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Basically a jet engine that
doesn't use
fan blade to compress the air it burns.
The main
problem with ramjets is that in order to work it must be
rushing along at a minimum of 750 mph — the speed of sound.
At
that speed, air smashes into the front
intake hard enough to compress the air.
In order to get to this speed a rocket or conventional jet
engine is required.
When the conventional jet and the ramjet are put into the
same housing, the configuration is called a 'hybrid.'
Until now, ramjets have been useful only on things
like missiles
and the fastest supersonic planes.
1913:
Invented by Rene Lorin of France
WWII
(1939-1945):
Used for Hitler's V1 'Doodlebug' rocket bombs to hit Britain.
Less successful than V1s and V2s.
1957:
Powered the French Nord 1500 Griffon II: then the fastest
jet,
and 1st plane to combine a
conventional turbojet and a ramjet.
1964:
Used
in the SR-71 Blackbird
Beyond 2001:
NASA is working on a ramjet-powered unmanned plane,
the X-43A,
which is designed to reach Mach 10.
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