Gloster E.28/39
E.28/39 | |
---|---|
The first E.28/39 prototype W4041/G | |
Role | Experimental prototype |
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Gloster Aircraft Company |
Designer | George Carter |
First flight | 15 May 1941[1] |
Status | Retired |
Primary user | Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) |
Number built | 2 prototypes[1] |
The Gloster E.28/39, (also referred to as the Gloster Whittle, Gloster Pioneer, or Gloster G.40) was the first British turbojet-engined aircraft first flying in 1941. It was the fourth turbojet aircraft to fly after the German Heinkel He 178 (1939), the Italian Caproni Campini N.1 (1940) And the Heinkel He 280 (1941).
The E.28/39 was the product of a
The E.28/39 contributed valuable initial experience with the new type of propulsion and led to the development of the Gloster Meteor, the first operational jet fighter to enter service with the Allies. The first prototype continued test flying until 1944, after which it was withdrawn from service; in 1946, it was transferred to the Science Museum in London, where it has been on static display ever since; full-scale replicas have been created.
Development
Background
The development of the
On 28 April 1939, Whittle made a visit to the premises of the Gloster Aircraft Company, where he met several key figures, such as
In September 1939, the
Design effort
Early on, Gloster's chief designer,
Manufacture of the E.28/39 commenced at
While only two prototypes had been ordered, the operational philosophy was that, once the prototypes had proved the capabilities of the design, a more substantial programme would begin: even before the first flight of the E.28/39, this aircraft had been envisaged as being a considerably more elaborate twin-engined design, with all of the equipment required in a fighter aircraft.[9] This aircraft, also produced by Gloster, became the Meteor, the first production jet-propelled aircraft to enter service with the Allies.[14]
Design
The E.28/39 was a low-wing monoplane designed around the new jet engine.[9] It was described as possessing a slightly tubby appearance as a result of a round fuselage. Due to the elimination of any risk that would have been posed by propeller tips striking the ground, the E.28/39 had an unusually short undercarriage for the era.[9] It had a retractable undercarriage which was actuated by a hydraulic accumulator, with a manually-operated hand-pump to serve as a backup. Emergency actuation used compressed air.[15] The flaps were also hydraulically actuated, using the hand-pump. Unusually, the nose wheel was steerable, using the rudder control, which aided in ground manoeuvring.[9]
The E.28/39 was powered by a Power Jets W.1 turbojet engine behind the pilot and the fuel tank.[9] The engine exhaust was directed through the centre of the fuselage, the jetpipe terminating about two feet behind the rudder. A nose air-intake led the air through bifurcated ducts around the cockpit.[9] A fuel tank, containing up to 82 Imp gal (372.8 litres), was behind the cockpit, supposed to have been adopted as a countermeasure against the impact of negative g, which posed the risk of causing the engine to flame out, which was hard to re-light during flight.[9]
The E.28/39 lacked features that would be expected for a fighter, such as a radio.[9] The original engine was started using an Austin Seven car engine, connected by a flexible drive; it was replaced on the flight engine with an electric starter that used a ground-cart battery. The cockpit, which had a sliding canopy, had no pressurisation or any form of climate control, such as heating.[9] Pilots were intended to wear electrically-heated flight suits but the lack of a generator and limited battery capacity, the latter being devoted to the automated sensors and recording devices that captured the results of each flight, meant this was not possible; pilots had to endure the cold cockpit.[9]
John Grierson said:
"The main impressions of my first jet-propelled flight were first of the simplicity of operation. The throttle was the only engine control; there were no mixture or propeller levers, supercharger or cooling-gill controls and the fuel system had simply one low-pressure valve between the tank and the engine pump, and one high-pressure valve between the pump and the engine. There was no electric booster pump. Secondly the absence of vibration or the sensation of effort being transmitted to the pilot's seat was outstanding."[16]
