How far we have come.
Discussion
Tonight I watched a session on the assembly of a Rolls Royce jumbo jet engine. It made me think of how far we have come, & how complex we have become in the last 60 years.
I flew jets in the 60s, & they were complex enough, but these new things are a different world.
If you put all the parts of a Roles Royce Merlin in a box, I would have no difficulty in assembling a working engine. Great as they were, they are just a piston engine. However although I did see those 1960s jet engines worked on, I would not have the first idea of what most of the components were in a modern jet.
I couldn't help wondering if there are people who could build a modern jet engine, from a box of parts, or are various bits of the things so specialised that few actually understand the whole thing.
When my mother was born, there had never been a heavier than air aircraft in Australia. From there to here, in one & a half lifetimes is really amazing.
I flew jets in the 60s, & they were complex enough, but these new things are a different world.
If you put all the parts of a Roles Royce Merlin in a box, I would have no difficulty in assembling a working engine. Great as they were, they are just a piston engine. However although I did see those 1960s jet engines worked on, I would not have the first idea of what most of the components were in a modern jet.
I couldn't help wondering if there are people who could build a modern jet engine, from a box of parts, or are various bits of the things so specialised that few actually understand the whole thing.
When my mother was born, there had never been a heavier than air aircraft in Australia. From there to here, in one & a half lifetimes is really amazing.
Ive had the same thoughts about aircraft engines; jet engines have so much pipework that i cant figur out what it could all be for. Its similar on modern cars, lots of pipes everywhere (i suspect its a lot of breather stuff)
Its quite incredible the ingenuity of the human race to make incremental advancements that over the decades amount to a system which is essentially the same as something 50 years before it but is oh so different
Its quite incredible the ingenuity of the human race to make incremental advancements that over the decades amount to a system which is essentially the same as something 50 years before it but is oh so different
With jet engines complexity is not realy the issue. They are actually quite simple, far simpler than a piston engine. The issue with building them is tolerances and the like. When piston engines are not put togther quight right they run rough, not very clean or have difficulty starting. Jet engines tend to not work at all or blow up.
The real complexity in jet engines is making the parts however. Given a box and the right tools many people could put one togther (ignoring the fact that they are often bloody big). However when the blades from a modern RR engine are made they are a single crystal of metal of exactly the right alloy with incredible small diffrences between each cast. Every part is checked for microscopic faults, and put togther to exacting standards as a one off, not just passed through a production line with one in a hundred (or whatever) checked by QC.
With piston engines you are used to them and understand them. With a jet engine you don't see them all the time so are starting from a much lower knowledge base.
The real complexity in jet engines is making the parts however. Given a box and the right tools many people could put one togther (ignoring the fact that they are often bloody big). However when the blades from a modern RR engine are made they are a single crystal of metal of exactly the right alloy with incredible small diffrences between each cast. Every part is checked for microscopic faults, and put togther to exacting standards as a one off, not just passed through a production line with one in a hundred (or whatever) checked by QC.
With piston engines you are used to them and understand them. With a jet engine you don't see them all the time so are starting from a much lower knowledge base.
Edited by SteveSteveson on Sunday 16th November 10:09
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