Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-01T11:28:10.565Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The aero engine and its progress—fifty years after Griffith

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

F. W. Armstrong
F. W. Armstrong*
Affiliation:
National Gas Turbine Establishment
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The powerplant has always played a vital role in the development of aviation. In the beginning, the crucial need was for an engine of high enough power-to-weight ratio to enable the aircraft to fly at all. The Wright brothers had to build their own, and they took to the air with a four cylinder petrol engine having a specific weight of around 15 lb/hp. Much progress was made over the next two decades, and by the mid-nineteen twenties this figure was down to about 2 lb/hp. The aeroplane was now emerging from its infancy; the Atlantic had been flown, and the Otto cycle engine had established itself as successfully in the air as on the road.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 80 , Issue 792 , December 1976 , pp. 499 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1976 

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. Stern, W. J., The internal combustion turbine. Tech Rep of Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 1920-21. Vol 2, p 690. (Engine Sub-Committee Report No. 54, September 1920.) (Note: ACA became Aeronautical Research Committee.)Google Scholar
2. Griffith, A. A. An aerodynamic theory of turbine design. RAE Report H1111, 7 July 1926 (unpublished).Google Scholar
3. Constant, H. The early history of the axial type of gas turbine engine. Proceedings Inst, of Mechanical Engineers WEP 1945, Vol 153, p 411.Google Scholar
4. Clothier, W. C. Test of aerofoil section turbine blading. RAE Report E2868. December 1929 (unpublished).Google Scholar
5. Howell, A. R. Griffith's early ideas on turbomachinery aerodynamics. December 1976. Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Google Scholar
6. Griffith, A. A. The present position of the internal combustion turbine as a powerplant for aircraft. Air Ministry Laboratory (AML) Report 1050A, November 1929 (unpublished).Google Scholar
7. Whittle, F. The early history of the Whittle jet propulsion gas turbine. Proceedings Inst, of Mechanical Engineers WEP 1945, Vol 152, p 419 Google Scholar
8. Constant, H. The internal combustion turbine as a powerplant for aircraft. RAE Note E3546, March 1937 (unpublished).Google Scholar
9. Whittle, F. Jet. The story of a pioneer. F. Muller 1953, Pan Books 1957.Google Scholar
10. RoxbeeCox, H. Cox, H. British aircraft gas turbines. Journal Aeronautical Sciences, Vol 13, February 1946, No. 2, pp 53 to 87.Google Scholar
11. Griffith, A. A. and Taylor, G. I. The use of soap films in solving torsion problems. Proceedings Inst. of Mechanical Engineers, 1917, Vol 93, p 755.Google Scholar
12. Griffith, A. A. The phenomena of rupture and flow in solids. Phil Trans A221, p 163.Google Scholar
13. Gordon, J. E. The new science of strong materials. Pelican Books 1968, p 71.Google Scholar
14. Griffith, G. C. The Outlaws of the Air. Tower Publishing Co. 1893.Google Scholar
15. Griffith, G. C. The Angel of the Revolution. Tower Publishing Co. 1893.Google Scholar
16. King, H. F. The Griffith heritage. Flight International, 22 December 1966, p 1058.Google Scholar
17. Rubbra, A. A. Griffith, Alan Arnold, 1893 to 1963. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol 10, November 1964, pp 117 to 136.Google Scholar
18. Eltis, E. M. and Wilde, G. L. The Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan engine. Proceedings Inst. of Mechanical Engineers, 1974, Vol 188, 37/74, pp 549 to 575.Google Scholar
19. Goodwine, J. K. Powerplants for wide-bodied aircraft— what we bought and what we got. AIAA/SAE 11th Propulsion Conference, September/October 1975.Google Scholar
20. Neitzel, R. E. Comparisons of alternate energy efficient engines for future subsonic transports as affected by engine technology improvements. AIAA Paper 76-770, AIAA/SAE 12th Propulsion Conference, Palo Alto, July 1976.Google Scholar
21. Gray, D. E. High efficiency engine cycles for air transport fuel economy. AGARD PEP 48th meeting, Paris, September 1976.Google Scholar
22. Rohrbach, C. A report on the aerodynamic design and wind tunnel test of prop-fan model. AIAA Paper 76-667, AIAA/SAE 12th Propulsion Conference, Palo Alto, July 1976.Google Scholar
23. Young, P. H. The heat-exchanger cycle. Has its time come? AIAA Paper 75-961, 14th Anglo-American Aeronautical Conference, Los Angeles, August 1975.Google Scholar
24. Wilde, G. L. and Pickerell, D. J. The Rolls-Royce three-shaft turbofan engine. AIAA Commercial aircraft design and operation meeting, June 1967.Google Scholar
25. Denning, R. M., Miller, S. C. and Wright, G. H. Future trends in aero gas turbine design—unconventional engines. RAeS 1976 Spring Convention—Seeds for Success in Civil Aircraft design in the next two decades, May 1976.Google Scholar