Before the start of the propulsion demonstration, we were all instructed to put on the provided ear muffs to prevent the sound created by the engine from hurting our ears. Like any other vehicle engines, the plane engine must also be started up in advance to heat it up first. To start up the engine, energy has to be supplied to turn the compressor which acts like an electric fan. Huge amounts of air from the surroundings are brought into the engine inlet and the air enters the compressor at the rear of the inlet. The air at the exit of the compressor which is at a much higher pressure than steam is combined with a small amount of fuel in the burner and ignited. This explains why a small flame could be seen during the demonstration. As the engine runs faster and faster, the volume of the sound created by the engine increased gradually. After the demonstration was over, i went over and took a look at the instruments and realized that the temperature went up to quite high and was slowly decreasing after the engine has been turned off.
Through this demonstration, i have learnt how the energy needed to fly an airplane is generated.
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