Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire (engine)
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire was a jet engine manufactured by the British manufacturer Armstrong Siddeley from October 1948. It was the final stage of development of what began as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940 . The Sapphire had an axial compressor with an annular combustion chamber and developed a thrust of over 49 kN. The engine was used on early versions of the Hawker Hunter and Handley Page Victor , as well as all Gloster Javelins . In the US , Wright Aeronautical had a license production as the J65 , which was used on a number of US aircraft.
construction and development
The construction of the Sapphire began in 1943 at Metropolitan Vickers (Metrovick) as an offshoot of the F.2 project. When the F.2 reached airworthiness at around 7.1 kN, Metrovick engineers turned to the production of larger jet engines, a larger F.2 than Beryl and a much larger F.9 than Sapphire . (The names were chosen after the decision to name future engines after gemstones .) The Beryl soon worked and later developed 18 kN of thrust, but the only aircraft it was to be used on, the Saunders-Roe SR.A / 1 , was never built in series.
At that time, the F.9 MVSa.1 developed around 33 kN, more than its Rolls-Royce competitor , the Avon . A number of customers took an interest in the F.9 and it was seen as the main or replacement engine for most British aircraft of the 1940s and early 1950s.
At around the same time, Metrovick left engine construction and the development team was quickly taken over by Armstrong Siddeley, who already had a concept for a jet engine, the ASX , but were mainly focused on turboprop engines. The Metrovick team was a welcome addition.
Work on the F.9, which has now been renamed ASSa.5 , continued until it finally delivered 33 kN of thrust. This early engine was only used for the English Electric P.1.A , the prototype of the well-known Lightning. This solution was unsatisfactory and the successor ASSa.5R did little to improve this, as it offered an improved "wet" thrust of 41 kN, but this was so unreliable that it had to be discontinued for a short time in order to use the Analyze problems. Later versions of the Lightning were equipped with Rolls-Royce Avon engines.
Soon the engine passed tests with ever larger thrust settings. The ASSa.6 reached 37 kN and was installed in the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 1, the Hawker Hunter F. Mark 2 and the F. Mark 5, as well as the prototype Sud Ouest SO 4050 Vautour . The dramatically more powerful ASSa.7 with a thrust of 49 kN was the first British engine with over 44 kN and powered the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 7, the Handley Page Victor B. Mark 1 and the Swiss prototype of a fighter bomber, the FFA P-16 , on.
Afterburners with limited power were also attached to the ASSa.7, resulting in the “wet” ASSa.7LR with 55.1 kN thrust, which was used on the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 8. An improved model delivered 67 kN above 6100 m altitude and appeared on another FAW Mark 8 and all FAW Mark 9.
variants
- MVSa.1
- Name of the Ministry of Supply for the original Metropolitan-Vickers F.9 Sapphire , which was developed from the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 / 4 Beryl . Construction on this much larger engine began in 1943.
- Metropolitan Vickers F.9 Sapphire
- Manufacturer name of the MVSa.1
- ASSa.3
- Completed a 150 hour test in November 1951 at a thrust of 33.36 kN at sea level with an sfc of 0.91.
- ASSa.4
- ASSa.5
- Early Armstrong-Siddeley development of the Sapphire.
- ASSa.5R
- Afterburner machines that have been used with little success at English Electric P.1A .
- ASSa.6
- Later machines were developed for use in the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 1, the Hawker Hunter F. Mark 2, the Hawker Hunter F. Mark 5 and the prototype Sud Ouest SO 4050 Vautour .
- ASSa.7
- Thrust 49 kN, propelled the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 7, the Handley Page Victor B. Mark 1 and the prototype FFA P-16 .
- ASSa.7LR
- Engines with a 12% increase in output through afterburner for use over 6100 m, used on the Gloster Javelin FAW Mark 8.
- Wright J65
- Manufactured under license at Wright Aeronautical in the USA.
- ASSa.9
Aircraft with Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire
Note: In many cases, the Sapphire was used on early prototypes of the aircraft in question and was then often replaced in series production by the Rolls-Royce Avon.
Engines on display
An Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is on display in the Midland Air Museum at Coventry Airport .
Data (ASSa.7 / 7LR)
General
- Type: jet engine (7) or jet engine with afterburner (7LR)
- Length: 3180 mm (7), or 7442 mm (7LR)
- Diameter: 954 mm
- Weight: 1383 kg (7), or 1442 kg (7LR)
Components
- Compressor: axial, 13-stage
- Combustion chambers: ring-shaped, with 24 hockey stick-shaped evaporators
- Turbine: axial, 2-stage
- Fuel: Kerosene according to the DERD 2482 or DERD 2486 standard
- Lubrication: wet sump, minimum pressure: 83 kPa, oil quality according to DERD 2487.
power
- Maximum thrust: 49 kN at 8000 rpm. at a height of 0 m (7), or 55 kN at 8000 rpm. at over 6100 m altitude (7LR)
- Specific fuel consumption: 90.241 kg / kN xh at takeoff
- Thrust weight: 28.224 kg / kN (7) or 26.218 kg / kN (7LR)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Depending on the source, Metrovick either left the engine business because he decided to focus on the steam turbine business in the future, or was pushed out of the market by the Ministry of Supply in order to reduce the number of companies the Ministry had to deal with .
- ^ Bill Gunston: World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines . Patrick Stephens, Cambridge 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9 . P. 102. "... the firm had decided in 1947, under Ministry pressure, to get out of aviation"
- ^ English Electric Lightning .
- ^ Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire . ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c John WR FRHistS. ARAeS Taylor: Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955-56 . Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd, London 1955.
- ↑ John WR FRHistS. ARAeS Taylor: Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1962-63 . Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd, London 1962.
literature
- Bill Gunston: World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines . Patrick Stephens, Cambridge 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9
- Anthony L. Kay: Turbojet History and Development 1930-1960 . 1st edition. The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2007. ISBN 978-1-86126-912-6 .
