The Westinghouse J34, company designation Westinghouse 24C, was a
turbojet engine
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 ...
developed by
Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division in the late 1940s. Essentially an enlarged version of the earlier
Westinghouse J30, the J34 produced 3,000 pounds of thrust, twice as much as the J30. Later models produced as much as 4,900 lb with the addition of an
afterburner
An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
. It first flew in 1947. The
J46 engine was developed as a larger, more powerful version of Westinghouse's J34 engine, about 50% larger.
Development
Built in an era of rapidly advancing
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
engine technology, the J34 was largely obsolete before it saw service, and often served as an interim engine. For instance, the
Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a 1950s United States experimental jet aircraft with a slender fuselage and a long tapered nose, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its primary mission was to investigate the design features of an aircraf ...
was equipped with two J34 engines when the intended
Westinghouse J46 engine proved to be unsuitable. The Stiletto was developed to investigate the design of an aircraft at sustained supersonic speeds. However, equipped with the J34 instead of its intended engines, it was seriously underpowered and could not exceed Mach 1 in level flight.
Developed during the transition from piston-engined aircraft to jets, the J34 was sometimes fitted to aircraft as a supplement to other powerplants, as with the
Lockheed P-2 Neptune
The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (designated P2V by the United States Navy prior to September 1962) is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. It was developed for the US Navy by Lockheed to replace the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura and ...
and
Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (fitted with radial piston engines and a rocket engine, respectively).
The afterburner was developed by
Solar Aircraft
An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity.
Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights.
Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, ...
, the first U.S. company to produce a practical afterburner.
Variants
;J34-WE-2: thrust
;XJ34-WE-4: thrust; originally designated J45
;XJ34-WE-7: thrust
;J34-WE-11: Similar to -42 with short afterburner
;J34-WE-13: thrust
;J34-WE-15: Similar to -42 thrust, with short afterburner
;J34-WE-15: thrust
;J34-WE-17: Similar to -42 thrust ( thrust with long afterburner)
;J34-WE-19: thrust
;J34-WE-22: (24C-4B) thrust
[Rou]
2007, pp. 217–220.
/ref>
;J34-WE-30: (24C-4C) thrust ( thrust with afterburner)[
;24C-4D: company designation for WE-34.][
;24C-8: company designation for WE-32.][
]
Applications
Aircraft
* Convair F2Y Sea Dart
The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was an American seaplane fighter aircraft that rode on twin hydro-skis during takeoff and landing. It flew only as a prototype, and never entered mass production. It is the only seaplane to have exceeded the speed of ...
* Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk
The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter-interceptor, and the company's last aircraft project. Designed as a replacement for the World War II–era propeller-driven P-6 ...
* Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
* Douglas F3D Skyknight
The Douglas F3D Skyknight (later designated F-10 Skyknight) is an American twin-engined, mid-wing jet fighter aircraft manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California. The F3D was designed as a carrier-based all-weather ...
* Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a 1950s United States experimental jet aircraft with a slender fuselage and a long tapered nose, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its primary mission was to investigate the design features of an aircraf ...
* Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechani ...
(civilian variant modification)
*Grumman OV-1A - Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics
The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an armed military observation and attack aircraft that was designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It has a twin turboprop configuration, and carries two crew members in side-by-side seatin ...
* Lockheed P-2E/G/H Neptune
* Lockheed XF-90
The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a United States Air Force requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort. The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo. Lockheed received a contract for two prototype ...
* McDonnell 119/220 (prototype only)
* McDonnell F2H Banshee
The McDonnell F2H Banshee (company designation McDonnell Model 24) is an American single-seat carrier-based jet fighter aircraft deployed by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps from 1948 to 1961. A development of the FH Phant ...
* McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin is an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to deploy from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended r ...
* McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo
* North American T-2A Buckeye
* Ryan XFR-4 Fireball
* Vought F6U Pirate
The Vought F6U Pirate was the Vought company's first jet fighter, designed for the United States Navy during the mid-1940s. Although pioneering the use of turbojet power as the first naval fighter with an afterburner and composite material const ...
* Vought F7U Cutlass
The Vought F7U Cutlass is a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber of the early Cold War era. It was a tailless aircraft for which aerodynamic data from projects of the German Arado and Messerschmitt companies, obtain ...
Others
* Shockwave
In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
jet truck
* Snowzilla snow remover
* Spirit of Australia
''Spirit of Australia'' is a wooden speed boat built in a Sydney backyard, by Ken Warby, that broke and set the world water speed record on 8 October 1978.
The record and boat
On 8 October 1978, Ken Warby rode the ''Spirit of Australia'' on ...
jet boat
Engines on display
*A Westinghouse J34 is on public display at the Aerospace Museum of California
The Aerospace Museum of California is a private non-profit aviation museum located in North Highlands, California, outside of Sacramento, California, on the grounds of the former McClellan Air Force Base. The museum has a 4.5-acre outdoor Air Pa ...
.
Specifications (J34-WE-36)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines'', 5th Edition. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2006. pp. 240–241. .
* Kay, Anthony L. ''Turbojet History and Development 1930-1960 Volume 2: USSR, USA, Japan, France, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Hungary'' (1st ed.). Ramsbury, UK: The Crowood Press, 2007. .
* Leyes, Richard A., II and William A. Fleming. ''The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines'' (Library of Flight). Reston, Virginia: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc, 1999. .
* Roux, Élodie. ''Turbofan and Turbojet Engines: Database Handbook''. Raleigh, North Carolina: Éditions Élodie Roux, 2007. .
External links
* http://www.arkairmuseum.org/engines/engine-westinghouse.php
* http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/j34.htm
{{USAF gas turbine engines
1940s turbojet engines
J34