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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1005.PDF
FLIGHT, 9 April 1954 461 Aero Engines 1954 combustion instability and poor control, particularly at altitude, the engine is by no means fully developed. The Cutlass engine has an afterburner, as illustrated, and limited production is pro ceeding at the company's main turbojet plant at Kansas City. Wright. Wright Aeronautical Division, Curtiss-Wright Corpn., Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. Longest-established of all the American engine companies, Wright have had various types of Cyclone piston engine in production since 1930. The com pany's first venture into gas-turbines was the T35 single-shaft <rf£z£ Westinghouse J34-WE-36 turbojet. Eleven-stage compressor, annular com bustion chamber with 24 + 36 burners, and two-stage turbine. Diameter, 24in; length, 120in; dry weight, 1,233 lb; mass flow, 55 lb/sec; pressure ratio, 3.8:1; maximum thrust, 3,400 lb at 12,500 r.p.m. with s.f.c. of 1.01 Ib/hr/lb. Westinghouse J40-WE-8 turbojet with afterburner. Ten-stage compressor, annular combustion chamber with sixteen burners, two- stage turbine, and large afterburner fitted with sideways-opening eyelids both actuated from single electric jack. Diameter, 40in; length, 300in; dry weight, 3,500 lb; pressure ratio, 5.2:1; maximum thrust, 10,500 lb at 7,600 r.p.m. with s.f.c. of about 2.2 Ib/hr/lb; basic engine gives 7.5C0 lb for s.f.c. of 0.935 Ib/hr/lb. (Note: in this fighter engine, the accessories are mounted between bifurcated intakes.) Westinghouse J46-WE-8 turbojet with afterburner. Eleven-stage compressor, annular combustion chamber with multiple burners, two-stage turbine and afterburner with twin eyelids positioned by single jack. Diameter, 34in; length, 198in, dry weight, 2,100 lb; mass flow, about 78 lb/sec; pressure ratio, about 6:1; maximum thrust, 6,000 lb with re-heat, or about 4,800 lb basic. turboprop of 1945 design, which was cancelled after 17 had been delivered at a cost of £9.9m. Wright then obtained licences to build and develop most modern Armstrong Siddeley engines, the most important being the Sapphire (below). Licences are also held for the development of the Bristol Olympus, and the com pany are negotiating for the former Navy factory at Romulus, Michigan (left vacant by the revised programme for the J40 engine) for the production of the Olympus-derived J67. About 25,000 employees are at present making piston engines, J65s, ramjets, and are conducting tests on glass-plastic blading and other developments. Very large turboprops are not far off, and a "throttleable" liquid-fuel rocket is being perfected by the Curtiss-Wright Propeller division; this engine, the XLR-25, gives 12,000 lb thrust, and was intended for the Bell X-2. The com pany's order-backlog exceeds £350m. R-1300. This neat seven-cylinder engine is almost entirely a post-war development. Large numbers have been built, prin cipally for the North American T-28A trainer, and the engine gives 800 h.p. at 2,600 r.p.m., geared and supercharged. When Wright farmed out all piston engine work to other firms (with the exception of the Turbo-Compound) responsibility for the R-1300 passed to the Detroit Engine division of Kaiser-Frazer. The latter company are now mass-producing the R-1300-3 for the various service versions of the S-55 helicopter. The R-1300-3 has a special arrangement of lubrication to enable it to be used at 39 deg crankshaft angle. Drive is direct. It is possible that this engine will power some production Westland Whirlwinds. R-1820. As stated in the section dealing with Lycoming, all responsibility for the R-1820 (the direct descendant of the original Cyclone) is vested in the Bridgeport-Lycoming division of Avco. R-2600. Mass-produced in World War 2, this 14-cylinder, two-row engine is no longer in production, although it is widely used in such "corporate" aircraft as the Mitchell. R-3350. Originally known as the Duplex Cyclone, this mas sive 18-cylinder radial powers the B-29, Skyraider, Constellation and other aircraft. Several variations are in military and com mercial use, with fuel injection either into the eye of the super charger or direct into the cylinders. Water injection and high- or low-tension ignition are other variables. After some 25m flight hours, the R-3350 is well developed, typical figures being the scheduled overhaul life of 1,900 hr for some airline engines and the allotted 600 hr invariably reached by the WB-29 engines of the Air Weather Service. All R-3350 work is the responsibility of the Chevrolet aviation engine division of General Motors, who build the engine at their Tonawanda, New York State, factory. Turbo-Compound. After much war-time research, Wright evolved a method of compounding the basic R-3350 engine, by the addition of a "power-recovery" section just behind the rear row of cylinders. Three small, single-stage, blow-down turbines are fitted on radial shafts spaced around the engine at 120 deg intervals. These turbines are spun by the exhaust gas whenever the engine is running and they are connected, via fluid couplings, to the crankshaft, to which they feed up to 600 h.p. Compared with earlier R-3350s, the Turbo-Compound is still further refined and more strongly made; it is a highly competitive military and commercial engine and is seeing wide service in the P2V, C-119H, P5M, DC-7 and Super Constellation. At present cleared for 600 hr, it has suffered some trouble, such as nozzle-box cracking and cooling-cap failure. A year ago, Wright Turbo-Compound R-3350-30WA eighteen-cylinder, two-row radial, air-cooled piston engine, geared and fitted with two-speed geared supercharger, pressure-type carburetter and water-injection system, and having a power- recovery section of three exhaust-driven turbines geared to the crankshaft through fluid couplings. Bore, 6.125in; stroke, 6.3125in; swept volume, 3,347 eu in (54.9 litres); diameter, 56.6in; length, 91.8in; dry weight, 3,443 lb; maximum power, 3.500 h.p. at 2,900 r.p.m. with 13.5 lb boost with water injection.
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