Rolls Royce - The Magazine Issue 136

the magazine ISSUE 136MARCH 2013

for customers

One careful owner Looking after your corporate jet

Australian heavy-lifters

Ticket to fly Trent XWB has gained EASA certification

37 Squadron’s C-130Js at their base near Sydney

Non-destructing man Prof. Tony Dunhill explains materials testing

Rolls-Royce is a global company providing integrated power solutions for customers in aerospace, marine and energy markets. We support our customers through a worldwide network of offices, manufacturing and service facilities.

Welcome to the March issue Ever wondered how a modern large aero engine gains its certificate to fly? How non-destructive testing actually works? How liquefied natural gas could transform marine propulsion? It’s all here in the March edition as well as a visit ‘Down Under’ with the RAAF and a celebration of the 150th birthday of Henry Royce.

For over 30 years the magazine has been highlighting how Rolls-Royce works closely with customers all over the world. Providing power systems for use on land, at sea and in the air. Seeking to be ‘trusted to deliver excellence’ in all we do.

We hope you find this latest issue both informative and entertaining.

David Howie Editor

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CONTENTS

inside the magazine

Editorial Board Mark Alflatt, Ian Craighead, Simon Goodson, Andrew Heath, Mark King, Peter Morgan, Mark Morris, John Paterson, Colin Smith, Tony Wood Editor: David Howie david.howie@rolls-royce.com Design & Production: Hubert Burda Media UK LP Print: Pureprint Group Printed in England ISSN 0142-9469

2 Pure gas pioneer Rolls-Royce Bergen engines are the only ‘pure gas’ engines on the marine market, delivering low running costs and low environmental impact. A new vessel MS Høydal is proving the technology in the coastal waters of Norway.

8 The route to certification In February this year, the newest member of the Trent aero-engine family, the Trent XWB, gained certification from the European authorities. We look at the journey the engine has taken as it now prepares to power the new Airbus A350 XWB.

22 Mikasa – flagship of Japan One of Japan’s most important naval vessels is preserved at a museum at Yokosuka. Rolls-Royce claims some interesting historical links to it and, of course, today the company is a major supplier to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

24 Transforming Trents New Rolls-Royce Trent 60 WLE gas turbine generators have transformed power and efficiency levels at a power station in Lingen, north-west Germany.

As a result, operator RWE has seen power increase and emissions reduce.

© Rolls-Royce plc 2013 the magazine March 2013 Rolls-Royce plc 65 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AT England www.rolls-royce.com

13 Non-destructor Tony Dunhill is a leading expert in the field of non-destructive testing. In other words, the examination of materials to identify defects without damaging the material itself.

28 One careful owner Companies considering entering the business jet market often underappreciate the importance of service to customers. Dean Roberts argues the case for maximising the value of the aircraft by paying attention to how it is managed and supported.

16 Australian heavy-lifters A fleet of RAAF C-130Js is based just north-west of Sydney. It is from here that 37 Squadron has deployed on NATO missions and flown to assist in natural disaster situations as far apart as New Zealand and Pakistan.

30 Royce the perfectionist Henry Royce was born 150 years ago. From poor and difficult beginnings he went on to form his own company and become one of the UK’s most important engineers. He lived for his work and demanded the highest standards from everyone and himself.

Front cover: A Trent XWB fan being prepared for a test at Rolls-Royce in Germany.

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The Magazine went to the Arctic Circle to find the world’s first gas powered cargo ship – the MS Høydal.

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MARINE

MS Høydal is pioneering the use of LNG power around the coast of Norway.

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Kristian Høydal, Managing Director of NSK Shipping.

Only Rolls-Royce Bergen engines are ‘pure gas’ technology.

Here Loading feed on the large open deck area of the MS Høydal.

Below Danish company BioMar supplies the feed.

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orthern Norway is famed for its rugged landscape, the midnight sun and the awe inspiring spectacle that is the Northern Lights.

But in shipping terms, one relatively small but not insignificant ship is attracting the attention of ship owners from around the world, eager to find out more about what makes it so special.

With the onset of environmental legislation and the continued high price of oil, many ship owners are looking at alternative fuels as a way of reducing running costs and environmental impact.

The use of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as a maritime fuel is gathering pace, and following the launch of the MS Høydal last summer, the eyes of the shipping world are looking north to monitor the progress of this pioneering vessel. it features a Rolls-Royce propulsion system, comprising a Bergen gas engine, Promas combined rudder and propeller, and a hybrid shaft generator which combined, give Høydal impressive environmental credentials.

