What Does a Jet Pilot Do?

Jet Plane is an aircraft that uses a jet engine as a source of propulsion. The jet engine used by jet aircraft relies on the kickback effect of the gas generated when fuel burns backwards at high speed to make the aircraft fly forward. It can make the aircraft get more thrust and fly faster.

The first truly practical jet in the world is generally considered to be the first successful test flight of Heinkel He 178 by Nazi Germany on August 27, 1939.

Today's jets fly at 75% to 85% of the speed of sound, which is equivalent to Mach 0.75 to 0.85. The propulsion systems used by them are generally classified according to the characteristics of their operating principles:

Jet aircraft During the Second World War, at the moment when the warring parties fought the most, British and German jet fighters flew into the sky one after another. British "Gloucester" E28 / 39, German "Henkel" He-280, "Meserschmidt" May-262 and other fighters have performed well in air combat. Since then, jets in the world's aviation powers have fought fiercely in speed.

Jet breakthrough

Break through the sound barrier, sprint 2000 km / h

With the advent of jet aircraft, the speed was suddenly increased to 900-950 km / h, making the speed of the aircraft successfully approach the speed of sound. However, in order to break through the sound barrier and achieve supersonic flight, a qualitative change must be made to the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft. Therefore, aviation experts chose the arrow-wing structure with the smallest drag coefficient.

In 1948, the Lavochkin Experimental Design Bureau of the former Soviet Union developed the first supersonic aircraft Ra-176. The aircraft wing is designed as a 45 ° swept-back wing, and the power unit is an RD-45F turbojet engine with a thrust of 22 kN. On December 26, 1948, the young Soviet pilot Oleg Sokorovsky piloted a test pull-176 front-line fighter at the test center. In a prescribed level flight, it reached a speed of 1105 kilometers at an altitude of 7000 meters Per hour, equivalent to Mach 1.021. Its speed exceeded the world record of the International Aviation Federation at the time. In January 1949, test pilots set a record speed for supersonic flight six times in a row.

The breakthrough in sound barriers and the success of supersonic flight has increased the confidence of aviation designers and test pilots, and is determined to break the 2,000 km / h speed mark. Soon, the Mikoyan Design Bureau developed the world's first supersonic aircraft, the MiG-19, which was put into mass production. This fighter with a sweep angle of 55 degrees has a maximum flight speed of 1450 km / h. On May 24, 1952, Gregory Sedov, a former Soviet test pilot, piloted a prototype and set a world record speed of Mach 1.19 at that time. However, for some reason Sedov's results were not included in the official record.

In October 1953, the US pilot Ivester piloted the YF-100A test fighter, flying at a speed of 1215.298 km / h, setting a new world record; in August 1955, the American pilot Hans drove the F that was put into mass production. 100C

F-100C fighter

The "Super Knife" fighter set the record of his compatriot Ivester for nearly two years to 1323.312 km / h; in 1956, the Britishman Tevez drove the FD-2 test aircraft to dramatically increase the world's flying speed. To 1821.7 km / h (Mach 1.731). Since then, it's American's turn to show up again: Deliu and Irving fly F-101A and F-104A Fighting Star fighters at speeds of 1943.5 km / h and 2259.538 km / h when flying over 25 kilometers. However, this record of Irving was quickly broken by the French. In October 1958, the French pilot Duka piloted a "coarse dog" fighter jet (not put into mass production because of a complicated engine) at a speed of 2330 km / h.

Jet development

Create another glory, march towards 3000 kilometers per hour

US and French pilots successively broke through the 2,000 km / h speed mark, and the Soviet Union was not far behind. In the late 1950s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau developed the MiG-21 delta wing aircraft. In October 1959, test pilot G. Insolov piloted a MiG-21 experimental prototype aircraft labeled E-66 with a speed of up to 2388 kilometers per hour.

Soon, Americans broke this world record. At the end of 1959, American pilot Rogers set a new record of 2455.7 km / h in the F-106A Delta Triangle Tailless Interceptor. Two years later, the American pilot Robinson drove a "voodoo" multi-purpose fighter equipped with a large afterburning thrust engine to increase its speed to 2585 km / h.

In the middle of 1962, the former Soviet pilot Ge-Moslov again passed the Americans in the new delta-wing experimental aircraft E-166, with a speed of 2681 km / h.

Over the next few years, the "Blackbird" aircraft of the United States prevailed. The SR-71 "Blackbird" took off for the first time in April 1962. The first three prototypes of this type of aircraft were long-range interceptors with the designation YE-12A, and the SR-71A strategic reconnaissance aircraft was put into mass production.

On May 1, 1965, Colonel Robert Stevens and Weapon Operator Colonel Andre Danny Weil piloted YE-12A during a flight of 25 km and achieved 3332.45 km / h (Mach 3.17). Average, speed. This is an absolute record for jet aircraft. Another Air Force pilot, Major Walter Denizel, and weapon operator Captain James Kuny and Major Noelie Warner took turns driving at speeds of 2642.22 km / h and 2718.06 km / h, respectively. Flight speed records on 500 km and 1000 km closed routes. In addition, the Americans also obtained the top speed of closed routes with a load of 1,000 or 2,000 kilograms for 1,000 kilometers.

