A New Generation

In jet engines, the U.S. and Britain are running a seesaw race for the title of the "most powerful" (see chart). Last week it looked as if Britain's De Havilland Engine Co., Ltd. had jumped out ahead; it announced a new engine, the Gyron, with a thrust "greater than that of any other known jet engine." Although performance figures were kept secret, airmen guessed that the Gyron is in the 15,000-Ib.-thrust class, compared to 10,000 to 12,000 Ibs. for the current model of Pratt & Whitney's J-57, which had been rated the world's most powerful.

The Gyron is an axial-flow engine, intended for use in supersonic aircraft, while all De Havilland's previous jets (e.g., the Goblin, which powers the Vampire fighter, and the Ghost, which powers the Comet and the Venom fighter), have been centrifugal types.* De Havilland said that the engine, which has low gas consumption and a low ratio of weight to thrust, is being developed first for supersonic fighter planes, later could be built for transports. Said De Havilland: the Gyron is the first of "a new generation of really large turbine-jet power units. The company is confident that it will prove to be one of the principal power units ... up to about 1965."

* An axial-flow engine draws in air with a series of compressor blades which send the air to the combustion chamber in a direct line. A centrifugal-flow jet draws in the air with fewer but larger blades, and throws the air out around the circumference of the compressor on its way to the combustion chamber. Since an axial-flow engine has a smaller diameter, it is easier to fit into planes.

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