Bergen gas engines are the only ‘pure gas’ engine on the market, using a spark plug ignition, whereas alternative ‘dual-fuel’ engines use a small amount of diesel for ignition.

The B&C Series gas engines emit around 22 per cent less CO₂ (per unit of power) than a diesel engine, and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions are reduced

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with ferries operating in the south of the country, offering quick access across numerous fjords, connecting communities and forming a vital part of the national road network.

Rolls-Royce Bergen engines power many such ferries, but the Høydal is something different.

‘We operate very differently from a gas powered ferry which spends all day criss-crossing a fjord, so i’d say in many ways we’re pioneers, and we’re very proud of that fact,’ says Kristian. ‘every week i get ship owners calling me up and asking about operating LNG – there’s a genuinely large interest in this ship.’

With the majority of the ferries in southern Norway operating on fixed routes, there is a strong case for permanent infrastructure to supply the LNG fuel.

The story’s very different in the north, where Høydal is the first of what Kristian hopes will be many LNG ships working in the region.

‘There are no LNG bunkering stations around here, so we rely on road tankers. That means we have to think creatively and work closely with the gas companies to ensure we can get a truck to the harbour when we need it. We got the ship back from Turkey, calling in at Gibraltar to be met by road tankers – a 3,600 mile journey that, with some careful planning, was easily achievable.

‘No one will invest in bunkering until there is a large enough LNG fleet, so for the time being we’ll carry on operating using road deliveries – it’s not a problem for us, that’s how we developed the business case. But, in the common future interests of shipping, LNG bunkering would benefit all, and i think in time, it will come here if the balance in favour is tipped by a mix of government incentives and a desire to go green from the ship owners.

‘For now, we’re happy being unique, but it would be great to have a large gas powered fleet operating in these waters, with all the environmental benefits that brings,’ adds Kristian.

‘With fishing being such an important industry up here, perhaps it’s about time we saw some innovative LNG powered fishing trawler designs.’

Høydal is manned by a crew of just six, responsible for operation, maintenance and the loading and delivery of its prized cargo – up to 2,250 tonnes of fish feed pellets.

A typical mission for the Høydal is to visit ten to 15 fish farms to the south of Myre before returning to the BioMar factory to reload with feed, and then set out northbound to replenish another ten to 15 farms.

Captain Halvard valø says: ‘The trips are fairly routine and we tend to visit the Myre factory on Wednesdays and Sundays. As we are passing a number of ports it’s not unusual for us to refuel in Bodø, Tromsø, Harstad or Alta.

‘Some of the fish farms are difficult to reach with a ship of this size, so we rely heavily on our Rolls-Royce dynamic Positioning (dP) system to automatically hold position. Some of the fjords have a lot of rocks just beneath the surface and accurate navigation is essential. The dP is also extremely useful when we’re unloading feed in strong winds – a ship like this can easily be moved by the wind, so dP automatically controls our thrusters and propeller to hold us steady.’

The captain is particularly proud to point out the engine’s serial number – 14001. ‘We’re the first with this engine and the world’s first LNG powered cargo

THeRe iS NO dOuBT, THAT yOu GeT A POSiTive eNviRONMeNTAL iMAGe WHeN yOu uSe LNG.

by about 90 per cent while Sulphur Oxide (SOx) emissions are negligible.

Purpose built for replenishing the salmon and trout farms of northern Norway, the Høydal quietly goes about its business day-in, day-out operating a weekly route along the stunningly scenic coastline to the north and south of the fishing port of Myre.

Myre is home to a factory, owned by danish company BioMar, producing over 90 different types of fish feed, which are supplied to the numerous fish farms that populate the crystal-clear waters of the Norwegian coast. The Høydal brings a step change in capability, offering increased capacity plus, of course, its ultimate selling point being the use of LNG, a much cleaner (and cheaper) fuel than diesel.

‘There are three things that drove the decision to select LNG – the environment, rising fuel costs, and government support in the form of subsidy,’ says Kristian Høydal, Managing director of NSK Shipping.

Tromsø based NSK Shipping owns and operates the ship. The scope of operation stretches from the city of Bodø up as far as the waters around Alta, which is located towards the border with Russia.

Norway has led the way in the use of gas for powering ships, predominantly

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Pioneering gas ProPulsion In addition to the Høydal, Rolls-Royce has some notable firsts in the field of LNG powered ships:  The world’s first LNG powered offshore vessel, the Island Crusader, entered service last year, equipped with two gas and two diesel Rolls-Royce engines.

ship, and we’re all extremely proud of that fact – we like to point it out to all our visitors.’

