Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explain what an afterburner is, who created it, when it was created and what it is used for. Afterburners have mostly one purpose and that is to provide an increase in thrust, which is mainly used during takeoff, for a rapid climb in supersonic commercial aircraft to achieve the most efficient cursing altitude rapidly, and during combat situations. It was created and tested in late 1944 by the British, and then again in mid-1945. The US also worked on afterburners in the period of 1948 with installations on early straight wing jets like the Pirate and the Scorpion. Today the afterburner has come a long way and are considered standard equipment for fighter aircraft. Only a few civilian planes have used them, and one being a very well-known one, the Concord. This plane could fly long distances at supersonic speeds, but at a very high cost of fuel burn. In conclusion the afterburner is a great tool that can provide the extra thrust needed in many situations for the combat pilot in a military fighter jet or the civilian pilot just trying to achieve the greatest amount of altitude for an efficient flight and conserve fuel. Afterburner Report An afterburner is a method of increasing short periods of thrust in a jet engine in order to takeoff faster, climb, or perform certain types of combat maneuvers. This burst is achieved by injecting additional fuel for burning downstream of the turbine, because of all the excess air (oxygen) the turbine engine burns. Since the temperature of an afterburner are extremely hot, the flame is concentrated around the jet pipe axis, allowing portions of the discharged gas to flow along the wall of the jet pipe and maintain a safe wall temperature. An afterburning jet pipe is equipped with one of two nozzles, a two position or a variable nozzle, this is to provide the ability to operate under all conditions. See diagram below, (Purde, Afterburner Basics, 1998)

History The history of the afterburner is somewhat cloudy, but all sources do agree that the British were the first to have and use the afterburner, or reheat as it is called in some circles. It included flight tests on a Rolls-Royce W2/B23 in a Gloster Meteor I in late 1944 and ground tests on a Power Jets W2/700 engine in mid-1945. This engine was later installed in the Miles M.52 supersonic aircraft project (Wikipedia, Afterburner, 2014). The US work on the afterburner system for the Solar installations in 1948 on straight wing jets like the Pirate (pictured below as the Navy airplane) and Scorpion (pictured below as the Air Force airplane).

Generally afterburners are only in military aircraft and are considered standard equipment for fighter jets. Only a handful of civilian airplanes have them and they include some NASA research aircraft, and the well-known Concorde, and they could flew long distances at supersonic speeds. Sustained high speeds come at a cost of high fuel consumption and cost so the tickets on an airplane like the Concord were very expensive when it was in operation. These aircraft used afterburners at takeoff and to minimize time spent in the high drag transonic flight regime.
Conclusion
In conclusion the afterburner is a great tool that can provide the extra thrust needed in many situations for the combat pilot in a military fighter jet or the civilian pilot just trying to achieve the greatest amount of altitude for an efficient flight and conserve fuel. Although the cost are high because of the excess fuel required, it can be a very efficient way to achieve other goals as required during takeoffs and climbs that overshadow the excess cost. References

University, P. (1998). Afterburner. Retrieved from Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics: https://engineering.purdue.edu/-propulsi/propulsion/jets/basics/afterburner.htm
Wikipedia. (2014, September 10). Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/afterburner