Diesel engines are a rarity in aviation history, but they've carved out an interesting niche. While most aircraft rely on gasoline-powered piston engines or jet turbines, diesel has offered some ...

In the late 1940s, GE introduced the J-47 gas turbine engine, which became the most-produced jet engine of the early jet age, powering aircraft such as the F-86 Sabre and several other new fighters.

The refinement of the fighter jet seems to have happened at a blistering pace. The world's first operative fighter jet was Germany's Messerschmitt Me 262, which took to the skies during the latter ...