The Armstrong Siddeley Snarler was a small rocket engine used for mixed-power experiments with an early turbojet engine. and was the first British liquid-fuelled rocket engine to fly.

Design and development

Unlike other British rocket engine projects that used

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3 ...

as an oxidiser, Armstrong Siddeley's used

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an app ...

. The rocket engine is described as having a dry weight of thrust of and a specific fuel consumption of 20 (lb/h)/lbf thrust. Work began in 1947 and the final configuration was first tested on 29 March 1950. The prototype of the Hawker P.1040 Sea Hawk, ''VP 401'', had a Snarler rocket of 2,000 lbf thrust added in its tail. The

Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 ...

turbojet, of 5,200 lbf thrust, had a split tailpipe which exhausted either side of the fuselage. The combination was termed the

Hawker P.1072 The Hawker P.1072 was a 1949 experimental British aircraft acting as a test bed for the Armstrong Siddeley Snarler rocket booster engine. It was the prototype Hawker Sea Hawk modified to install the rocket in the tail. Development After the Se ...

. This gave approximatelyAlthough the Nene's thrust, as for any turbojet, fell with increasing altitude the Snarler's remained constant. 50% greater thrust, although with twenty times the fuel consumption. It was first used in flight on 20 November 1950, by Hawker's

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Trevor "Wimpy" Wade. Half a dozen flights were made using the rocket motor before a minor explosion damaged the aircraft. Although methanol was used in the P.1072, jet fuel could be used for the Snarler. It was decided that reheat was a more practical proposition for boosting jet thrust than rockets. An unusual feature of the engine was that the fuel/oxidiser pump was externally driven, by a drive from the

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diff ...

of the P.1072's turbojet engine. This feature continued into the first versions of the subsequent

Screamer The screamers are three South American bird species placed in family Anhimidae. They were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar bills, but are more closely related to ducks (family Anatidae),Todd, F. (1991) and most closel ...

engine, but was later replaced with a turbine-driven turbopump.

Variants

;ASSn.1 Snarler:The prototype and test engines, (

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for airc ...

Design and development

Variants

Applications

Specifications

See also

References