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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1037.PDF
FLIGHT, 26 July 1957 127 The small piston engines from the Agusta company were revealed at the recent Paris Salon: from the left, G.A.40, G.A.70/V and G.A.70/O. AERO ENGINES 1957 ... delivered. In 1955 M. Ginnini designed an exceptionally attractiverange of completely new small piston engines for the propulsion of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.Smallest of the range is the flat-twin G.A.40 with a displacement of 1,486 c.c, a weight of 86 lb and a rating of 42 h.p. at 2,700 r.p.m.Limited production is in hand for the take-off propulsion of a motorized glider for the Italian Air Force. Using a slightly smaller cylinder-size, an opposed four-cylinderengine designated G.A.70 is now being developed in two forms. That depicted in the diagram is for helicopter propulsion, and has the crank-shaft vertical. The fixed-wing G.A.70/O has a similar rating and weighs 150 lb. All these engines are at present undergoing bench-testing, and type-certification should be completed by the end of this year. FIAT. Fiat S.p.A., Divisione Aviazione, Corso G.Agnelli, 200,Turin. By far the largest firm of its type in Italy, the giant Fiat organ- ization have been making aero engines since 1908. Since World War 2the company have successfully weathered the period of depression which crippled many Italian firms and have firmly established their positionin the gas-turbine field. During the past decade the bulk of the company's aero-engine workhas been centred on the works at Lingotto, built and equipped specific- ally for competitive operations in both the piston and turbine fields.The manufacture of piston engines ceased shortly after World War 2, but overhaul and spares-production have remained major activities, both forFiat engines and for such imported units as the Pratt and Whitney range of radials, Wright Turbo-Compound, Rolls-Royce Merlin 500 andPackard Merlin V-1650. Gas-turbine operations started ten years ago with the manufacture ofspares for the D.H. Goblins of Italian Air Force Vampires. Four years later the Lingotto plant tooled-up to build the D.H. Ghost 48 Mk 1turbojet for delivery to Sud-Aviation at Marignane, where the Aquilon (development of the Sea Venom) was in production. Total deliveries toSud Aviation were in excess of 110 engines. In 1953 Fiat were awarded their first American off-shore contracts,the largest being worth some £3m and covering the overhaul and pro- duction of spares to support the Allison J35-A-29 turbojet, which wasthen widely used in NATO as the powerplant of the F-84G. Similar contracts have since been placed for the General Electric J47—for whichengine Fiat is the European overhaul centre—and Curtiss-Wright J65 Sapphire for U.S.A.F.E. The company decided to try their skill at the design of their own gasturbine in 1953. Having designated the Goblin the Fiat Model 4000, and the Ghost die Fiat 4001, the company-designed engine became theModel 4002 (axial units have a different system of nomenclature). The 4002, which has yet to fly, is described below. It is being followed bytwo more Fiat-designed units about which no details may yet be pub- lished : the Model 4033 (sic) turbojet of greater output than the 4002,and the Model 4700 compressed-air generator. Fiat 4002.001. Single- shaft turbojet. Single centrifugal compressor, reverse-flow annular combustion chamber and single-stage turbine. Overal I diameter, 22.5in; length, 34.8in; dry weight. 1941b; mass flow, 11 Ib/sec; pressure ratio, approximately 4:1 ; maximum thrust, 7161b at 25,000 r.p.m. 4002. It was logical that Fiat should have chosen a simple, "rugged"low-thrust turbojet as the subject of their first essay into the field of gas-turbine development. Such a unit should pose relatively few prob-lems and, as Fiat have striven to make the 4002 straightforward and trouble-free, the engine may well find markets in several branches ofaviation, both as a primary powerplant and emergency or a.t.o. booster. General layout of the latest version of the engine, the .001, isdescribed in the data panel. The original 4002.000, rated at 595 lb thrust and weighing 220 1b, was described in our 1956 aero-engine review.No attempt has been made to minimize diameter, and downstream of the compressor are both radial and axial diffuser sections. To themagnesium-zirconium intake casting is attached a variety of accessories within the diameter of the combustion section, and this unit also carriesthe ball thrust bearing at the front of the rotating assembly. The combustion chamber, of reverse-flow type, has appeared inseveral forms. Initially the configuration was can-annular, with ten flame tubes, and a later variation had