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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1018.PDF
operators. In April this year a full civil type test was completed for the three-engined Agusta 101. The more powerful H.1200 is currently being delivered to Boeing Vertol for installation in 107-IIs for the Swedish Navy. For the Wessex 2 and 4 the Coupled Gnome H.1200 has been developed, providing a single 1,550 s.h.p. output and with each power section able to supply 1,350 s.h.p. for 2imin contingency and 1,250 s.h.p. for 30min. Gipsy Queen 70 As a result of 3,000,000hr in over 500 Doves, the Queen has been progressively uprated, and the Queen 70 Mk 3 is still in production at 400 b.h.p. for the Dove 8 (Custom 800). The Mk 3 has a take-off boost of 8£lb/sq in and ejector exhaust system. Gyron Junior Powerplant of the Buccaneer S.l, the Gyron Junior 101 has a zero-stage and variable inlet guide vanes and first stators, and is equipped to provide the bleed air—unoffc.ally said to be 12 per cent of the total mass flow—for boundary-layer control. The engine passed its military type test in December, and intensive trials are in hand at Lossiemouth. The DGJ.10 is now flying in the Bristol 188 with fully variable afterburner to 2,000°K.. Good progress is being made with modified versions of this engine capable of flight at increased Mach numbers (up to M3, according to a US journal), and an engine to the latest standard has been delivered to NGTE for proving under simulated supersonic conditions. NAPIER Napier Aero Engines Ltd, London W3. This company was formed late in 1961 to carry on the aero-engine interests of D. Napier & Son Ltd, which has been a major aircraft-propulsion firm since 1916. Napier Aero Engines is owned equally by English Electric and Rolls-Royce, and practically all its operations are based at the London group of factories. The 3,500 h.p. Eland turboprop continues in service with the Canadair CC-109 (CL-66) transports of the RCAF. By far the most important of the new company's interests is the Gazelle. Gazelle From the outset this free-turbine turboshaft engine was planned as a helicopter powerplant, capable of installation in any atti tude. Design began in June 1954 and the first engine was run in Decem ber the following year. In May 1957 a Gazelle flew in a prototype Wessex, and in July 1958 two Gazelles powered the first Westland Belvedere. By the end of 1962 over 50,000hr will have been achieved on engines for these helicopters. Powerplant of the Wessex Mk 1 is the Gazelle Mk 161 (NGa.13 rating) with an intermediate contingency power of 1,450 s.h.p.; the Belverdere has two vertically mounted Gazelle 101s (NGa.2 rating), of 1,465 s.h.p. intermediate contingency and 1,650 s.h.p. maximum contingency. Both installations have long been fully cleared for service operation, and tropical, Arctic and role trials have been satisfactorily completed. Operation in sandstorms has been found to be entirely practicable without damage, and a unique achievement for a helicopter engine is that no power is lost due to temperature conditions other than those resulting from direct temperature accountability. The Gazelle 162 (NGa.13 Series 2) is in production for the Wessex 31A helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy; this engine is installationally inter changeable with the 161, but is rated at 1,330 s.h.p. continuous, 1,540 s.h.p. intermediate contingency and 1,750 s.h.p. maximum contingency. The next development stage concerns the NGa.18, the MoA develop ment contract for which was announced in March; this future Wessex 1016 FLIGHT International, 28 June 1962 powerplant will have intermediate and maximum contingency ratings of 1,750 and 2,000 s.h.p. Further ratings are planned up to 3,000 s.h.p., and development of the commercial Gazelle 512, with axial intake, is continuing to provide civil equivalents of approved military ratings. ROLLS-ROYCE Rolls-Royce Ltd, PO Box 31, Derby. Since 1945 this renowned firm has been the largest single company in the British aircraft industry, and the largest in the world devoted principally to aero engines. During the past year the Aero Engine Division reached a peak personnel figure of approximately 40,000 people; but in the last six months employment has had to decrease and has now levelled out at approximately 36,500, including 9,500 engineers engaged in research and development. Total employment for all divisions is approximately 46,000. The group of factories and establishments around Derby remain the centre for design and development, and of the manufacture and overhaul of new types of