PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY
How do aircraft fly? Well, one critical item to make that happen is the engines that are installed to develop the thrust needed to get the aircraft into the air. PRNAM has a huge variety of engines on display, most in our Flight Technology Hall, that are described in great detail on the various signs near each.
Many of the engines are cut-away versions that allow you to peer inside to see the details of how they were built.
Ranger L-440 Piston Engine
It was inverted (upside down) 6-cylinder in line air-cooled engine. Produced by Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation in Farmingdale, NY.
The L-440 produced 175-200 horsepower and weighed 376 lbs. It flew on patrol and training aircraft in the 1930s.
Wright R-3350 Radial Piston Engine
The R-3350 is a duplex-cyclone air-cooled engine with 18 cylinders arranged in two rows. It has power from 2000 to over 3700 shp, depending on the model. This was one of the most powerful US radial engines.
General Electric T64 Turboshaft Engine
The T64 weighs 720-755 lbs and generates 3925-4750 shp.
More than 3300 T64s have been built.
Teledyne CAE J402-CA-400 Turbojet
Purpose-built for the Harpoon missile; operational in 1974. Designed to sit in storage without care for 5 years and up to 11 years in operational instances.
Its operational life is only one hour.
Westinghouse J34 Axial Flow Turbojet
The engine weighed ~1200 lbs and generated 3400 lbs of thrust. Fighter aircraft needed twin J34s to provide adequate thrust.
The J34 was used on several other aircraft, including: XF6U-1 Pirate, XF-88 Voodoo, XF-85 Goblin, X-3 Stiletto, XF-90, XF-87 Nighthawk, and D558-II Skyrocket.
Allison T56 Turboprop Engine
About 90% of a turboprop’s thrust comes from the propeller; about 10% comes from the turbine engine’s exhaust.
The T56 weighs ~ 1750 lbs and generates 3750-4100 shp.
It was used in the E-2/C-2. P-3, and C-130 aircraft.
Allison J33 Centrifugal Flow Turbojet
The J33 weighed 1795 lbs and produced 4600 lbs of thrust. It is a direct descendant of the first British jet engine designed by George Whittle in the early 1940s.
Allison produced 15,525 J33 engines from the mid 40s through the mid 50s.
Wright J65 Axial-Flow Turbojet
The J65 produced over 7200 lbs thrust and weighed almost 2800 lbs. More than 1200 were produced in the U.S in the 50s-60s.
It was used on other aircraft: F-84F Thunderstreak, B-57 Canberra.
