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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0160.PDF
i66 FLIGHT, 7 February 1958 FROM ALL QUARTERS . . . are to be incorporated. North American also hope to be able tomake flap and undercarriage extension and application of reverse thrust automatic as well. Bell Aircraft have already produced such a system for the U.S.Navy, making use of a form of automatic G.C.A. directing the aircraft autopilot. In this way an F3D Skyknight was successfullylanded on a carrier deck without the intervention of the pilot. The associated ground equipment was housed in a series of mobiletrailers during these trials. Automatic allowance is made for pitching of the carrier deck. Proficiency in Gliding AN indication of the high standard of soaring in Poland, where• this year's World Gliding Championships are to be held, was given recently by the F.A.I. In a list of countries whose pilotshave obtained Gold C awards with three diamonds, Poland leads with 33. France has 18; the U.S.A. six; Czechoslovakia three;Argentina and Switzerland, two each; - and West Germany, Yugoslavia, Great Britain and the Netherlands, one each. TheBritish pilot with Gold C and three diamonds is Cdr. Nicholas Goodhart. The margin between France and Poland is in faaffmuch closer than this list indicates, as France has gained a further 12 Diamond Cs, as yet not confirmed in detail by the F.A.I., tobring her total to 30. Supersonic Target Towing /^J.UNNERY practice at supersonic speeds should be facilitated" by a target boom developed by North American Aviation, Inc., for installation upon the F-100D. Made of chrome molybdenum alloy steel, the boom is two inchesin diameter and ten feet long and can be attached in a matter of minutes in place of an inspection door on the underside of thefuselage. A few minor modifications enable it to be fitted on the rest of the F-100 series of aircraft.Retracted under the fuselage when not in use, it can be lowered through 60 deg to snatch a target cable suspended in readiness afew feet above the ground. The booro, which has been tested at George A.F.B., Victorville, is intended for use with the Darthigh-speed target. NAPIER ANNOUNCE GAZELLE JUNIOR ON January 31 D. Napier and Son, Ltd., announced theexistence of a scaled-down version of the Gazelle free-turbine engine; the new unit has the company designation E.222, and it is called—logically enough—the Gazelle Junior. Atthis stage Napier are prepared to release only very basic particulars of the Junior, but these are sufficient for a general assessment ofthe engine to be attempted. Its larger ancestor is now well-known (for full description seeFlight for May 10 last) and is in production for the Westland Wessex and Bristol 192 helicopters at ratings between 1,260 and1,800 s.h.p. The Gazelle (which, incidentally, will not be re-styled Gazelle Major) is an omni-angle engine, being installed verticallyin the Bristol twin-engined machine and at about 35 deg in the Weetland; and a turboprop version could be made available ifrequired. The design is now well proven, and it is a logical measure for Napier to attempt to scale it to meet demands for free-turbinepower in different "package sizes." Ratings for the new engine are given in the data panel adjacentto the illustration. One thousand horse-power is a very important power class, and one which received scant attention from enginemanufacturers until recently; the Dart and Mamba started below Napier E.222 Gazelle Junior Single-shaft, free-turbine, all-angleengine for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters (latter version depicted).Maximum diameter, 33in; overall length, 54in; weight (as shown, withaccessories), 495 Ib dry; maximum rating, 920 s.h.p. initially, 1,070 s.h.p.at first development stage; one-hour rating, 765 s.h.p., later 900 s.h.p.;maximum continuous rating, 680 s.h.p., later 800 s.h.p. this level, but both are now giving twice as much power. Since1955, however, no fewer than seven manufacturers have offered shaft turbines of this size: Blackburn (Twin Turmo, 900 s.h.p.);General Electric and de Havilland (T58, 1,050 s.h.p.); Lycoming (T53, 825/960 s.h.p.); Turbomeca (Bastan, 770/800 s.h.p.); Arm-strong Siddeley(P.181/182,1,000 s.h.p.); and Napier (Oryx NOr.3, 900 s.h.p.). In addition to these units, Alyis have been namedas a company interested in this field; and it is also safe to assume that there is a 1,000 h.p. turbine in the Soviet Union. It followsthat no engine manufacturer can now hope to obtain more than a small proportion of the market, and he will have to fight for everybit of it that he gets. In spite of this highly competitive situation—or perhaps becauseof it—Napier have decided to promote the Gazelle Junior, and preliminary details have been circulated to aircraft constructors athome and overseas. Whether or not the engine is a company- financed venture cannot be divulged, but one would expect suchto be the case. Like the bigger Gazelle, it has been planned as an omni-angle unit, and, although initially intended for rotary-wing applications, a turboprop version is being developed for fixed- wing aircraft. Moreover, a coupled Gazelle Junior will also beoffered, providing a maximum of about 1,840 s.h.p. All versions will naturally have single-lever control and complete protection forpower-turbine oyerspeed, top-temperature limitation, anti-surge during acceleration and maximum-torque control (with, in thecoupled unit, automatic power-increase in the "good" half follow- ing failure of the other). In the accompanying illustration the Junior is depicted in thevertical position. At the lower end is the annular intake casing, which, in contrast to the inward-radial form of the Gazelle intake,entrams air axially. Through one of the "spats" (faired struts) passes the shaft drive to the accessories. This drive is takenthrough the angle box seen on the left, from which a vertical shaft takes the drive to a banana plate wrapped around the compressorcasing and carrying on its upper and lower faces the pressure and scavenge oil pumps, torquemeter pump, fuel pump and otherengine accessories—one of which can be seen to be a centrifugal fan for oil cooling and engine-bay ventilation. Provision is madeat present for electric or i.p.n. starting. If the compressor follows previous Napier practice it will haveabout eleven discs, of either stainless steel or aluminium alloy, pinched together on a steel shaft and carrying aluminium-bronzeblades held in fir-tree roots. The can-annular combustion system clearly has six flame tubes, each fed through a diagonally disposedinjector (the larger Gazelle has a Lucas-engineered system, with upstream burners). Above can be seen the shrouds around thetwo-stage compressor turbine and the single power-turbine stage, from which the output is taken via an epicyclic reduction gearincorporating a torquemeter, doubtless similar to Napier's pre- vious designs. Like the Gazelle, the Junior can provide left- orright-hand output rotation according to the type of blading fitted to the power turbine. Prominent in the picture are the four exhausttrunks, with the reduction gear flexibly mounted in the centre. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to give any indication of theJunior's state of development. Since Napier are prepared to issue preliminary performance figures one can assume that at least rigtesting of the main rotating parts has been started. Moreover, the development of the engine should be both rapid and sure.Napier state that the E.222 design was formulated after a market survey into the power needs of the next generation of single- andtwin-engined helicopters. This is perhaps a reference to new projects on the boards at Bristol, Westland, Fairey or Saro.
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