and
"The very favourable impressions of jet propulsion obtained ... have all been endorsed by subsequent flights ... The E.28 is a most pleasant little aeroplane to handle, particularly on account of the excellent field of vision from the pilot's seat ...."[17]
Testing
Although the initial flight tests were relatively early in the Second World War, the German Heinkel He 178 had been first test-flown on 27 August 1939, at Rostock-Marienehe on the Baltic Coast, days before the outbreak of the war.[11]
The E.28/39 was delivered to
Following the completion of these ground tests, the aircraft was fitted with a flightworthy engine rated for 10 hours use, and then partially dismantled and transported to RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire which had a long runway and no high ground in the vicinity.[20] On 15 May 1941, Gerry Sayer flew the aircraft under jet power for the first time, in a flight lasting 17 minutes. In this first series of test flights, a maximum true speed of 350 mph (560 km/h) was attained, in level flight at 25,000 ft (7,600 m) and 17,000 turbine revolutions per minute.[21][20] Tests continued with increasingly refined versions of the engine.[22][1] Small, auxiliary fins were added near the tips of the tailplanes to provide additional stability in high-speed flight.[23] John Grierson, in 1971, called these "end-plates" and wrote that their purpose was to increase the fin area due to the problem of rudder blanking in a side-slip.[24] On 21 October 1942, Sayer disappeared during a flight in a Hawker Typhoon, presumed killed in a collision and his assistant, Michael Daunt, took over testing of the E.28/39.[20][a] The oil system had been changed before he flew: after it was proven, the aircraft then being handed over to the RAE for testing by service pilots.
The second prototype E.28/39 (W4046) – initially powered by a Power Jets W.2 engine – joined the test programme on 1 March 1943. Flying of W4046 was by Gloster test pilots John Grierson and John Crosby Warren, because Michael Daunt was then involved with the F.9/40 (which would enter service as the Gloster Meteor). Testing revealed problems with engine oil and lubricants.[20] In April 1943, W4046 flew to Hatfield for a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister and members of the Air Staff.[13] It was taken to Farnborough and fitted with a 1,500 lbf (6.7 kN) W2.B and achieved 466 mph. On 30 July 1943, while on a high-altitude test flight, the second prototype was destroyed in a crash resulting from an aileron failure. The accident was attributed to the use of the wrong type of grease in the aileron controls; one aileron was "stuck in position, sending the aircraft out of control".[23] The test pilot, Squadron Leader Douglas Davie, bailed out from 33,000 ft (10,000 m), suffering frostbite on the way down.[22]
The first prototype was fitted with the 1,700 lbf (7.6 kN) thrust W2/500 and was flown to 42,000 ft (13,000 m), but level speed at altitude was not attempted, due to fuel shortage. The pilot commented in his report on a need for cockpit heating and a larger fuel tank. The aircraft continued flight tests until 1944.[26][page needed][27] By that time, more advanced turbojet-powered aircraft were available. The Gloster E.28/39 was later able to achieve high speeds, the highest being 505 mph (813 km/h) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m) with a W.2/700 engine and it proved to be a useful experimental aircraft with a "good climb rate and ceiling".[1][23] Experience with the E.28/39 paved the way for Britain's first operational jet fighter aircraft, the Gloster Meteor. The Meteor was powered by two Rolls-Royce Welland engines, which was the next stage in development from the Power Jets W.1.
Surviving aircraft
In 1946, the first prototype (W4041) was placed in the
A full-scale model taken from the same moulds, with authentic paint scheme and detailing, has been built by members of the Jet Age Museum in Gloucestershire. It has been on display in Brockworth, Gloucester, Kemble (at both the Kemble Air Day and the MVT Show), and formed part of the display for the Sir Frank Whittle Centenary commemorations at RAF Cranwell in June 2007.
