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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0995.PDF
95 FUGHT,20July\96l Pratt & Whitney JT3D-I (left) and TF33-3 in the main plant at Hartford AERO ENGINES 1961 future—the basic engine is now in full production, the military designa- tion being J60. The same gas producer has led to the engine described hereunder. JFTD12 Announced in October last year, a new series of shaft- drive engines based on the gas-producer section of the JT12 turbojet appears likely to win a ready market in the 4,000 h.p. class. All members of this family consist essentially of a JT12 with a new free-turbine added downstream to provide a rear drive, the exhaust being taken out to one side. There is no government money in the engine, and Pratt & Whit- ney were prompted to develop it partly owing to its very extensive air, ground and marine market and partly since such a powerplant was urgently required by Sikorsky Aircraft, another United Aircraft division. Their S-64 Skycrane heavy-lift helicopter could not have been realized had the JFTD-12 not been available. In this application, a pair of the new engines are mounted immediately ahead of the rotor, with exhaust ducts pointing to left and right, the two free-turbine outputs being geared directly to the rotor. The first development engine ran less than a year ago, but demonstrated its ability to meet the guaranteed output and consumption figures during a 50hr test last autumn. Sikorsky already have several JFTD12s. for rig-running and prototype installation. The industrial variant is the 3,000 h.p. FT12. REACTION MOTORS Reaction Motors Inc, A Division of Thiokol Chemical Corp, Denville, NJ. By most standards, this company's LR99 rocket motor is the most powerful engine ever mounted in an aeroplane. As the ultimate powerplant of the North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research aircraft, it has been rapidly gaining flight experi- ence throughout the past 12 months, and has now operated at full throttle for 90sec continuously, allowing the aircraft to come close to its design speed of 4,000 m.p.h. The LR99 has a single, fixed chamber, with ceramic lining, fed by turbopump with ammonia and liquid oxygen. Purging of the system is effected by helium, as outlinsd in our issue for November 25, 1960. Sea-level thrust varies up to 57,000 lb. SOLAR Solar Aircraft Company, San Diego 12, California. This company's Titan turboshaft is one of the smallest engines ever built for aircraft propulsion. Weighing but 521b, complete with a large hand- crank for starting, it has flown as the primary powerplant of the Gyro- dyne XRON-1 helicopter. An almost identical engine drives the air- borne auxiliary powerplant for the Boeing-Vertol HC-1B Chinook transport helicopter and the de Havilland AC-1 Caribou. and the remarkable thrust of 13,000kg (28.6601b) given for the "Ty pe D-15" turbojets of the four-engined 103-M and 20I-M aircraft. Standard engines with Aeroflot include the RD-3 turbojet, or A M-3M, rated at 19.1801b. the Ivchenko Al-20 turboprop rated at 4,015 e.h.p.. the Soloviev TB-2BM turboshaft engine in the Mi-6 helicopter, and the big NK-12M turboprop of the Tu-114, commonly supposed to deliver some 12,000 e.h.p. Although the Al-20 turboprop appeared accurately drawn in our issue of November 25, 1960 (11-18 cutaway), the picture below is one of the first to show the actual engine, or any modern Russian engine. It was taken earlier this month by a colleague, who was informed that the overhaul life has recently been raised from 200 to 500hr. As for the remarkable powerplants fitted to the aircraft portrayed last week, and on pages 98-99, the writer will conclude this review with the considered opinion that the Soviet gas - turbine and rocket engineers are level with those of the West. Ivchenko Al-20 turboprop in 11-18 Heliable information on Soviet engines continues to be distressingly parse, and the temptation to surmise is strong. The only new facts to ecome available during the past year are the designations "RS7F, 950kg" (13,1171b) given for the engines of the "E-66" aircraft, "Type 'V, 4,000kg" (8,8181b) given for the turbojets of the "RV" aircraft,
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