Armstrong Siddeley Motors: ASX
An early axial flow gas turbine engine built by Armstrong Siddeley. The inlet to the 14-stage compressor was placed near the middle of the engine, the air flowing forward as it was compressed. From there it fed into 11 flame cans arranged around the outside of the compressor, flowing back past the inlet, and finally through the turbine. This layout allowed the compressor and combustion areas to be "folded" together to make the engine shorter, although the overall reduction in the case of the ASX appears to be fairly limited. Additionally this makes it more difficult to service the compressor.
1943 April: the engine first ran.
1945 the ASX was flight tested fitted to the bomb bay of a modified Avro Lancaster; the first flight being on 28 September 1945.
At full power the engine ran at 8,000 rpm and developed 2,600 lbf (12 kN) of thrust at sea level.
It appears it was never put into production. A turboprop version as the ASP was somewhat more successful, and as the Armstrong Siddeley Python saw use in the Westland Wyvern. The ASP conversion used a second turbine stage to drive the propeller through a gearbox, producing 3,600 shp, as well as 1,100 lbf (4.9 kN) of leftover jet thrust.
See Also
Sources of Information
- All-aero.com [1]