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25.08.2012
Fantastic BD-5J !!!
Between May 15 and August 1, 2012, 3 new BD-5J made their first flight !!!United...
Principales utilisations
Minijets
The Bell experimental ATV or Air test Vehicule (N1105V) used 2 Fairchild J44 Turbojet for vertical and horizontal flight.
Booster
Fairchild J44 engine mounted on a C-82 Cargo
Fairchild C-123B fitted experimentally with two wing-tip-mounted J44 turbojet engines
Missile
Fairchild's Petrel missile fitted with J44 jet engine
Fairchild J44
Fairchild Engine Division started studies for a small, inexpensive turbojet in 1946. It must be used in the guided missile the company was developping.
In june 1947 the US Navy awarded a contract to develop such an engine to power an air-to-undewater torpedo-carrying missile. The engine, designated the J44, was America's first expendable turbojet and was required to have a life of only 10 hours.
The Compressor
It was a mixed-flow, axial and centrifugal type with curved inducer vanes, and it was made of one piece of magnesium alloy casting that required no machining of the blades.
The Diffuser
Similary to the compressor, the diffuser section, with 3 rows of guide vanes, following the compressor was a single casting requiring non machining.
Combustion chamber
An annular combustion chamber was made from sheet metal and used commercialy available oil burners.
Turbine
The single stage turbine had its blades welded on to a forged steel disc. A simple, stock stainless steel tube, with a welded flange at each end, formed the rotor connecting the turbine to the compressor.
The was a bearing before the compressor and aft of the turbine and a fixed-area exhaust nozzle was used.
Characteristics
Dimensions
Diameter ............................ | 0,56 | m | |
Lenght................................ | 2,24 | m | |
Frontal area ........................ | 0,25 | m² |
Weight
Dry, without accessories........ | 127 | kg |
Performance Rating
Static thrust ....................... | 454 | kg |
In August 1948 the XJ44 made its first run.
The first flight was made in mid 1950 when it powered Fairchild's Petrel Missile.
As service trial proceeded, so problems with J44 where thrown up, most of them attribuable to over-simplified production. A lot of changes were required, and development of J44 was completed by October 1954 under designation : J44-R-3.
The Improved engine was mounted on a Fairchild C-82 cargo aircraft, then later to each wingtips of the Fairchild C-123B cargo aircraft.
Another use of the J44 was one the experimental Bell model 65 VTOL Aircraft.
The main usage of the J44 was to power the Firebee drone, although, with a specific fuel consumption of 1,55 it could not compete with Continental's J-69 (Licence version of Turbomeca's Marbore) and it was taken out of production by 1959.
