Powering the World's Airliners: Engine Developments from the Propeller to the Jet Age

The first efforts of man to fly were limited by his ability to generate sufficient power to lift a heavier—than—air machine off the ground. Propulsion and thrust have therefore been the most fundamental elements in the development of aircraft engines.

From the simple propellers of the first airliners of the 1920s and 1930s, to the turboprops and turbojets of the modern era, the engines used in airliners have undergone dramatic development over a century of remarkable change. These advances a...