The Bristol Thor, latterly Bristol Siddeley BS.1009 Thor, was a diameter ramjet engine developed by
Bristol Aero Engines
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...
(later
Bristol Siddeley Engines
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...
) for the
Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
anti-aircraft missile.
Although Bristol Aero Engines acquired
ramjet
A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...
technology from the US company
Marquardt Marquardt is a surname of German origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* August F. Marquardt (1850–1925), American politician
*Bridget Marquardt (born 1973), American television personality, glamour model, and actress
*Christel Marquard ...
, BAE put considerable effort into developing the Thor unit, including the construction of a high altitude test plant (HATP) at their Patchway site, with a supersonic test cell.
The Bloodhound Mk.1 could attain a speed of
Mach 2.2, while the Mk.2 was capable of just over Mach 2.7.
Variants
;BT.1 Thor:
;BT.2 Thor:
;BT.4 Thor:
;BS.1009 Thor:
Specifications (BT.2 Thor)
Notes
References
*
{{BristolAeroengines
Ramjet engines
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...