So I know the simplified theory and basic principles here, Newton’s 3rd law, air compression and sudden exhaust and all, but it boggles me how this principle can lift, even move, 350 tons flying objects.
I get how it works but I need some kind of metaphor to understand and wrap my mind around the forces and amount of thrust at play here
In: Engineering
So your typical short haul airliner (737, A320) is burning about 10 gallons of fuel per minute. That’d drain your car’s fuel tank in about a minute and a half. That’s probably faster than your gas station can pump it! Not only that, but the engines are extremely efficient compared to piston engines. I think there’s sometimes a challenge to understanding that massive scale of a plane, but when it burns fuel at something like 300 times the rate of your car and probably triple the efficiency* you’re looking at the power of a thousand or so cars. I might be off a bit, but that’s a lot of power available.
* Making this up, but I think I’ve heard 25% efficiency for cars and 80% for planes.
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