Two years later, Robert Stevens made another record. On April 17, 1967, he flew 22,400 kilometers at a speed of Mach 3. This was the longest flight at that time, for which he and the reconnaissance equipment operator, Colonel Kennett Hely, both won gold medals from the International Aviation Federation.

On October 5, 1967, former Soviet pilot Mi Komarov piloted an E-266 aircraft (a prototype of the MiG-25) to recapture a record from Americans: his speed when flying a closed route of 200 kilometers Reached 2981.5 km / h. This world record continues to this day.

In the 1970s, the "Blackbird" in the United States created another glory. In April 1971, the pilot Thomas Ai

MiG-29

Colonel Sties and operator Colonel Devin Wick traveled back and forth across the United States, and then circled the western states for a week, flying a total of 24,000 kilometers in less than 10 hours.

In 1974, a strategic reconnaissance aircraft in the United States made another success: an F-4K "Ghost" fighter of the Royal Navy set a record of flying from New York to London in 1969 in 4 hours and 40 minutes, and pilot James Sally Major SR-71A strategic reconnaissance aircraft No. 64-17972 piloted by Major Noel Wiederfield and major reconnaissance equipment operator, easily completed this 5,557.80-kilometer route in just one hour, 55 minutes, and 42 seconds. At an average speed of 2809.026 kilometers per hour; Captain Harold Adams and reconnaissance equipment operator William Maculek spent three hours when flying from London to Los Angeles after one week at the Farnborough Aviation Fair. A 47-minute flight with a total length of 9032 kilometers and an average speed of 2387 kilometers per hour.

After 10 years of scenery, on July 27, 1976, Major Aidofus Bressou and Major John Feller, the pilot, set the record speed for a closed flight of 1,000 kilometers at 3,366,221 kilometers per hour. On the same day, Captain Robert Herbeau and operator Larry Elliott broke the world record for level flight at 25929.031 meters. The next day, pilot Captain Ayton Yoss and operator Major Mohan drove the SR-71 from Bill Air Force Base, California, and magically set an absolute speed record of 3,295.56 kilometers per hour on a 25-kilometer segment.

Of course, in those years, it was not the SR-71 "Blackbird" that stood out. The Soviet-made MiG-25 fighter was a rising star at an aviation speed festival. In addition to its "legal successor" MiG-31, MiG-25 is the fastest combat aircraft in the world. NATO intelligence agencies have done excellent advertising for the MiG-25: It was determined by radar that the "Lone Bat" -B reconnaissance aircraft (NATO's name for the MiG-25) was flying at a speed of 3395 kilometers (Mach 3.2), " The Lone Bat fighter suspends four "poisonous" air-to-air missiles at a speed of up to 2969 km / h.

The MiG-25 interceptor developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau is truly the leader of jet fighters. It is the world's first jet fighter with a speed of 3,000 km / h. The US military is deeply anxious about the breakthrough in Soviet combat aircraft quality. To this end, the United States Congress also held a special hearing.

In 1972, the MiG-25 was modernized. Equipped with a high-power R-15BF-2-300 engine with a maximum afterburning thrust of 132.4 kN, it can still reach Mach 3 with all missiles. The E-266M experimental aircraft developed on the basis of the MiG-25 has created a number of aviation records in just two years from 1975 to 1977; the ceiling of the E-266A experimental aircraft is close to 38,000 meters.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has tried every means to hunt the intelligence of this super-performance fighter. They first targeted Captain Victor Belenko, a pilot of the Soviet Air Defense Forces.

On September 6, 1976, Captain Belenko led a MiG-25 interceptor to defect to Japan under the instigation of CIA spies.

Jet world record

The blue sky sets a record

In the speed contest of jet planes, the scarf also does not allow eyebrows. American female pilot Zachlin Kirkland and Russian woman Svetlana Savitzskaya both set impressive world records.

In August 1961, April 1963, and May 1964, Zachlin Kirkland successively piloted T-38, TF-104G, and F-104G airplanes to create women three consecutive times on 15-25 kilometers. World flight speed records, its range reached 1358.6 km / h, 2048.875 km / h and 2300.234 km / h.

In June 1975, Svetlana Savitzskaya, a Soviet merit athlete, drove the MiG-25 at a speed of 2683 kilometers per hour, exceeding Zachlin's 383 kilometers per hour. The instructor who trained Savitzskaya to complete the record-breaking flight was the meritorious test pilot, Soviet hero Alexander Fyodorov. Only a few times before he found Svetlana's genius. In the eyes of the instructor, Svetlana was quick-thinking, hardworking, and very knowledgeable, and was able to quickly grasp all the knowledge imparted to her. The students did not fail the training and expectations of the instructors, and soon became an outstanding female pilot. She set a world record for women's speed at a speed twice the speed of sound. ^[4]