Rolls-Royce Trent (turboprop)
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The Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent was the first
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engine.


Design and development

The Trent was based on a concept by
Sir Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for ...
. It was a Derwent Mark II
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...
engine with a cropped impeller (turbine unchanged)"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989, , p.119 and a
reduction gearbox An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...
(designed by A A Rubbra) connected to a five-bladed
Rotol Dowty Propellers is a British engineering company based in Brockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of propellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned by General Elect ...
propeller. The Trent ran for 633 hours on test before being installed in a
Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...
jet fighter which flew for the first time on 20 September 1945 at the start of a 298-hour
flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...
programme.


Applications

*
Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...


Engines on display

A preserved Rolls-Royce Trent turboprop engine is on display at the London Science Museum. A preserved RB50 Trent is displayed at the
Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust is an organisation that was founded in 1981 to preserve the history of Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce Holdings and all merged or acquired companies. Five volunteer led branches exist, three in England, one in Sco ...
in Derby.


Specifications


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989.


External links


"The First Propeller Turbine Engine to Fly"
a 1946 Rolls-Royce advertisement in ''Flight''

a 1947 ''Flight'' article

- a 1948 ''
Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
'' article on flying the Trent Meteor {{aeroengine-specs 1940s turboprop engines Trent Centrifugal-flow gas turbine engines