I was surprised to find an article (Flight International, 16-22 April) on pulse detonation written as if this were new technology. Surely, in the Second World War, it was pulse detonation that Hitler used in his V-1s. Are we seriously considering using this engine to replace the silky smooth jet engines of today?
Bud Ellis
Hampshire, UK
Editor's note: The V-1 used the forerunner of the pulse detonation engine - a pulse-jet engine, a slow-speed ramjet that compressed air by opening and closing air intake valves. Its complex structure gave it a low power to weight ratio. Pulse detonation engines use the detonation wave itself to create compression.
Source: Flight International
