Rolls-Royce Soar
| Soar | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rolls-Royce Soar on display at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Derby
| |
| Type | Turbojet |
| Manufacturer | Rolls-Royce Limited |
| First run | January 1953 |
| Developed into | Rolls-Royce RB108
|
The Rolls-Royce RB.93 Soar, also given the Ministry of Supply designation RSr., was a small, expendable
Design and development
The Soar was developed in the early 1950s, and was demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1953 on each wingtip of a Gloster Meteor flying testbed. It was the smallest aero-engine ever made by Rolls-Royce and was an extremely simple engine with very few parts. Its starting and control systems were almost non-existent. Lessons learned in producing the Soar at low weight and cost would be applied to the next light-weight engine, the RB108 lift engine.[1]
As a cruise-missile expendable powerplant the Soar engine had a design life of 10 hours for a Red Rapier flight time of about 1 hour (range 400 nautical miles at 475 knots).[2]
Applications
It was to be the intended powerplant for the "Red Rapier" missile project
As the Westinghouse J81 it was a powerplant for the US
It was employed as an auxiliary powerplant for the Italian Aerfer Ariete fighter design and also considered as a JATO powerplant for other aircraft.
The Soar project was cancelled in March 1965, at a reported total cost of £1.2 million.[6]
Specifications (RB.93 Soar)
Data from Rolls-Royce Aero Engines [7]
General characteristics
- Type: Single-spool turbojet
- Length:
- Diameter: 15.8 in (401 mm)
- Dry weight: 267 lb (121 kg)
Components
- Compressor: 7-stage axial
- Combustors: Annular
- Turbine: Single stage
Performance
- Maximum thrust: 8.05 kN (1,810 lbf)
- Overall pressure ratio: 4.9
- Air mass flow: 13.47 kg/s (30 lb/s)
- Thrust-to-weight ratio: 6.97
See also
Related development
- Rolls-Royce RB108
Related lists
References
Notes
- ^ Gunston (RRAE) 1989 pp.152-155
- ISBN 0 7524 3769 0, p.29
- ^ Skomer.net Archived 14 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine,
- ^ Ozz files - Drury affair
- ^ US designation systems
- Flight: 262. 17 August 1967.
- ^ Gunston (RRAE) 1989, p. 152/Appendix 3
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-85260-163-9
- Gunston, Bill. Rolls-Royce Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-037-3
External links