For Chief engineer, Vadim guzev, this is, like his shipmates, his first experience of working with lng. ‘as a new crew for a new type of ship we all learned together, but we also spent a lot of time in the shipyard during construction, as it was a new experience for them too.’

The crew had to undergo rigorous training in the use, storage and handling of lng, and there is a wealth of strict procedures to implement. numerous safety features are built into the ship, including gas sensors to detect the smallest leak and air-tight chambers separating the engine room from other parts of the ship. all lng carrying pipe work is painted yellow and doublewalled to enhance safety. ‘storage of the lng is a safety critical feature,’ says Vadim guzev. ‘a large fuel tank is positioned aft on the deck and enclosed in a protective cage, over which crane operations are prohibited. The tank is made of a special type of steel,’ he adds. ‘if the liquid gas, which is stored at -162ºC, was to leak, the steel on the deck would simply crack.’

eFFiCienT  This summer, the world’s first gas powered cruise ferry, the Stavangerfjord, will enter service, equipped with four Bergen engines after the owner switched from the originally specified diesel propulsion.

 In another first, Rolls-Royce will power two gas tugs for work at the Karstø gas terminal in Norway – they’re under construction in Turkey and will sail this summer.

The rules of lng operation state that you must have an alternative means of propulsion on board, even if it’s just to get you home. ‘We have a rolls-royce hybrid shaft generator, which, as part of the rotating propeller shaft, generates electricity for the ship. it also can act as a propulsion motor, so we could use our smaller diesel generator to power the ship if lng wasn’t available,’ he adds.

Høydal, which features a range of rolls-royce equipment in an integrated propulsion system, was built in the Tersan shipyard, in Turkey – the first lng powered ship to emerge from the country’s numerous yards.

Vadim adds: ‘We have a truly integrated propulsion system, from the gas engine, through to the Promas combined rudder and propeller system and a tunnel thruster at the bow.

‘There is a lot less maintenance than on a diesel engine, in some ways you could say that for servicing all you need to do is change the spark plugs and some filters – it’s a completely clean engine, and quite a luxury for someone who’s spent his working life in diesel engine rooms. Most of the time, we just fill up with gas, and off we go.’ lng is proving advantageous on maintenance costs, as Kristian Høydal explains: ‘it is still early days, we haven’t been in service for a year yet, but the signs are good – i would estimate that we are saving a good five or ten per cent in costs.’

While Ms Høydal may not be the world’s largest ship, she represents what could be the future model for clean shipping – many technologies integrated into a highly efficient ship, running on a cleaner fuel.

Kristian Høydal summarises: ‘There is no doubt that you get a positive environmental image when you use lng. But it’s about much more than image.

‘When you look at some of the beautiful locations in the fjords where we do our business, you don’t see any toxic black smoke coming from our engine – to me it just seems right to be doing this. ‘even more so when you think about the health of the fish, and upholding the high-quality of the seafood that we’re so proud of in norway.’

Author: Craig Taylor is part of the Rolls-Royce communications team in Derby. He has previously worked in communications roles in the nuclear power and public transport industries.

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The Rolls-Royce DP system means the vessel can operate in quite shallow waters. iSSue136 7

THE ROUTE TO CERTiFiCATiOn The fastest selling Trent engine ever produced has gained its type certification. More than 1,200 Trent XWBs have already been sold to 35 customers. ince a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine ran for the first time on a test bed in 2010, 11 full engines have been taken to extremes of performance, endlessly measured and examined and, in some cases, deliberately tested to destruction. All part of the development journey Rolls-Royce has taken to deliver the most efficient large aero engine in the world as the powerplant available for the brand new Airbus A350 XWB airliner.

The results of that comprehensive and global test programme for the company’s newest large engine were recognised on 7 February this year when Patrick Goudou, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director, personally presented Trent XWB Programme Director Chris Young and Chief Engineer Mark Wainwright

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with an engine Type Certificate – confirming the engine is cleared to fly and take its position on the A350 XWB. That achievement means Trent XWB programme leaders can look forward to the engine’s next major step – powering the A350’s first test flight, scheduled to take place later this year. Two engines for that test flight have already been delivered to Airbus and are in preparation to be installed on the aircraft.

Certification of the engine was also welcomed

by Didier Evrard, Airbus Executive Vice President – Head of A350 XWB Programme, who said: ‘We congratulate our colleagues at Rolls-Royce on achieving this important milestone for the A350 XWB programme. These new engines, together with the aircraft’s advance aerodynamics and airframe technologies, will bring our airline

Tim Boddy, Head of Customer Marketing – Trent XWB, at the certification ceremony.

