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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1051.PDF
FLIGHT, 26 July 1957 AERO ENGINES 1957 . . . 141 WRIGHT. The Wright Aeronautical Division of the Curtiss-WrightCorpn., Wood-Ridge, N.J. For many years Wright have been world leaders in aircraft propulsion, yet their performance in the gas-turbineera has been disappointing. Undoubtedly the Turbo-Compound is an outstanding powerplant, in spite of a relatively high incidence ofmechanical trouble, and Wright have also done a fine job in developing and mass-producing the J65 Sapphire to a basic British design; yet noengine of Wright design has achieved success since the R-3350 of almost twenty years ago. The company's first gas-turbine was the big T35 Typhoon turbopropwhich got as far as the flying stage. In 1950 the company obtained a profusion of licences in respect of British gas-turbines designed byArmstrong Siddeley and Bristol, and the Sapphire and Olympus were each chosen to form the basis of an American turbojet, as describedbelow. Attempts to convert these engines into ambitious turboprops were unsuccessful, and even the development of the basic J67 hasproved to be long and protracted. Only now is it likely to achieve success as part of an exceedingly interesting dual-cycle powerplant which,if financial considerations do not first cause its cancellation, may lead to an attractive system of propulsion for high-supersonic aircraft. Effortsare now being made to enter the commercial field with the TJ-38 turbojet. All responsibility for piston engines other than the Turbo-Compound is vested in Lycoming (.q.v.). At present Wright Aeronautical Division is concentrating on largeengines, and units up to 7,500 lb-thrust and comparable turboprops are the responsibility of the Turbomotor Division, which was organized inJanuary 1956 with headquarters at Hempstead, N.J. Headquarters of W.A.D. is still at Wood-Ridge although it is scheduled to be relocatedin the neighbourhood of Suffern, N.J.; the main research and develop- ment establishment is being steadily built up on a vast 85-sq-mile sitenamed Quehanna in central Pennsylvania, and a further extensive estate west of the Rockies has been allocated to future rocket and ramjetdevelopment. Other products of the corporation include Turbolectric propellers,simulators and related equipment by the Electronics Division; a variety of engine and airframe detail parts by the Marquette Metal ProductsDivision; the Aerophysics Development Corporation, who have designed hypersonic test vehicles and the Dart anti-tank weapon system; theUtica-Bend Corporation who mass-produce the Dart missile and hold a U.S. Army study-contract for a 250 e.h.p. turboshaft engine (independentof one held by the Turbomotor Division); a Metals Processing Division; and Caldwell-Wright Airport, Inc., who inter alia maintain the corpora-tion's experimental aircraft. Curtiss-Wright Europe, N.V., is a wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands principally concerned with service-support of U.S.A.F. and NATO J65s. Recent developments by the Propeller Division include: a very neatthrust-reverser for turbojets "from 2,000 to 25,000 lb-thrust" which has been fully developed during four years of rig running; an all-mechanical engine speed control for helicopters, offering unique advan- tages; and a variable-exhaust-nozzle control system for advanced turbo-jets giving infinite variation over a wide range of conditions. In August last year Curtiss-Wright undertook a three-year advisorymanagement agreement to assist Studebaker-Packard, and took a twelve-year lease on two S-P plants. Aerophysics Development andUtica-Bend, both previously mentioned, were purchased from S-P to implement Wright's missile programmes. Utica-Bend is also overhaul-ing J47 turbojets and making J57 parts for Ford. Earlier this year Curtiss-Wright and Studebaker-Packard jointly asso-ciated themselves with the great German firm of Daimler-Benz, and all three organizations are to co-operate in research, production and saleson a world-wide scale. Total Curtiss-Wright backlog at the beginning of the year was over $746m, and the number of employees 32,237, anincrease of over 4,300 compared with 1955. J65. In 1950 Wright recognized that the basic design of the BritishSapphire turbojet was sufficiently outstanding for it to command accept- ance in the American market. After purchasing a licence, the enginewas converted to U.S. standards and flown beneath a B-17, and in 1951 it was bought by the U.S. Air Force as the powerplant of the RepublicF-84F and Martin B-57 (Canberra). Since that time a variety of J65s have become widely used by theU.S. Air Force and have flown at high supersonic speeds in F-104 prototypes. Over 1,000 J65s have also been delivered to the Navy foruse in the FJ-3 and -4 Fury, F11F Tiger and Regulus II. Compared with the British Sapphire 100, the J65 incorporates complete detailredesign; the example illustrated is a typical fighter engine for the F11F-1 Tiger, with a steel ribless