Jet Engine lifter Q

[Lohan2008]

Would it be possible to use jet engines as lifters In Real Life ??

[kahlzun]

Possible but difficult. Turbofan engines (like on 747s) only work at fairly low speeds, but are efficient.

ramjet and scramjet work well at high speeds, but wont work at all at low speeds.

also, jet engines only work up to a certain altitude, and are expensive.

effectively, thats what they did when launching the X-15

[magnemoe]

The Pegasus rocket uses an plane as first stage so yes its possible.

Downside is that the speed, attitude and carrying capacity don't scale up very well.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Well, I think it is efficient if you do it in a Spaceship-One kind of manner... As long as you can return the First Stage safely

But I guess this only works for small Payloads.