The Turbomeca Artouste is an early French

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...

engine, first run in 1947. Originally conceived as an

auxiliary power unit An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115& ...

(APU), it was soon adapted to aircraft propulsion, and found a niche as a powerplant for turboshaft-driven helicopters in the 1950s. Artoustes were licence-built by

Bristol Siddeley 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 ...

(formerly

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

) in the UK,

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bangalore, India. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the worl ...

in India, and developed by Continental CAE in the US as the

Continental T51 The Continental CAE T51 was a small turboshaft engine produced by Continental Aviation and Engineering (CAE) under license from Turbomeca. A development of the Artouste, it was followed by three additional turboshaft engines, the T72, the T65, ...

. Two major versions of the Artouste were produced. The Artouste II family, mainly used in the

Aérospatiale Alouette II The Aérospatiale Alouette II (, " lark"; company designations SE 313 and SA 318) is a French light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale. It was the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine ...

helicopter, had a one-stage centrifugal compressor and a two-stage turbine, with gearbox-limited power of . The Artouste III family, mainly used in Aérospatiale's

Alouette III Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'' Aerospace * SNCASE Alouette, a utility helicopter developed in France i ...

and

Lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hig ...

helicopters, had a two-stage axial-centrifugal compressor and a three-stage turbine, with gearbox-limited power of .

Variants

;Artouste I: ;Artouste II: ;Artouste IIB, IIB1: for takeoff, continuous ;Artouste IIC, IIC1, IIC2, IIC5, IIC6: for takeoff, continuous (limited by engine gearbox) :(Without gearbox limit, ratings are for takeoff and continuous) ;Artouste IIIB: for takeoff, continuous (limited by engine gearbox) :(Without gearbox limit, sea level ratings are for takeoff and continuous) ;Artouste IIIB1, IIID: for takeoff, continuous (limited by engine gearbox) :(Without gearbox limit, sea level ratings are for takeoff and continuous) ;

:Licence production and development of the Artouste in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

;Turbomeca Marcadau:A

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. ...

variant, the Marcadau was a development of the Artouste II, producing through a 2.3:1

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 ...

Applications

;Artouste *

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively popular r ...

* Aerospatiale Lama *

Aerotécnica AC-14 The Aerotécnica AC-14 was a Spanish five-seat light helicopter of the 1950s, designed by Jean Cantinieau, based on enlarging his Nord Norelfe design. The AC-14 continued the Cantinieau practice of mounting the engine forward of the main rotor, ...

Atlas XH-1 Alpha The Atlas XH-1 Alpha is a prototype attack helicopter built by Atlas Aviation (now Denel) of South Africa, which used it as a concept demonstrator for the then-planned Rooivalk project. Development It was developed from an Aérospatiale Aloue ...

Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 The Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 (also known as the VZ-7AP) was a VTOL quadrotor helicopter aircraft designed by the Curtiss-Wright company for the US Army. Like the Chrysler VZ-6 and the VZ-8 Airgeep it was to be a "flying jeep". Design and developmen ...

Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final '' V bomber'' to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avr ...

- as APU *

Hawker Siddeley Trident The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...

- as APU *

IAR 316 The IAR 316 is a Romanian license-built Aérospatiale SA 316B Alouette III manufactured by Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR). Design and development IAR 316 IAR began manufacturing the IAR 316 in 1971 at its plant near Brașov, Romania. P ...

IAR 317 The IAR 316 is a Romanian license-built Aérospatiale SA 316B Alouette III manufactured by Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR). Design and development IAR 316 IAR began manufacturing the IAR 316 in 1971 at its plant near Brașov, Romania. P ...

Merckle SM 67 The Merckle SM 67 was an experimental helicopter built in West Germany in the late 1950s. Design The SM 67 was the first turbine-powered helicopter in Germany. The German Federal Ministry of Defense commissioned the development in 1957. The desi ...

Nord Norelfe __NOTOC__ The Nord 1750 Norelfe was a 1950s French three-seat helicopter built by Nord Aviation and designed by Jean Cantinieau. Development The 1750 Norelfe was based on the Matra-Cantinieau MC-101A, an earlier helicopter designed by Jean Can ...

Piasecki VZ-8 Airgeep The Piasecki VZ-8 Airgeep (company designation PA-59) was a prototype vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft developed by Piasecki Aircraft. The Airgeep was developed to fulfill a U.S. Army Transportation Research Command contract for a fly ...

SNCASO Farfadet The SNCASO SO.1310 Farfadet was an experimental French convertiplane of the 1950s. Design and development The SO.1310 was a compound gyroplane featuring a tip-jet driven, three-bladed rotor, a fixed wing and a turboprop A turboprop is a tu ...

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

- as APU ;Marcadau * Morane-Saulnier Epervier

Engines on display

A Turbomeca Artouste is on public display at: *

The Helicopter Museum (Weston) The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...

* Aviodrome - Lelystad Airport - The Netherlands

Specifications (Artouste IIIB)

References

;Notes: ;Bibliography: * {{Turbomeca aeroengines 1940s turboshaft engines Artouste Aircraft auxiliary power units

Variants

Applications

Engines on display

Specifications (Artouste IIIB)

See also

References