engine, as well as of the Conway, Dart and Tyne; the Scottish Group of factories, spread over a wide area south and east of Glasgow, is responsible for established production engines; and other locations include Hucknall (installation development and flight test), Barnoldswick (development engines), Mountsorrel (sheet- metal work) and Crewe (headquarters of the Motor Car Division, whose Light Aircraft Engine Department handles licence-production of Continental piston engines and spares). Avon Several thousand Avon single-shaft turbojets remain in military operation in all parts of the world, and total military flight time exceeds 3,500,000hr. British production is now concentrated upon the Mk 301, formerly known as the RB.146, which has yet a further stage added to the compressor. A reheat (afterburning) version of this engine is obviously fitted to the Lightning F.3 and T.5. A similar powerplant, equipped with a Rolls-Royce afterburner and 28in con-di nozzle, has flown in the Mirage MO at Mach numbers considerably in excess of 2. In Sweden, Svenska Flygmotor continue in production with an engine based upon the RB.146 but equipped with their own design of after burner. Civil A vans These engines have now flown over l,800,000hr, and are logging time at an increasingly higher rate than the military engines. All civil Avons have a three-stage turbine, and either one or two stages added at the front of the compressor. Minimum overhaul time for any Comet operator is 2,500hr; the figure for the Mk 524 engines of the BOAC Comet 4 fleet is currently 3,2O0hr (mean achieved life is approxi mately 3,075hr), and engines are on trial to 3,500hr. This is, by a wide margin, the longest time between overhauls of any turbojet in the world. For the Sud Caravelle the commercial Avon has been progressively developed to give higher thrust. A small number of Avon 526 remain n service with the Caravelle 1 at 10,5001b minimum. Most Caravelles in service are Series 3, with 11,4001b Avon 527 engines, fitted with two- position nozzles and overhauled by Air France at 2,000hr. Incorpor ating a "zero-zero" 17-stage compressor, the Avon 531 of the Caravelle 6 has a minimum rating of 12,2001b. The 532 has the same ISA rating, but may overspeed slightly on a hot-day takeoff to prevent loss of thrust. The 533 has improved turbine-blade material, allowing a rise in gas temperature to give 12,7251b. In the service of United Air Lines these engines are fitted with reversers and overhauled at l,200hr. The latest development is the Avon 533A, for the Caravelle 10C, with a minimum rating of 13,1001b. Later variants are in prospect. Conway Despite its exceedingly advanced design, high pressure- ratio, high gas temperature and very great thrust, this turbofan (or "by-pass turbojet") appears to be establishing itself as the world's most reliable aero engine. This is particularly noteworthy in view of the relatively small number of engines in service and the fact that they serve so many operators working under difficult conditions in all parts of the world. Standard powerplant of the Boeing 707-420 series is the RCo.12 Mk 508, which entered service with BOAC on a l.OOOhr basis late in 1960 and has already cleared to a time between overhauls of 2,200hr. From the start of service up to the end of February, the rate of unscheduled removals from Boeings has averaged 0.089 per thousand hours. The corresponding figure for the RCo.12 Mk 509 engine in the Douglas DC-8-40 is 0.313. This higher rate stems very largely from a series of failures resulting from hot-gas reingestion during reverse-thrust operation during the first few weeks of service—a problem not confined to the Conway and long since cured. Chief operator of the DC-8-40 is TCA, who run their engines to 4,000hr between overhauls, with an inspection at between 2,000 and 2,500hr. Closely related to the RCo.12 engines are the military RCo.ll (17,2501b) and RCo.17 (20,6001b), which power the Handley Victor B.2 bomber. For the Vickers-Armstrongs VC10 a new Conway series has been developed providing significant increase in thrust and reduction in specific fuel consumption. Powerplant of the standard VC10 is the RCo.42 Mk 540 (20,3701b minimum), and the engine of the Super VC10 is the RCo.43 Mk 550 (21,8251b minimum). These engines retain a high-pressure compressor/turbine assembly similar to that currently in service, but introduce an entirely new low-pressure compressor and turbine which approximately doubles the by-pass ratio. The Mk 540 has been type tested and is in production; first engines for VC10 ground
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