magnet (hah word play!).
The modern jet engine is running out of development room much the same as a
hand pump. Most pumps today are electrical and move mountainous amounts of
water. However, the energy source for its electrical operation is found with having massive
bulk of acres of solar panels to dams on huge rivers. Airplanes thrive on light
weight appliances. Nuclear and electrical sourcing can weigh no more than its
current fuel load. The lighter weight source allows for expansion from other
technologies assisting travel and flight.
The obvious pathway comes from looking at the universe and
how it functions. Then scaling that down to an aircraft “engine”. The most
readily available source comes from nuclear energy. The first of many red flags to strike up, environmental impact from radiation exposure, extensive cost prohibit a
nuclear path, and an uncertain solution would extend its timeline to service
maybe by centuries.
Walt Disney was on to something when he made the movie “Flubber”
he possibly acknowledged a need for a quantum leap from the jet engine. Once
again harnessing an opposite and equal reaction in forms other than spewing
gasses from the jet engine is the sticking point. A jet engine costs millions of
dollars where its replacement may cost trillions of dollars for each one
delivered. That is why so many engineers are looking at jet engine parts and its
internal designs rather than a whole new concept for Newton’s third law.