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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1186.PDF
300 FLIGHT W. R. McLachlan (left), vice-president and general manager of Orenda Engines; and C. J. Luby, president and general manager of Canadian Steel Improvement. The Canadian Industry... , : ; - "Y," their much-publicized "saucer" design, except to mentionthat the special projects department is still in existence, Canadian press reports early this year referred to U.S.A.F. interest in thisproject, on which (it was stated) the Canadian Government had spent $4-5m before abandoning it. A major setback in March ofthis year was the fire which burned down Malton's Hangar 5, rented by Avro Aircraft and Orenda Engines for test developmentand special manufacturing work. The loss, excluding the value of the hangar, which belonged to the Department of Transport,was estimated at some $5m. Under Crawford Gordon, Jr. (chairman and president), F. T.Smye (vice-president and general manager) is the executive head of Avro Aircraft. Other senior officials include J. C. Floyd, vice-president, engineering; H. R. Smith, vice-president, manufactur- ing; J. A. Morley, vice-president, sales and service; J. Turner,secretary and treasurer; and D. H. Rogers, chief test pilot. Orenda Engines, Ltd. Successor to the Gas Turbine Divisionof A. V. Roe Canada, Orenda Engines began operations as an autonomous company in the A. V. Roe Canada group on January1st of this year. Its facilities comprise a modern production plant of 750,000 sq ft, completely air-conditioned, near Malton Airport,Toronto, plus a design department, research and development laboratories, full-scale test establishment at Nobel, Ontario (160miles north of Toronto), and flight test establishment. Approxi- mately 6,000 people are employed, of whom some 25 per centare engaged on research and development. More than 2,500 engines have been built by Orenda since theopening of the Malton production plant in September, 1952. Two models of the Orenda series are currently in production; theOrenda 11 for the Avro Aircraft CF-100, and also the Orenda 14 for the Canadair Sabre 6. Thrust ratings have increased to over7,000 lb from the original 5,800 lb of the Orenda 2, while weight has been reduced to 2,400 from 2,700 lb, despite the additionalweight of a second turbine stage. The demand for strategic materials has been reduced by some 40 per cent. A measure of the importance of the Orenda programme to thesupporting industries can be obtained from the fact that, while 90 per cent of components and materials had to be obtainedoriginally from sources outside Canada, the Canadian content is now up to 95 per cent. During the last 12 months, production schedules have beenmaintained, in spite of the introduction of new models and manu- facturing techniques and the establishment of a blade shop in theproduction plant (replacing the sub-contract arrangements for the supply of blades at the end of last year). Modifications incorpor-ated in Orenda engines during this period include the introduction of a nozzle box fabricated of sheet metal, rings and small castings,in place of the original machined casting. A combustion- chamber casing of mild steel with silicone lacquer coating hasreplaced front-section aluminium castings and the mild steel aluminium-sprayed rear casing previously used, thereby eliminat-ing temperature limits and offering better corrosion resistance. A new exhaust-cone design, in which all spot-welded stiffenershave been eliminated from the casing, is lighter than the original type (employing supported vanes and bullet supported by cross-tubes within the casing), and has resulted in an increase in life. The bullet is now fabricated from three large pressings withintegral stiffening beads welded together with integral support vanes.Among the new manufacturing techniques introduced during the past year is the use of high-speed broaching, which permitsa broach speed of 35ft per min on turbine discs, one complete disc being serrated in approximately 50 min. The use of extruded rawmaterial has replaced pot forgings and castings, from which were previously machined outer support-rings, second-stage turbinestator segments and certain stator-blade rings. In the case of compressor stator-blade rings, material is extruded to the exactdimensions, requiring only blade-slots to be machined and a small amount of drilling to be carried out. High temperature brazing,another new development, has made possible the use of stainless steel fabrications in the place of castings and forgings. A consider-able increase in cutting-tool life and in cutting speeds has been made possible by employing "mist cooling" (an atomized andcombined lubricant and coolant delivered under pressure to the tool-point), in addition to a better surface-finish. The new Sopwith laboratory, completed early this year, com-prises mechanical, materials, instrument, areodynamic and fuel- system laboratories, and covers 31,000 sq ft of floor space. A newbuilding of just under 60,000 sq ft is due for completion this autumn and will house sales and service departments concernedwith receiving and storage; offices; and a service training school. Two repair and overhaul shops have been established undersub-contract by the Orenda company during the year: one at de Havilland's Downsyiew plant (handling, together with Orenda'sMalton shop, domestic repair and overhaul); and one at Brock- worth Engineering, England, handling engines in Europeanservice. The most interesting current project at Orenda is undoubtedlythe PS-13, or "Super-Orenda," and it is unfortunate that Service security restrictions prevent the company from releasing any de-tails at all of this, the ultimate successor to the Orenda engine. At the beginning of this year Mr. Crawford Gordon, Jr., disclosed thatthe company had already spent $4m on this new turbojet project, "which will be unique in its utilization of titanium." An Americansource has quoted a design rating of 18,000 lb thrust for the dual-compressor PS-13, and an expectation of 25,000 lb thrustwith afterburner. The operating head of Orenda Engines is W. R. McLachlan,who is vice-president and general manager. The senior manage- ment includes also C. A. Grinyer (vice-president, engineering, andchief engineer); E. K. Brownridge (vice-president, manufacturing); F. L. Trethewey (vice-president, sales and service); P. Y. Davoud(sales manager) and K. R. Church (secretary and treasurer). Canadian Steel Improvement, Ltd. Of all the expansion pro-jects in the Canadian Industry during the past year, none is more striking than that of Canadian Steel Improvement, the third com-pany in the A. V. Roe Canada group. The company started operations in 1951 as a Crown-assisted plant to forge the com-pressor and turbine blades for the Orenda, since when several million blades have been produced to extremely close tolerancesand surface-finish requirements. In 1954 all the buildings and most of the equipment werepurchased from the Government and, following the incorporation of the company into the A. V. Roe Canada group, a team ofspecialists from High Duty Alloys went out to Etobicoke, Toronto, early this year in preparation for an intensive expansion of theC.S.I. facilities. At that time a wide range of experience had already been gained in close-tolerance forging of aluminium,titanium, steel and high-temperature alloys. In addition to drop- and press-forging facilities, the company possessed a competentengineering and design department, a well-equipped testing laboratory, a full inspection organization and a die-sinking shop.The recent expansion began last year, when operation com- menced in a pilot aluminium sand-casting foundry and precisionfoundry for investment casting prototype work. A completely new laboratory was next brought into use, fully equipped formechanical testing, all types of metallographic examination and chemical analysis, and containing full X-ray facilities.Considerably extended engineering facilities, and an extension to the present die shop, then made possible the production ofa wider range of precision forging dies. By the end of this year, a new forging bay, covering an area of12,000 sq ft, will be in operation for the manufacture of large aluminium forgings. This will contain drop hammers up to acapacity of 10 tons, plus a wide range of air-operated hammers for hand forging, and additional forging press equipment up to acapacity of 2,000 tons. A complete new production foundry (including pattern shop) of 75,000 sq ft, will also be in use by theend of this year. Sand castings in aluminium and magnesium, and pressure die castings and permanent mould castings in alu-minium, will be produced, and complete melting facilities for aluminium. will be provided. These extensions will more thandouble the area of the plant, increasing the floor space by 115,000 sq ft to a total of 176,000.The president and general manager of C.S.I, is C. J. Luby; other senior officials include J. A. Wellings, vice-president; I. A.Usher, chief engineer; J. G. Gill, plant superintendent, and F. McAlpine, secretary-treasurer.
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