a truly annular form terminatedat the rear end by 12 hemispherical domes each containing a fuel nozzle. In the revised engine illustrated the whole chamber is extremelyshort and comprises inner and outer liners and 16 hemispherical domes inclined inwards so that the combustion gases are turned through some160 deg to enter the turbine nozzles. Fuel controls by Air Equipement (France) feed a manifold around the jet pipe, which emerges from thecentre of the chamber (Lucas controls are used on the earlier 4002.000 version). The single-stage turbine has 47 Nimonic blades retained byfir-tree roots. Among the other British accessories is a Kelvin Hughes tachometer. JAPAN FIVE years of effort have now been expended in the development ofsmall gas-turbines. In our 1956 engine review we described and illus- trated the Jo-1 axial engine of 2,200 lb-thrust developed by the JapanJet Engine Company (of 1010 Tanashi-machi Kitatama-gun, Tokyo). This and more advanced units continue in an active state, but no infor-mation on their progress is available. Production is continuing on the Kawasaki KAE-240 flat-six of 260 h.p. and licence production may beundertaken on the Continental J69 and/or T51 (Turbomeca designs) and other non-Japanese engines. POLAND MOTOIMPORT. Motoimport, P.O. Box 365, Warsaw, Przemy-slova 26. Most notable designer of engines at present is Dipl. Ing. Wiktor Narkievicz. Before World War 2 he was a senior engineer atthe Czech Avia works, and from 1940 served with No. 315 Sqn., R.A.F., and was later engaged in Britain on engine research. He returned toPoland and in January 1946 became a chief designer of the P.Z.L. aero- engine department. Designed by him to a government requirement, the 65 h.p. WN-1was the first post-war Polish engine. Three prototypes gave promising results during bench and flight trials, but when the sponsor, the Depart-ment of Civil Aviation, was dissolved work on the WN-1 ceased. In 1947 the 285-h.p. WN-2 was developed to official requirements. Thisengine was ready for production in 1950, but, as the Polish industry was then entering an era of absolute Russian control, the WN-2 wasabandoned in favour of the licence-built AI-14. In 1952, despite an unfavourable political situation, Narkievicz pre-pared a study of a new engine, the WN-3 illustrated in the diagram. The prototype was completed in 1954 and was fully developed by theend of 1955. During development the maximum power was raised from 300 to 340 h.p. without increasing the weight, and the accessories areentirely of Polish manufacture. The WN-3 is in full production, prin- cipally for the TS-8 Bies trainer; some new designs, including thefour-engined MD-12, will also be equipped with the engine. A special helicopter version designated WN-4 is at present flying in the Zukhelicopter, and should soon be in production. In 1955 was completed a design study for a supercharged radial ratedat 500 h.p. and designated WN-5, but this unit has yet to reach the hardware stage. The latest engine is the 180 h.p. WN-6, the prototypeof which is being extensively tested and which should lead to large- scale production and long-term development, and a number of new air-craft are being designed around it. Narkievicz is also preparing a design study for a turboprop in the 1,000-h.p. class intended for a twin-engined version of the MD-12 transport. In recent years a range of pulsejet units has been prepared under thedirection of S. Wojcicki. The first model, of 22 lb-thrust, was based on the French Escopette of 1951 and was flown for the first time late in1956. Four units were fitted in pairs under the wings of a modified Bocian sailplane. These pulsejets were later developed into units givingtwice the thrust. Two more of Wojcicki's pulsejets were recently ex- hibited in Warsaw. Rated at 88 1b and 154 lb-thrust they were com-pleted in 1955 at the I.L. (Aviation institute). Poland is also licence-producing a range of Russian powerplants.Since 1955 Klimov VK-1 turbojets (Nene derivative) have been in large-scale production for Polish-built Mig-15s and 17s. Until it isreplaced by the Polish WN-6 the Russian M-11FR rated at 140 h.p. at 1,760 r.p.m., and with a maximum of 160 h.p., will remain in produc-tion. The AI-14 of 260 h.p. is still being made for the Polish-built Yak-12, and the 575 h.p. AI-26 is entering production for the SM-1helicopter. I.L. (Aviation Institute) WN-3. Piston engine. Seven- cylinder air-cooled radial, un- supercharged and with direct drive. Diameter. 43.5in; length, 34.9in; bore, 5.31 in; stroke, S.27in; swept volume, 820 cu in; dry weight, 530 Ib; maximum (5-min) rating, 335 h.p. at 1,500 r.p.m,; cruising retting, 237 h.p. at 2,100 r.p.m. with s.f.c. of 0.48 Ib/hr/h.p.
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