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AVIATION

The fan blade-off test for the Trent XWB was conducted in an indoor facility at rolls-royce, derby.

Partners in the Trent XWB programme: ATK EATON EsTErliNE FOrgiTAl grOuP gKN AErOsPACE HisPANO-suizA iTP KAWAsAKi HEAvy iNdusTriEs lTd MiTsuBisHi HEAvy iNdusTriEs lTd PArKEr AErOsPACE suMiTOMO PrECisiON PrOduCTs CO. lTd uNiTEd TECHNOlOgiEs vOlvO AErO

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customers a 25 per cent step-improvement in fuel efficiency.’

The Trent XWB’s first test flight took place on an Airbus A380 test bed, on 18 February, 2012, with the new engine replacing one of the aircraft’s four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. These flight tests confirmed the Trent XWB as the most efficient large civil aerospace engine ever produced, delivering on the trust that both Airbus and A350 XWB customers worldwide have placed in Rolls-Royce to produce a world-leading engine. To date, 35 customers have already ordered more than 1,200 Trent XWBs, making it the fastest-selling Trent engine ever. in 2006, when Rolls-Royce set out to create the Trent XWB engine, it started a journey to certification that would span the globe and bring together teams of the world’s best engineers, scientists, partners and suppliers together with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development.

Rolls-Royce had to guarantee, years in advance of construction and first flight, how much the engine would weigh, how much noise it would make, and how much fuel it would consume – to the nearest per cent, and the date it would run for the first time.

Delivering on those promises was an incredible engineering feat, over 2,000 Rolls-Royce scientists and engineers conducted engine research and development on around 300 test rigs with 18,000 individual components required to work in perfect unison and create one, outstanding powerplant.

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Another cold weather test on board the A380 in Canada.

Below Engine certification came as a result of the dedicated Trent XWB team at work on the ground and in the air.

THE RESUlTS On TEST BEDS AnD in FliGHT HAVE COnFiRMED THE TREnT XWB TO BE THE MOST EFFiCiEnT lARGE CiVil AERO EnGinE FlYinG TODAY. The programme passed 3,100 hours of engine operations in February 2013. it has included icing tests in Canada, altitude and crosswind tests in the USA, endurance tests in Spain, flight tests in France and test bed performance trials in the UK. The Airbus A380 flying test bed has already experienced the extremes of climate operations, from cold weather tests of -29ºC in Canada, to hot weather tests of +40ºC in the UAE. The final tests prior to certification, and among the most significant, were the fan module and full engine blade-off tests, which were successfully completed in Germany and the UK at the end of 2012.

Chris Young, Rolls-Royce Trent XWB Programme Director, says: ‘Our priorities have been to obtain certification and deliver the engines for test flying and it is a great feeling to have achieved both.

This has been a very successful programme.

The results on test beds and in flight have confirmed the Trent XWB to be the most efficient large civil aero engine flying today. We are on target to meet all our performance expectations upon entry into service of the aircraft.

‘We will now move on to testing engine capability and robustness prior to the A350’s entry into service. As a result we will now see our test hours accelerate quickly. ‘importantly, we are also moving into the initial engine production phase which will eventually see Rolls-Royce delivering one Trent XWB every working day to meet the customer demand.

Our engineers have been using one engine purely for training purposes, repeating and refining all the build processes and tooling through hands-on experience.’

The Trent XWB’s certification is the culmination of many years of work by a Rolls-Royce team which has combined the best elements of the existing Trent engine family with technologies specifically designed for the new Trent XWB. it is part of the Trent family’s continual development, delivering a series of small but vital improvements to each Trent engine design that enhance aerodynamics, enable the engine to operate at greater temperatures and pressures, and reduce the number of parts and overall weight.

Underpinning this performance, as with all Rolls-Royce engines, is technology that performs incredible tasks every day. For example, each of the Trent XWB’s high-pressure turbine blades works in the high-pressure turbine, where the gas temperature is at least 200°C above the melting point of the blade’s alloy. it sits in a disc that rotates at 12,500rpm, with the tips reaching 1,200mph – twice the speed of sound at sea level. Every time

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The Trent XWB and Trent 900 engines side by side on the A380 flying test bed.

OUR PRiORiTiES HAVE BEEn TO OBTAin CERTiFiCATiOn AnD DEliVER THE EnGinES FOR TEST FlYinG AnD iT iS A GREAT FEElinG TO HAVE ACHiEVED BOTH.

the plane takes off this single blade develops the same horsepower as a Formula 1 racing car, yet it can travel ten million miles before it needs replacing.

