Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Early flight tests of the first General Electric turbojet engine, the Type I-A, clearly showed the need for more power. GE followed with designs generating increased thrust, including the I-16, designated J31 by the military, which first ran in April 1943. About 250 were built, mainly for variants of the Bell P-59 Airacomet. This cutaway is representative of the engines installed in the production models of the Bell P-59A fighter aircraft.

When the government believed that future tactical needs would require turbojet engines to use the same fuel as reciprocating engines, GE further developed the engine for the U.S. Navy as a 100-octane, gasoline-burning version of the standard J31 engine, which normally ran on kerosene fuel. That version, along with a Wright R-1820 piston engine, powered the Ryan FR-1 Fireball, the Navy's first partially jet-powered aircraft.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Boeing Aviation Hangar
Object Details
Date 1943 Country of Origin United States of America Type PROPULSION-Turbines (Jet) Manufacturer General Electric Co.
 Designer Sir Frank Whittle
 Physical Description Type: Turbojet Thrust: 7,161 N (1,610 lb) at 16,500 rpm Compressor: Single-stage centrifugal Combustor: 10 reverse-flow combustion chambers Turbine: Single-stage axial Weight: 386 kg (850 lb) Dimensions Width 102 cm (40 in.), Height 178 cm (70 in.)
 Inventory Number A19520085000 Credit Line Transferred from the Department of the Navy, Bureau of Aeronautics Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.