An animated version of this slide is also available. Most modern passenger and military aircraft are powered by gas turbine engines, which are also called jet engines. There are several different types of jet engines, but all jet engines have some parts in common.
All jet engines have a compressor to increase the pressure of the incoming air.
Mathematical details of this process are given on a separate slide. In the axial compressor, the air flows parallel to the axis of rotation. The compressor is composed of several rows of airfoil cascades. Some of the rows, called rotors , are connected to the central shaft and rotate at high speed. Other rows, called stators , are fixed and do not rotate.