With a blast of newspaper ads last week, Westinghouse Electric Corp. boasted it had "the world's most powerful jet engine qualified for production." The new model of its J40 turbojet, said Westinghouse, produces "more than 25,000 h.p. at flight speeds," will go into the Navy's McDonnell Demon and Douglas Skyray fighters.
Aircraft men smiled at Westinghouse's sweeping claims. Horsepower "at flight speeds" is a misleading phrase, since jet horsepower varies with a plane's speed, altitude and other factors. The standard measure of jet power is pounds of static thrust at 375 m.p.h. at sea...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
