FLIGHT International, 13 June 1963 923 ficient, and

FLIGHT International, 13 June 1963
923
The accompanying drawing has been prepared
by one of our artists from illustrations of the
RB.I62 which have recently been cleared for
publication.
In certain areas details of the
design remain protected
1 Lifting eyes (used d u r i n g installation o r removal of
vertically m o u n t e d lift units)
2 U p p e r nose b u l l e t ( m o u l d e d
glass-reinforced
plastics)
3 L o w e r nose b u l l e t (plastics)
4 U p p e r and l o w e r intake s t r u t s (plastics)
5 Fixed inlet guide vanes (plastics)
6 Peripheral i n t a k e r i n g (plastics, m o u l d e d complete
w i t h inlet guide vanes)
7 C o m p r e s s o r casing (plastics, t w o half-shells)
8 F r o n t bearing
9 C o m p r e s s o r r o t o r ( e n t i r e l y of a l u m i n i u m alloy,
w i t h blades m o u n t e d on discs and spacers w e l d e d
t o g e t h e r t o f o r m a single u n i t )
10 C o m p r e s s o r s t a t o r blades (plastics)
11 Fixed diffuser vanes (plastics)
12 C o m p r e s s o r shaft (thin-walled steel tube w i t h bolting flanges at each end)
13 Rear bearing
14 T u r b i n e disc ( t i t a n i u m )
15 T u r b i n e blades (solid N i m o n i c )
16 C o m b u s t i o n - c h a m b e r casing (welded steel sheet)
17 O u t e r flame t u b e (continuous N i m o n i c d r u m , w i t h
p e r f o r a t i o n s for secondary air)
18 i n n e r flame t u b e (continuous N i m o n i c d r u m , w i t h o u t perforations)
19 Fuel f i l t e r and pump g r o u p in nose bullet (main
body cast in magnesium)
20 Fuel blanking plate
21 Low-pressure fuel t o nose bullet
22 High-pressure r e t u r n pipe
23 T h r o t t l e and f l o w - c o n t r o l unit (main body cast in
magnesium)
24 C o n n e c t i o n t o t h r o t t l e linkage
25 Fuel delivery manifold (rigid pipe) leading t o
i n j e c t i o n pipes spaced at 180°
26 S t a r t i n g fuel ( r i g i d pipe)
27 I g n i t e r box
28 T w o i g n i t e r connections (braided cable)
29 C o m b i n e d igniters and starting-fuel jets
30 Fuel drain
31 Oil bottle with visual level scale
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
O i l feed t o f r o n t bearing
T w o bifurcated starting-air i m p i n g e m e n t jets
Jetpipe and nozzle
Main bleed face (connection t o manifold supplying
aircraft c o n t r o l nozzles)
Tailcone
Six radial s t r u t s
D r a i n f r o m rear bearing
I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n manifold (jetpipe pressure and/or
temperature)
© lliffe T r a n s p o r t Publications Ltd 1963
ficient, and the installation was able to draw heavily upon both
SC.l and Rolls-Royce experience, the four pairs of lift engines being
very similar to the groups fitted to the British aircraft. Rolls-Royce
carried out a great deal of basic design and installation development
at Hucknall, undertook tunnel testing of the complete installation
and assisted in the mating of the lift engines to the aircraft.
Tethered hovering trials of the Balzac V 001 began last October
12, at Melun; and six days later M Rene Bigand began free-flight
development which on the 17th flight included a complete transition. The trouble-free flight performance of the Balzac has to a high
degree been due to the spadework undertaken at Derby and Hucknall. In particular, the eight RB.108 engines have required no
re-calibration and have, say Dassault, been installed and flown
exactly as received.
With the satisfactory experience of the RB.108 as a lightweight
lift/propulsion engine, further thought was given to a more advanced
engine designed to have the best possible thrust/weight ratio for lift
purposes only. An advanced engine design was put forward in the
D
summer of 1959 as a research project to be sponsored partly by the
Ministry of Aviation and partly by Rolls-Royce to produce a
low-cost, ultra-lightweight lift jet with a thrust weight ratio of 16.
This project was discussed with aircraft industries in Britain and
other European countries. Considerable interest was shown in the
possibility of using such a unit in V/STOL strike and transport
aircraft, both of which were called for by the NATO competitions
then being initiated (NBMR-3 and NBMR-4, respectively). The
research programme was changed into a firm tripartite development
programme in 1960, supported by the British, French and German
Governments with the object of producing a full flight standard of
engine in a shorter time-scale than in the research programme.
The British Ministry of Aviation was interested in the engine
primarily for transport aircraft, and the French wanted it for the
Mirage IIIV type of strike aircraft. German interests through
EWR-Sud, Dornier and Focke-Wulf covered both light strike and
transport aircraft. During 1961 and 1962 a number of projects
using the RB.162 were submitted in the NBMR-3 and -4 competi-