FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1417.PDF
September 2nd, 1948 Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Python TWO rather different types of Mamba are at present underdevelopment, the one for military installations, the other for civil aircraft such as the Armstrong Whitworth Apollo.The main difference between the units lies in the reduction gear and torquemeter design, but the mounting and accessoryarrangements are also dissimilar. The past year has been most important for the Mamba, which, after initial flightdevelopment in the nose of a four-engined flying test bed, has been installed and has flown in two advanced trainers—theBalliol and Athena. The Mamba remains one of the most compact aircraft units ever produced, and intriguing possi-bilities for coupled Mambas or a pure-jet version suggest themselves; Very recently a Mamba succeeded in passing amost arduous 500-hour sealed test run. Although the design of the Python based on the pure-jetA.S.X. was well advanced before the Mamba was started, the development of the basic unit which develops nearly fourtimes the power of the Mamba, and subsequently of the power plant complete with contra-rotating airscrews, has called fora great deal of time and energy. Difficulties are now believed to have been overcome, and two Pythons installed in theoutboard positions of a four-engined test bed are expected to fly within the next few weeks. At least one single-engineinstallation is also in view. Bristol Theseus and Proteus /"YNE of the outstanding events associated with aircraft gas*->' turbines was the successful 500-hour run completed recently by a Theseus. Its achievement was the more im-portant in coming at a time when doubts were being felt in some quarters with regard to the desirability of dependingupon propjets for several important new civil transports. It WJII be remembered that the Theseus is unusual in being, ineffect, a double engine, the one turbine driving the compressor and, completely separate, the other driving the airscrew. Sufficient information has now been released concerning theProteus, and, in particular, its coupled installations in the Brabazon and S.K.45, for the magnitude of these projects tobe realized. Each pair of units driving through a common gear box will deliver a total of some 7,000 s.h.p. to the twoindependent airscrews. The Proteus is similar in many respects to the smaller Theseus, and flight experience with theTheseus, both in test beds and in Lincolns delivered to Trans- port Command, will be applicable in part to the Proteus. De llavilland Goblin and Ghost ANOTHER gas turbine power unit to figure in the list ofoutstanding achievements of the year is the Goblin. Not only is this turbojet flown in military aircraft in at least fivecountries, but it has been instrumental in obtaining the 100-km closed-circuit record and in making the first gas-turbine-, powered flight across the Atlantic. As a unit it quite recently passed successfully the most arduous series of tests of 1,000-hour duration, to which an aircraft power unit has ever been submitted. The Ghost may be regarded as having reached an advancedstage in its development, and as the power unit of a special Vampire fighter, it set up a new altitude record for aircraftof almost 60,000ft. A full type test certificate has been issued for the Ghost, four of which will power the D.H.106 Comet,one of the most important civil aircraft now under construc- tion. Goblins are being built under licence in Sweden, andlater an agreement may be made for the building of Ghosts. <jT De Havitlmd Ghost. De HavUhnd Goblin.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
