The West Engineering XJ38 was a small turbojet engine created by modifying World War II-surplus aircraft engine turbosuperchargers. Intended to be a cheap method of producing jet engines for target drones for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, the latter lost interest in the project, which was soon discontinued because of lack of funding.

Design and development

In 1946, Edward West, Jr obtained 6,000 war surplus General Electric Type B aircraft engine turbosuperchargers. His intention was to convert these into cheap, expendable

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, and ...

engines that could be used to power target drones. He was awarded a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

contract to manufacture the engine, which was designated as the XJ38-WS-2. The modifications to the turbosuperchargers were extensive, as a single reverse flow

combustion chamber A combustion chamber is part of an internal combustion engine in which the fuel/air mix is burned. For steam engines, the term has also been used for an extension of the firebox which is used to allow a more complete combustion process. Interna ...

was connected to the compressor outlet and the turbine inlet, where the aircraft piston engine would normally be fitted. A fuel metering system and new inlet and outlet ducts, and a re-engineered

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

was needed as well. The Navy contract called for three engines that would produce thrust at 26,000 rpm. The engine was to weigh 180 lb, and the

thrust specific fuel consumption Thrust-specific fuel consumption (TSFC) is the fuel efficiency of an engine design with respect to thrust output. TSFC may also be thought of as fuel consumption (grams/second) per unit of thrust (newtons, or N), hence ''thrust-specific''. This fig ...

was to be 1.7. The Navy lost interest in this engine design, and never funded the qualification testing, resulting in the demise of the development program. West sought private interest in the engine, suggesting that it produced sufficient power for a light twin-engine race plane. No interest was found, even when he increased the power to of thrust. which he suggested that a small twin-engine aircraft that he had designed. West continued development of this small turbine engine, but due to a lack of funding, he ended the development in 1950.West

Specifications (XJ38-WS-2)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Leyes, Richard A. and Fleming William A.,''The history of North American small gas turbine aircraft engines'', Smithsonian Institution 1999 * Scholer Bangs, "From Supercharger to Turbojet" ''Aviation Week'', Vol 48, No 15 (April 12, 1948) * Edward West Jr, Canbria, California to Rick Leyes, returned annotated letter from Leyes to West, 5 November 1996, National Air and Space Museum Archives, Washington DC. *

External links

Google books
{{USAF gas turbine engines 1940s turbojet engines Abandoned military aircraft engine projects of the United States Centrifugal-flow turbojet engines