Traveling by a Private Jet

                                                                                         

Traveling by private jet is convenient, and seems quite glamorous to many people. Private jet charter is a privilege and a luxury few people ever know or experience. Given these perceptions, you may be surprised to know that private jets and charter flight had very humble and even uncertain beginnings.

You may also be surprised to learn that jet-powered aircraft actually predate charter flight itself. The first jet-propelled aircraft was built nearly one hundred years ago by a Romanian inventor, Henri Coanda. An odd-looking aircraft, it was a type of thermojet that used a compressor instead of a propeller, which exhausted hot gases along the side of the machine at great velocity that actually provided a reactive force, pushing the plane forward. During its first and only flight in December of 1910, Coanda noticed that the burning gases had a tendency to hug the sides of the aircraft – known to this day as the “Coanda Effect,” which is why both commercial and private jet engines are mounted either at the rear of the plane, or far out on the wings.

Similar engines were developed during the 1930’s and 40’s. The first practical, true turbojet – the Heinkel He 178 – actually flew in 1939. Due to the conservatism of German Air Force authorities however and political maneuvering within the German military, this jet fighter was never to see service. The first operational jet aircraft to see action was the Messerschmitt Me 262, which first flew in combat in April, 1944, little over a year before Germany’s defeat. After World War II, this technology was quickly employed by the U.S. Army Air Corps (later the Air Force) and Britain’s Royal Air Force. The British were actually the first to make jet engine technology available to the civilian market: the De Havilland Comet became the first commercial jet airliner around 1950. After nearly sixty years, many of these are still in service as transport planes for the Royal Air Force.

Business aircraft had been around since the early 1930’s, but it wasn’t until 1964 that the first small private jet was manufactured and offered to the general public. The Learjet 23 was actually based on a proposed fighter-jet design for the Swiss Air Force. The Swiss passed on the design, but William P. Lear saw its potential – and with this aircraft, a new market for efficient, high-speed private jet charter was opened.

The Learjet 23 was followed by several more models, and competing companies entered the fray as well. Today, when you book your private jet charter, you’ll very likely be flying a Learjet 60, a Gulfstream IV or a Cessna Citation X, depending on your destination, needs and schedule.

About the author:
Jonathan Blocker is an avid business and travel writer. He has been traveling on commercial airlines and air charters for several years. He has traveled millions of miles around the world using charter flights and jet charter services

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