Operators
Specifications (Gloster E.28/39 with W.2/500 engine)
Data from Gloster Aircraft since 1917 [28]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 25 ft 3.75 in (7.7153 m)
- Wingspan: 29 ft 0 in (8.84 m)
- Height: 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
- Wing area: 146.5 sq ft (13.61 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 5.75
- Airfoil: NACA 23012 (12% root: 9% tip) or root: EC(12.5)40/0640; tip: EC1040/0640[29][b]
- Empty weight: 2,886 lb (1,309 kg)
- Gross weight: 3,748 lb (1,700 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 81 imp gal (97 US gal; 370 L)
- Powerplant: 1 × Power Jets W.2/500 centrifugal flow turbojetengine, 1,760 lbf (7.8 kN) thrust
Performance
- Maximum speed: 466 mph (750 km/h, 405 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- Landing speed: 86 mph (75 kn; 138 km/h)
- Range: 410 mi (660 km, 360 nmi)
- Endurance: 56 minutes
- Service ceiling: 32,000 ft (9,800 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,063 ft/min (5.40 m/s)
- Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in 22 minutes
- Thrust/weight: 0.21
Armament
- Guns: None fitted but provision for four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns
See also
- Bell P-59A – first US turbojet fighter
- Gloster E.1/44 – Gloster's third turbojet aircraft
- Gloster Meteor – only operational British turbojet fighter in the Second World War.
- Heinkel He 178 – world's first turbojet aircraft.
- Heinkel He 280 – world's first turbojet fighter (did not enter service)
- Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star – first US operational turbojet fighter.
- Messerschmitt Me 262 – world's first operational turbojet fighter.
Related lists
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d Flight 11 May 1951, p. 553.
- ^ Pavelec 2007, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Pavelec 2007, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Golley and Gunston 2010, pp. 92–94.
- ^ Pavelec 2007, pp. 48–50.
- ^ Golley and Gunston 2010, p. 139.
- ^ Golley and Gunston 2010, pp. 156, 165.
- ^ Golley and Gunston 2010, p. 127.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Flight International 13 May 1971, p. 677.
- ^ Grierson, John. Jet Flight. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Ltd, 1946.
- ^ a b Flanagan 2017, p. 35.
- ISBN 1-85780-179-2.
- ^ a b c d Flanagan 2017, p. 39.
- ^ Jackson 2007, p. 119.
- ^ Flight International 13 May 1971, pp. 677-678a.
- ^ Flight International 13 May 1971, pp. 678–678a.
- ^ Blackburn 1949, p. 557 citing Grierson Jet Flight (1945).
- ^ Flight International 13 May 1971, pp. 677–678.
- ^ Jet, Sir Frank Whittle, Pan Books Ltd., London, 1957, p.148
- ^ a b c d Flight International. 13 May 1971, p. 678.
- ^ T.N.A. AIR62/42/198
- ^ a b Flight International 13 May 1971, p. 678a.
- ^ a b c Winchester 2005, p. 83.
- ^ Flight International 13 May 1971, p. 679.
- ^ Blackburn. 1949 p557
- ^ Flight 1949
- ^ a b Flight 11 May 1951, p. 554.
- ISBN 978-0-85177-807-5.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
Bibliography
- Blackburn, Robert J. (27 October 1949). "No Airscrew Necessary..." Flight. pp. 553–558. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019.
- "Britain's Turbine Aircraft". Flight. 11 May 1951. pp. 553–554. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
- Flanagan, William A. Aviation Records in the Jet Age: The Planes and Technologies Behind the Breakthroughs. Specialty Press, 2017. ISBN 1-58007-230-5.
- Golly, John and Bill Gunston. Jet. Eloy Gutierrez, 2010. ISBN 1-907472-00-2.
- Grierson, John (13 May 1971). "Britain's First Jet Aeroplane". Flight International. pp. 677–679. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
- Jackson, Robert. Britain's Greatest Aircraft. Pen and Sword, 2007. ISBN 1-84415-600-1.
- James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.
- Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
- Morgan, Eric B. "A New Concept of Flight." Twentyfirst Profile, Vol. 1, No. 8. New Milton, UK: 21st Profile Ltd. ISSN 0961-8120.
- Pavelec, Sterling Michael. The Jet Race and the Second World War. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing, 2007. ISBN 0-275-99355-8.
- Swanborough, Gordon. British Aircraft at War, 1939–1945. East Sussex, UK: HPC Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-9531421-0-8.
- Winchester, Jim. X-Planes and Prototypes. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-40-7.
External links
- Meteor Flight
- Model replica
- "E.28/39 Fin Arrangement and Spinning Characteristics" a 2012 JAH paper on the E.28/39