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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0416.PDF
2l6 FLIGHT FEBRUARY 28TH, 1946 JET EFFLUX THROUGH TAIL PROP JET and PLAIN r AXIAL-FLOW COMPRESSOR Consolidated-Vultee XP'81 Combines Turbine-driven . Airscrew and Plain Jet Propulsion CLOSELY following upon the release of particulars ofthe Ryan FR-i Fireball fighter, in which a recipro-cating engine drives a tractor airscrew while a jet unit is mounted in the tail, comes details of another American experimental type with a similar jet in the tail, but with its tractor airscrew driven by a gas turbine. This is the XP-81, a photograph of which was published in our issue of February 7th, designed and built by Consoli- dated-Vultee and now undergoing flight trials at the Muroc Army Test Base in California. So far, performance figures have not been divulged, beyond the statement that the speed is "more than 500 m.p.h." It ought to be very considerably in excess of that figure in view of the state- ment that '' the combination of power units can produce virtually as much power as all four engines of a B-29 Superfortress." The XP-81 is very far from being a small aircraft. It has a wing span of 50ft. 6in., a wing area of 425 sq. ft. and a gross weight which still appears slightly uncertain since the Vultee release gives it as 19,500 lb., while the General Electric Company, who should know the weight of its power plants, states that it weighs "22,000 pounds, including both of the powerful engines.'' The machine was designed primarily as a long-range bomber escort, for which purpose obviously the lowest possible fuel consumption was necessary, hence the turbine-driven airscrew. The take-oft is also, of course, greatly improved by the greater thrust obtainable from an airscrew at low forward speeds. For cruising over long ranges, the machine cruises on the tur- bine-driven airscrew alone, and in the main the rear jet is used only when very high speed is desired. Push-pull Propulsion Within a well streamlined fuselage are housed the two power units, the pilot being situated above and slightly aft of the forward one, which is a General Electric TG-ioo, of the axial-flow compressor type. The rear unit is a General Electric I-40 similar to those used in the Shooting Propjet is the name given by the General Electric Company of America to this type TG-ioo turbine-airscrew combination, usedin the nose of the Consolidated-Vultee XP-81 shown in the artist's impression at the top of the page. The compressor is of the axial-flow type. •
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