I feel a bit stupid for asking this, but I simply cannot wrap my head around how a jet engine directs its thrust backwards.
A piston engine opens and closes valves, such that air is alternately sucked in and compressed to create force. That makes sense and I understand how it works.
But with a jet engine there are no valves opening and closing, so why doesn’t the air that is sucked in just get pushed right back out from the thrust generated? How can an engine simultaneously suck in air from the front and force it out the back?
It makes no sense to me :-/
In: Engineering
Modern jets have vectored thrust:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_vectoring
Before that, You just had to aim the front of the plane, and the ass end always made you go in a straight line.
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