An interactive Java applet for this slide is now available. You can change the type of engine and see its effects on thrust and fuel flow. A frame-based, animated version of this slide is also available. To move an airplane through the air, we have to use some kind of propulsion system to generate thrust. The most widely used form of propulsion system for modern aircraft is the gas turbine engine.
Turbine engines come in a variety of forms.
This page shows computer drawings of four different variations of a gas turbine or jet engine. While each of the engines are different, they share some parts in common. The compressor, burner, and turbine are called the core of the engine, since all gas turbines have these components. The core is also referred to as the gas generator since the output of the core is hot exhaust gas. Because the compressor and turbine are linked by the central shaft and rotate together, this group of parts is called the turbomachinery .