Created by the Shell Oil Company as a public service, this wonderful film explains the operation and mechanics of a gas turbine engine, and show modern jet and turboprop engines in use in the aviation industry. Includes terrific views of early types of jet engines and components including compressors, fans, combustion chambers, and so on. At the 13 minute mark a variety of other uses for the turbine engine are shown including for power generation, fire fighting, marine propulsion, gas turbine locomotives, and more. A prototype gas turbine car known as the Firebird is also shown at the 13:30 mark, probably at the Motorama, and at 15:40.

The General Motors Firebird is a quartet of prototype cars designed by Harley Earl, and engineered by General Motors for the 1953, 1956 and 1959 Motorama auto shows. They were very much inspired by innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. None of the designs were intended for production, but instead were to showcase the extremes in technology and design that General Motors was able to achieve. The cars were recently placed on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and still make regular car show appearances.

The name “Firebird” was also used by the Pontiac division of General Motors for the line of pony cars, which has no direct relation to the concept cars.

The film includes footage of the prototype Boeing 707 aircraft in flight at the 15:30 mark.

The Wood River, Illinois facility of Shell Oil is also shown at the 15 minute mark, where jet fuels were exhaustively studied.

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in between.

The basic operation of the gas turbine is similar to that of the steam power plant except that air is used instead of water. Fresh atmospheric air flows through a compressor that brings it to higher pressure. Energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so the combustion generates a high-temperature flow. This high-temperature high-pressure gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to the exhaust pressure, producing a shaft work output in the process. The turbine shaft work is used to drive the compressor and other devices such as an electric generator that may be coupled to the shaft. The energy that is not used for shaft work comes out in the exhaust gases, so these have either a high temperature or a high velocity. The purpose of the gas turbine determines the design so that the most desirable energy form is maximized. Gas turbines are used to power aircraft, trains, ships, electrical generators, or even tanks.

Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from the exhaust gases, or from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines. Jet engines that produce thrust from the direct impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets, whereas those that generate thrust with the addition of a ducted fan are often called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets.

Gas turbines are also used in many liquid propellant rockets, the gas turbines are used to power a turbopump to permit the use of lightweight, low pressure tanks, which saves considerable dry mass.

Turboprop engines[edit]

A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an external aircraft propeller using a reduction gear. Turboprop engines are generally used on small subsonic aircraft, but some large military and civil aircraft, such as the Airbus A400M, Lockheed L-188 Electra and Tupolev Tu-95, have also used turboprop power.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com