Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T19:56:15.702Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aircraft propulsion from the back room

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

William Hawthorne
William Hawthorne*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

To whom must the praise be given? To the boys in the back rooms

On the 15th May 1941 a small aircraft landed at Cranwell after a flight lasting 17 minutes. The pilot, Fl. Lt. P. E. G. Sayer, got out of the aircraft and was immediately surrounded by an excited group wanting to know how the machine had performed. He answered questions standing by the aircraft and reading from the notes on his knee pad, which he copied on to the paper as shown in Fig. 1. This flight, the first of a Whittle turbojet propelled aircraft, started a new era in aviation. It also marked the beginning of the rapid development of a new heat engine, the fifth since Newcomen’s steam engine.

As you can see from the pilot’s notes, the performance of the E28/39 aircraft in that first flight was modest. An Indicated Air Speed (IAS) of 240 mph was reached. That it was powered by a turbojet can be seen from the readings of rpm, jet pipe temperature, etc. This first engine developed about 850 lb take-off thrust and weighed some 700 lb.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 82 , Issue 807 , March 1978 , pp. 93 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1978 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Whittle, F. (a) The early history of the Whittle jet propulsion gas turbine. Proc Inst Mech Eng, Vol 152, p 419, WEP, 1945. (b) Evolution of the internal combustion turbine engine. Gas Turbine International, p 16, March-April 1976.Google Scholar
2. Whittle, F. Jet. The story of a pioneer. F. Muller, 1953. Pan Books, 1957.Google Scholar
3. Constant, H., et al. Lectures on the development of the internal combustion turbine. Proc Inst Mech Eng, Vol 153, pp 409–512, 1945.Google Scholar
4. Constant, H. Pyestock's contribution to propulsion. J Royal Aero Soc, Vol 62, No 568, pp 257–267, April 1958.Google Scholar
5. Armstrong, F. W. The aero engine and its progress—fifty years after Griffith. The Aero J of Royal Aero Soc, Vol 80, No 792, pp 499–530, December 1976.Google Scholar
6. Howell, A. R. Griffith's early ideas on turbomachinery aerodynamics. The Aero J of Royal Aero Soc, Vol 80, No 792, pp 521–529, December 1976.Google Scholar
7. Harris, R. G. and FAIRTHORNE, R. A. Wind tunnel experiments with infinite cascades of aerofoils. Aero Res Comm, R&M 1206, September 1928 (published in 1929).Google Scholar
8. clothier, W. C. Test of aerofoil section turbine blading. RAE Report E2868 (unpublished).Google Scholar
9. Griffith, A. A. The present position of the internal combustion turbine as a power plant for aircraft Air Ministry Laboratory (AML) Report 1050A, November 1929 (unDublished).Google Scholar
10. Capon, R. S. and Brooke, G. B. Application of dimensional relationships to air compressors with special reference to their variation of performance with inlet conditions. Aero Res Comm, R&M 1336, 1930.Google Scholar
11. Constant, H. The internal combustion turbine as a power plant for aircraft. RAE Note E3546, March 1937 (unpublished).Google Scholar
12. Stodola, A. Steam and Gas Turbines. McGraw-Hill, 1927.Google Scholar
13. Howell, A. R. (a) Fluid dynamics of axial compressors. (b) Design of axial compressors. Proc Inst Mech Eng, Vol 153, pp 441–162, 1945.Google Scholar
Original papers—The present basis of axial flow compressor design: Part I, Cascade theory and performance, RAE Report E3946, June 1942. Part II, Compressor theory and performance, RAE Report E3961, December 1942.Google Scholar
14. Johnston, I. A. and Bullock, R. O. (Editors). Aerodynamic design of axial flow compressors (revised). NASA Report SP-36, Washington, DC, 1965.Google Scholar
15. Wu, C. H. A general theory of three-dimensional flow in subsonic and supersonic turbomachines of axial-, radial- and mixed-flow types, NACA TN 2604, 1952.Google Scholar
16. Symposium on three-dimensional flow in turbomachinery. Trans ASME, J Fluids Eng, Vol 99, 1, 1, pp 132–166, March 1977.Google Scholar
17. Mccune, J. E. (a) A three-dimensional theory of axial compressor blade rows—application in subsonic and supersonic flows, (b) The transonic field of an axial compressor blade row. J Aero Space Sci, 25, 544, 1958.Google Scholar
18. Okurounmu, O. and Mccune, J. E. The lifting surface theory of axial compressor blade rows. AIAA Journal, 12, 1363, 1974.Google Scholar
19. Namba, M. Lifting surface theory for a rotating subsonic or transonic blade row. Aero Res Council, R&M, 3740, 1974.Google Scholar
20. Squire, H. B. and Winter, K. G. The secondary flow in a cascade of airfoils in a non-uniform stream. J Aero Sci, 18, pp 271–277, 1951.Google Scholar
21. Eden, R. J. et al. Report on World Energy Demand 1985 to 2020. Technical Report, Conservation Commission, World Energy Conference, London, 15th August 1977.Google Scholar
22. Wilde, G. L. The design and performance of high temperature turbines in turbofan engines. The Aero J Royal Aero Soc, Vol 81, No 800, pp 342–352, August 1977.Google Scholar
23. Sills, T. D. An approach to aeroengine trade-off factors. SAE Paper 740493, Air Transportation Meeting, Dallas, 30th April-2nd May 1974.Google Scholar
24. Gregory-Smith, D. G. Annulus wall boundary layers in turbomachines. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, January 1970.Google Scholar
25. Carrick, H. B. Secondary flow and losses in turbine cascades with inlet skew. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, October 1975.Google Scholar