Overview

This book outlines the competing jet programs during World War II that took place in Britain, Germany, and the US. The British program was hampered by inconsistent government interest, and little real need, the US program to develop a jet also lagged because of strategic concern. In Germany, the need for the technology existed, the innovative spirit of several designers, and official funding combined to produce a combat-operational jet aircraft despite wartime limitations. Analysing a variety of primary and secondary materials, this book provides a comprehensive comparison of the three (ultimately) successful jet programs of the war. However, only the Germans, even in defeat, committed jet aircraft to combat operations. In the 1930s the German military build up caught Britain and the United States off-guard, particularly in aviation technology. The unending quest for speed resulted in the need for radical alternatives to piston engines. In Germany, Dr. Hans von Ohain was the first to complete a flight-worthy turbojet engine for aircraft. It was installed in a Heinkel designed aircraft, and the Germans began the jet age on August 27, 1939. The Germans led the jet race throughout the war and were the first to produce jet aircraft for combat operations. Britain and America developed their own jet engines but a lack of interest hampered both projects. The Germans did it right and did it first, while the Allies lagged throughout the war, only rising to technological prominence on the ashes of the German defeat.

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9781591146667

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Reviews

The Jet Race is a solid study of jet engines, detailed and well documented. -The Journal of Military History

?Pavelec describes the efforts to develop turbojet airplanes as an effective weapon of war from the beginnings of World War II through its aftermath. His focus is on the technological achievements of the various national government programs and he pays particular attention to the German programs, which produced the most successful aircraft for most of the period until they were eclipsed by the Americans towards the end of the war and into the post-war era.?-SciTech Book News ?[C]omplements the definitive history of the technology, The Origins of the Turbojet Revolution, by Edward Constant II (CH, Jun'81). Pavelec adds the history of the German, British, and American efforts to implement the technology just before and during WW II. This reviewer notes that the seeming backwardness of the US might be attributed to the influence of a 1923 NACA Technical Report that correctly noted that jet propulsion of aircraft would not be efficient before velocities greater than 400 mph were achieved. This velocity was not achieved, except for a few specially designed racing planes, until the 1940s. From that point, the race was on when the German technological advantages were negated by the inability of the German economy to have access to the raw materials required to make durable jet engines. Again, this book complements but does not supersede Constant's definitive volume. Libraries that aspire to, and can afford the cost, of a complete aviation collection should acquire Pavelec's contribution. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.?-Choice Pavelec describes the efforts to develop turbojet airplanes as an effective weapon of war from the beginnings of World War II through its aftermath. His focus is on the technological achievements of the various national government programs and he pays particular attention to the German programs, which produced the most successful aircraft for most of the period until they were eclipsed by the Americans towards the end of the war and into the post-war era. -SciTech Book News [C]omplements the definitive history of the technology, The Origins of the Turbojet Revolution, by Edward Constant II (CH, Jun'81). Pavelec adds the history of the German, British, and American efforts to implement the technology just before and during WW II. This reviewer notes that the seeming backwardness of the US might be attributed to the influence of a 1923 NACA Technical Report that correctly noted that jet propulsion of aircraft would not be efficient before velocities greater than 400 mph were achieved. This velocity was not achieved, except for a few specially designed racing planes, until the 1940s. From that point, the race was on when the German technological advantages were negated by the inability of the German economy to have access to the raw materials required to make durable jet engines. Again, this book complements but does not supersede Constant's definitive volume. Libraries that aspire to, and can afford the cost, of a complete aviation collection should acquire Pavelec's contribution. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -Choice The Jet Race is a solid study of jet engines, detailed and well documented. -The Journal of Military History

Pavelec has written a fact-packed history of German, British, and U.S. jet engine and aircraft development that, to my knowledge, is not found in any other single volume . This book is a masterful integration of an enormous amount of historical detail, all relevant. The Free Library

Author Information

Sterling Michael Pavelec is currently Associate Professor of airpower history at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. His research and teaching focuses on the interaction of military, industry, and society in the 20th century. He lives in Montgomery, AL.

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