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General Electric J79-8 The first flight of the engine was on 20 May 1955 By Marc "Devil Dog Of The Web" Iseli / Updated Dec. 2025 Picture this: The J79 is a single-spool turbojet with a seventeen-stage compressor, because apparently sixteen just wasn’t enough for the mad scientists at General Electric. They threw in some fancy variable stator blades, which basically means the engine squeezes out twin-spool pressure without packing on the pounds. Each blade is stainless steel and costs more than your first car, assuming you didn’t buy a Corvette. The first seven stages are titanium, because why not, and the whole thing is held together with spacers that laugh in the face of corrosion. The engine itself weighs in at 780 pounds, but can shove out 1300 pounds of thrust, enough to launch your mother-in-law into low orbit. The turbine wheels are connected to the compressor via a conical shaft, which is engineer-speak for 'we made it strong and light so it doesn’t explode.' The casing is sheet metal, and the top and bottom pop off like the lid of a can of cheap beer. The J79 doesn’t just run, it howls like a banshee at certain throttle settings, so you always knew when one was about to ruin your day on the flight line. That noise? Blame the bypass flaps stirring up the exhaust like a drunken Gunny with a soup pot. Early models belched out noticeable quantities of smoke, to make a destroyer jealous, which was great if you wanted every MiG in the hemisphere to know where you were. Eventually, someone figured out how to make them 'smokeless,' which was a real buzzkill for anyone who liked dramatic entrances. By the late '60s, the J79 was getting shown the door in favor of afterburning turbofans like the TF30 and F100, which were quieter, thriftier, and didn’t leave a smokescreen visible from space. The -8 engines were swapped for -10s because apparently bigger numbers mean better engines. Visit My Photo Album Photos of J79 engine oil manual.  YouTube Videos J79 Cutaway Display A guided tour of the J79 turbojet engine, from intake to afterburner. How to start a J79 engine >Want to start a jet engine? Here's how... Testing a GE J79 with afterburner Totally awesome, hard to believe two these were in the RF-4B. The Afterburner Nice video of the afterburner assembly. J79 Main Coupling Ever wonder what holds the compressor and turbine together? Jet Nozzle Test-A Closer Look Torch ignitor, and then variable nozzle actuation testing
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