#692: Hollowjet

Bored by the sheer complexity of jet engine design, yet enthused by Whittle’s inventiveness and determination, I’m always interested in alternatives.

Here is a much simpler (albeit less efficient) engine in which the rotating elements (blue) are all made in a single, casting (which is therefore inherently robust -the compressor and turbine blades are retained by strong outer rings which rotate in bearings built into eg the body of a wing section).

The simplicity of this inside-out, shaftless design would allow many such engines, each fed centrally with fuel as shown, to power a given aircraft or whatever.