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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1009.PDF
FLIGHT, 9 April 1954 463 Aero Engines 19S4 .. the Hispano-Suiza control system. Verdons flew in Mystere II and IV-A prototypes during 1952-53, and the engine is this month replacing the Tay as the power plant of the Mystere IV-A, the engine mountings being interchangeable. Avon. Last summer a licence was signed giving the French company authority to develop and build the Rolls-Royce Avon. Last December the first Mystere IV-B flew with an English Avon RA.7R, and different prototypes are now being fitted with other Derby-made Avons. Plans are being concluded for manufacture of Avons of unspecified types in France for the Mystere IV-BN and XX, SO-4050 Vautour, SE-2410 Caravelle and Hurel Dubois H.D.45. Leduc. Rene Leduc et Fils, Argenteuil, Seine-et-Oise. For over 20 years Rene Leduc has been steadily developing pure- ramjet aircraft, of which four full-scale prototypes have been built since the war, with the fifth—and first to be supersonic— nearing completion. Although his work has had to depend on meagre financial suppon, a very great deal has been accom plished, and satisfactory efficiency, combustion and control have been achieved up to about 60,000ft. In all the full-scale machines the fuselage itself forms the power-plant, the whole structure being a propulsive duct, with the exception of a small streamlined cockpit mounted concen trically in the intake. The interior of the duct is divided into several concentric diffusers by a system of splitter tubes; each of the latter has an array of fuel injectors around the leading edge—about 500 altogether—the resulting combustion taking place within the annular spaces between the tubes; in the earliest machines, at least, no flameholders were fitted. The Leduc 022, now being built, is designed for Mach 2, and will be a prototype intercepter. Lutetia. Moteurs Lutetia, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Seine. The Lutetia company has concentrated on small two-stroke engines which are unique in design. The principal types—a four-cylinder 90-deg vee of 44 h.p. and a six-cylinder radial of 70 h.p. —have the cylinders cast in pairs, so that the six-cylinder unit appears to have three oval-section cylinders spaced at 120-deg intervals around the crankcase. Air cooling is employed, and a positive-displacement compressor assists scavenging. Mathis. Societe Mecamat, Gennevilliers, Seine. Quite large numbers of Mathis flat-four and inverted vee-eight engines are in service in many types of aircraft, but no information is avail able regarding the company's present position. The engines now in use have maximum powers of 92, 200 and 230 h.p. Minie. Victor Minie Aeronautique, 9 Place des Ternes, Paris 17e. This large light-alloy-casting company has developed a range of small, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled, four-stroke engines, in which the most modern casting techniques have been employed. Three models currently produced are a two-cylinder unit of 35 h.p., and a series of four-cylinder engines of 65 and 90 h.p. Potez. Moteurs Henry Potez, 45 Avenue Kleber, Paris 16e. Air-cooled units of medium power are now in production at the old Lorraine works at Argenteuil, the output largely consisting of 6D engines for military trainers. At present the company has a fully-developed range of four-in-line, six-in-line and vee-eight engines, all inverted and all using the same size of cylinder. The four- and six-cylinder units are available with or without a super charger, and are ungeared; powers are 220 and 305 h.p. for the supercharged units. The eight-cylinder engine, illustrated, powers the Potez 75 "tank buster" prototype; in this pusher installation a large cooling-fan is fitted between the reduction gear and the airscrew. Rateau. Societe Rateau, La Courneuve (Seine). This well-known turbine and air-compressor firm were engaged in air craft gas-turbine development as early as 1939. Work con tinued, under obvious difficulties, during German occupation, and was eventually co-ordinated under Government approval in 1946. After making an interesting by-pass engine, M. Anxionnaz and his team developed the engine described below. SRA-101 Savoie. Bearing in mind its early conception, this turbojet is remarkably sound in design and has a performance fully comparable with that attained by some engines developed more recently by larger firms. Of all-steel construction, the Savoie abounds in unorthodox features, such as the taper of the compressor casing in the reverse of the usual manner; the strange rows of bleed pipes around the same casing (which is, into the bargain, a single-piece steel unit); the abrupt increase in diameter beyond the compressor to a clearly-defined maxi mum; and the large pipes lying between the flame-tubes, which appear to by-pass compressor air around the combustion chamber. Tailpipe area is variable, there being a sliding inner cone. Irrespective of its appearance, the Savoie has a fine performance. It has been built in small numbers purely as an experimental venture, but it has not yet flown. Salmson. Moteurs Salmson, Billancourt, Seine. Although this long-established company went into voluntary liquidation in 1951, a spares-and-service organization still exists for the many engines still in use. These are principally a development of the German Argus As 10C inverted vee-eight of 260 h.p., and the all-French 9NH radial of 220 h.p., the latter being used in the S.E. Alouette helicopter. S.E.P.R. Societe d'Etude de la Propulsion par Reaction, 37 Rue des Acacias, Paris. This is an independent firm specializing in rocket propulsion. Nearly all their present work is directed to the development of bi-fuel motors for intercepters and missiles. One of the most highly developed French supersonic test-vehicles is the Matra M.04, and this 1,100 m.p.h. aircraft is powered by an S.E.P.R. liquid-fuel rocket developing a thrust of 2,750 lb. Fuel and oxidizer are blown from their welded-steel tanks by compressed air, the normal duration of burning being 14 seconds. A general similar motor for piloted applications is the S.E.P.R. 251, illustrated on p. 464. The two fuels are stored in tanks mounted on the airframe, in the S.O. 6025 test-bed both fuel and oxidizer were contained in tanks faired into the front of the motor, but the later Espadon S.O. 6026 has added wing-tip tanks for rocket fuel, giving a much longer duration. It was Leduc 021 ramjet. Note: The ramjet forms the entire fuselage of this aircraft. Diameter of duct, 8ft; length of duct, about 28ft; design speed, "high subsonic"; mass flow, about 350 lb/sec; thrust, about 15,000 lb with all burners in operation. Potez 8D-30 90-deg inverted vee-eight, with geared drive and supercharger. Bore, 4.92in; stroke, 4.72in; swept volume, 714 cu in (11.7 litres); width, 31.5in; height, 31.6in; length, 67.8in; dry weight, 739 lb; maximum power, 450 h.p. at 2,800 r.p.m. with 5.2 lb boost. Rateau SRA-101 Savoie turbojet. Ten-stage compressor, twelve tubular com bustion chambers and two-stage turbine. Diameter, 44in; length, approximately 160in as shown; dry weight, 2,293 lb; mass flow, 117 lb/sec; pressure ratio, 6.8:1; maximum thrust, 8,800 lb at 9,500 r.p.m. with water injection, or 7,300 lb dry.
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