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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1387.PDF
! LIGHT International, 9 August 1962 197 Military Considerable experience has been gained with RA.24R powerplants mounted in Javelin XA562, using reheat jetpipes which have lately been fitted with a new pattern of variable nozzle with screwjack actuation. This nozzle could well be fitted to the more powerful RB.146 Avon 300-series for late marks of Lightning. A development programme on these engines has been in hand since September 1960 with an early P.IB (XA856). Development of the fuel control unit, reheat and nozzle for this type of engine has been accomplished both with this aircraft and with the Mirage IIIO City of Hobart, probably the fastest fighter in western Europe. It is also pertinent to mention Svenska Flygmotor*s quantity produc tion of the RB.146 with Swedish afterburner. With this model in a 7ft x 5ft wind tunnel Hucknall developed the pre cise geometry of the Trident reverser installation to have minimum adverse effect on the rest of the aircraft. A jet spreading test with full flap is seen in progress CONWAY Commercial The complete nacelle for the Boeing 707-420 was designed and developed at Hucknall. The engine is the RCo.12 Mk 508, with a guaranteed minimum rating of 17,5001b. After rig-testing of the reverser and nozzle, the complete installa tion was bench-run at Hucknall and then flown under an Ashton. Another Ashton rig was used to prove anti-icing, and like several Hucknall test-beds this aircraft was converted by Napier at Luton (Flight, June 1, 1961). With VX770, the Vulcan 1 prototype, and its replacement XA902. basic problems of handing and reliability were investigated, the first Vulcan starting seven years ago with the RCo.7 and 902 taking over in July 1959. Conversion to Conway power meant accommodating larger intakes and jetpipes, and in the case of Boeing engines it also meant proving the English Electric/Sund- strand constant-speed drive and alternator, which could not be connected to the Vulcan's basically d.c. power system. For the VC10 Rolls-Royce are supplying RCo.42 engines, of 20,2501b guaranteed minimum thrust, for installation in a nacelle of Vickers design incorporating a Rolls-Royce reverser and nozzle. The engine has been fully tested in the altitude test facility at Sinfin Hucknall has investigated the intake, pressure-plotted the face of the engine and will shortly conduct cold-start tests. Military Production application for the 17,2501b RCo.ll was the first series of Victor B.2 bomber reconnaissance aircraft. Aerodynamic investigation of the intake involved a full-scale rig consisting of most of the inner wing plus a pair of engines, while a l,000hr endurance programme on the RCo.ll was accomplished by Vulcan XA902. More recently Rolls-Royce have received a production Victor B.2, XLI60, fitted with a pair of 20,6001b military RCo.l7s on the starboard side. DART Hucknall is at last replacing the Dakota G-37-2 on which much Dart development has been carried out. The most powerful versions of the engine are being flown in G-37-3, the original prototype Ambassador which is at present flying with an RDa.8 Mk 101 (RAF Argosy) powerplant to starboard and a 3.025 e.h.p. RDa.10 to port. Both powerplants are equipped with water/methanol systems. The RDa.10 has been bought by the Japanese Namco consortium for the YS-11 transport, and Huck- nall's Ambassador has a spray grid in order to clear its anti-icing system. The RDa.12 installation for the Avro 780 is essentially similar, and includes a reversing Dowty-Rotol propeller with conical spinner, and the same manufacturer's accessory gearbox. SPEY Hucknall was assigned the responsibility of designing the complete nacelle of the de Havilland Trident, containing a 9,8501b Spey 505-5/10 together with a reverser and noise-suppressing nozzle—the latter not being a mandatory requirement, owing to the Spey's inherently low noise level. Rolls-Royce have sub contracted manufacture of these nacelles to de Havilland Aircraft, who delivered the first to Hucknall a year ago. Some l.OOOhr hangar testing have now been run on this installation, which is equipped with the new Lucas-made fuel system and the Hobson 403 constant-speed drive, and the engine has been run to official type-tests in the nacelle. Another specialized test programme has involved inflating air bags beneath both the fixed parts of the cowling and the large access doors in order to prove that nothing can be sucked off under the aerodynamic stresses of near-sonic flight at relatively low altitudes. Design of the Trident centre-engine installation was the responsi bility of the airframe manufacturer. Static testing of a simulated middle-engine installation was undertaken last year by Rolls-Royce at Sinfin, and the same rig is now at Hucknall in an open-air investi gation of performance under cross-wind conditions. A hack Dart is being used to provide a wind of controllable strength and direc tion. In all essentials the powerplant of the BAC One-Eleven is similar to that of the Trident, and its design is likewise being handled by Hucknall. The BAC machine has the 10,4001b Spey 505-14, driving a Plessey pneumatically trimmed c.s.d. and dis charging through a plain nozzle by way of a lightweight reverser. Flight development of the Spey has proceeded very satisfactorily in Vulcan XA902, which at present has RCo.l Is outboard and Spey 505s inboard. Preliminary handling investigations were completed in 50hr. The military RB.168 version, for the Buccaneer S.2, has been run in the altitude test facility at Sinfin and engine flight test will be carried out jointly with Blackburn Aircraft. TYNE A prototype Tyne first flew mounted in the nose of a Lincoln in the summer of 1956, and this test-bed is still in use, equipped with Napier-type water/air atomizer nozzles for anti-icing tests. The Ambassador G-37-3 at one time had a pair of Tyne 506s, essentially similar to those of the Vanguard but without ,-j control on the 14ft 6in de Havilland propellers. An ex-BEA Elizabethan, G-ALZR, logged 1,600 aircraft hours in six months— flown by BEA crews from Luqa, Malta—while proving the Vanguard powerplant; on many days this aircraft logged 18 or 19hr. The CL-44 installation was handled by Canadair, but Hucknall are likely to be associated with development in support of the Belfast, Atlantic and Transall C.I60. Taking off with all engines operating, the Tyne-Linco/n has about twice its original design power, and it thus performs in sprightly fashion despite its compromised aerodynamics and extra weight
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