compressor casing and a short after-burner. Second-source production was undertaken by Buick between 1952 and early 1956, and approximately 10,300 J65s have now beenmanufactured. The rate of production has already appreciably slowed and next year deliveries will be required only for the Fury FJ-4B. Naturally Wright wished to extract from the J65 the maximumamount of business, both in the military and commercial fields. Con- siderable behind-the-scenes activity has followed two main paths. Onebranch has aimed at the establishment in America of an advanced During 1956 the two XB-47D test-bed aircraft flew many hours with the Wright T49 turboprop. Here one is seen from a KC-97 tanker. Wright J65-W-4. Single-shaft turbojet with afterburner. Thirteen-stage com- pressor, annular combustion chamber with 36 vaporizing burners and two-stage turbine. Diameter, 37.9in; length, 195in; dry weight, 2,780 Ib; mass flow, 120 Ib/sec; pressure ratio, 7:1; maximum thrust, 11,200 Ib with reheat, at 8,200 r.p.m., with s.f.c. of 1.97. The basic engine has a dry rating of 7,800 Ib thrust with s.f.c. of 0.91. military Sapphire (200-series derivation). Cool, long-life engines wouldhave been offered to the U.S.A.F. for re-engining B-47s, a proposal which was at one time very seriously considered and would have meanta requirement for some 20,000 engines. At the same time a hot, after- burning fighter engine would have been offered to the Navy, particularlyfor advanced versions of the Tiger. The other branch of investigation concerned an engine designated TJ-31F, a cool commercial turbojetwhich, it was hoped, would be sold to transport manufacturers. Unfor- tunately neither scheme has come to fruition, largely as a result offactors unconnected with the engines themselves. J67. When Wright bought the Olympus licence in 1950 theydecided that, as the engine needed substantial development in any case, they would themselves work on it to produce a wholly American engineof increased thrust. A U.S.A.F. development contract was awarded for an engine designated J67. By way of the intermediate TJ-32B, thisengine is now nearing the definitive stage. Early on, however, the U.S.A.F. saw that Wright could not develop a usable engine as fastas Pratt and Whitney (or Bristol) and no production of the J67 was ordered. It does, however, find a niche in the company's dual-cyclework, referred to overleaf. J47. A particularly ambitious proposal of the Wright AeronauticalDivision was the evolution, from the Olympus/J67 series, of a turboprop of some 15,000 h.p. As far as is known, the project is dead.T49. Unlike the preceding engine, this turboprop version of the J65 Sapphire not only reached the hardware stage but also accomplisheda fair amount of flying in a pair of XB-47Ds. The big single-shaft turboprops replaced the inboard twin-J47 nacelles, and drove largeducted-spinner propellers. The XB-47D did not inspire confidence among those who flew it, and virtually all development has now ceased.One of the original aims of the programme had been to produce a de-rated constant-power engine for commercial use. TJ-38 (company designation). Announcement of this very attrac-tive commercial turbojet was made in May of this year. After consider- able market-study it was decided to offer to the airlines a cool-runningversion of the second-generation Olympus—i.e., a derivative of the Olympus 510 series in replacement of a previous Wright proposal forthe series-550 engine. Actual detailed engineering of the TJ-38 was conducted by Bristol, and the British firm have a fairly close counterpartin the Zephyr (q.v.). Wright/Bristol TJ-38 Zephyr. Two-spool commercial turbojet. Five- stage low-pressure compressor, seven-stage high-pressure compressor, can-annular combustion chamber with eight flame tubes, single-stage high- pressure turbine and single-stage low-pressure turbine. Overall diameter, 41in; length from intake to exhaust flange, 121in; dry weight, equipped, 3,600 Ib; mass flow, not stated; pressure ratio, 10.5:1; maximum thrust, 12,500 Ib with turbine-entry temperature of 1,000 deg K and s.f.c. of 0.718; cruise rating at Mach 0.8 at 36,089ft, 3,000 Ib thrust with s.f.c. of 0.88. In appearance the Zephyr will closely resemble the Olympus 6 (p. 114). Turbine-inlet temperature in the TJ-38 is only 1,340 deg F, andseveral major advantages accrue as a direct consequence: the rated dry thrust of 12,500 Ib can be held in adverse temperature or altitudeconditions; water injection is not required; noise level is exceedingly low (and is further reduced by a segmented propelling nozzle); andreliability and service-life should be exceptional. Wright have pointed out that the basic Olympus design is backed up by over 30,000 hr of full-scale running, and that it should soon be possible to achieve full certifica- tion and work up to a very long overhaul period. As the accompanyingdata reveal, the specific consumption and weight are also exceedingly attractive. Roy T. Hurley, Curtiss-Wright chairman and president,
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