This commitment to engineering excellence extends right across the engine to the more humble components.

Even the engine’s bolts have to deal with immense loads

Mark Wainwright, Chief Engineer – Trent XWB-84 (Left) and Chris young, Trent XWB Programme director, with the EAsA certificate.

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first-generation Trent engines that entered into service in 1995.

The current certification applies to the 84,000lb thrust Trent XWB engine which will power the A350-800 and -900 aircraft types. A more powerful 97,000lb thrust Trent XWB is also being developed to power the A350-1000 version of the aircraft.

The -1000 will have greater range and capacity.

The increased thrust needed for the 97,000lb Trent XWB will be achieved through a combination of new high-temperature turbine technology, a larger engine core and advanced fan aerodynamics.

A preliminary design review has now been completed by Rolls-Royce on this higher power variant.

‘The success of the 84,000lb thrust version of the Trent XWB gave us the confidence that we could deliver the additional thrust without impact on specific fuel consumption or on-wing life. We have now completed our preliminary design review and we are on track for a first engine run in 2014,’ adds Chris.

that will be generated from powering an Airbus A350 XWB on a daily basis. These bolts come in sets of 30 and are so strong that two fully loaded Airbus A380s could be hung from them.

A combination of engineering excellence, continued component improvements, and motivated working teams, has continued to drive forward engine performance, resulting in the Trent XWB being 16 per cent more efficient (per passenger kilometre) than the

Author: Bill O’sullivan is a former industrial editor of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle and worked for several years on other regional newspapers. He is now a member of the civil aerospace communications team for rolls-royce.

PROFILE

Non-destructive testing expert, Professor Tony Dunhill, remembers exactly where he was when he decided on his future career – underneath the hull of a merchant ship in Cardiff Docks staring up at the propeller.

Non-destructor etallurgy undergraduate Dunhill was on placement when he saw at first-hand how a 1.5mm crack in a propeller shaft had left an entire ship stranded whilst a replacement part was transported from Singapore to the Welsh capital. It was his first exposure to the critical role the inspection and testing played in product safety.

Dunhill has been looking for such tiny defects and researching how best to find them, throughout his career at Rolls-Royce.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the application of physical principles and processes to find defects in all sorts of materials and to establish whether those defects are harmful, without damaging the material being tested.

It is at the heart of the rigorous approach to safety which characterises Rolls-Royce. According to Dunhill: ‘If you didn’t do the NDT there would be a lot of cracks that weren’t known about until something failed.

‘Modern high value engineering,’ says Dunhill, ‘requires an excellent inspection regime coupled with a thorough understanding of the product’s operating environment. Good design, good material understanding and good manufacturing techniques all add value too.

Engineers are striving to

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Below Penetrant testing using ultraviolet dye.

Bottom Thermal thickness map of a fan blade.

ENGINEERS ARE STRIVING TO REDUCE PRODUCT MASS, AND INCREASE THE LIFE OF A COMPONENT.

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reduce product mass and increase the life of a component, and that makes it vital to understand the nature and impact of any flaws that may be present.’

Most people will be familiar with at least one form of NDT in the use of x-rays in hospitals to identify fractures prior to treatment. But, says Dunhill, very tight fractures won’t show up on x-ray. This illustrates one of the key challenges in the use of NDT. That is to understand the limits of the techniques being applied and select the most appropriate tool or combination of tools to find the type of defects you’re looking for.

According to Dunhill, alongside x-rays there are four other major techniques: ULTRASOUND – pulses of very high frequency sound energy are projected into the material being tested to reveal defects or take measurements.

EDDY CURRENT TESTING – where an electric current is generated in the material or part being analysed using a ‘pencil probe’ with defects showing up by a signal on an oscilloscope.

MAGNETIC METHODS – where a magnetic field is applied to the subject with any defect causing an identifiable disturbance in that field.

PENETRANT TESTING – where the part being analysed is cleaned before being soaked in oil containing an ultraviolet dye. The oil penetrates into any cracks or crevices. The excess oil is then washed off and a powder applied which draws the oil out of the cracks. The part is then viewed under ultraviolet light and any cracks will show up as bright green lines.

There are lots of others in addition to these main four. One example is heat flow analysis, familiar to anyone who has ever watched television cricket coverage. Hot Spot, the tool umpires can use to establish whether a ball has touched the bat before being caught, uses an infra-red camera to capture an image (the dark spot on the bat) indicating contact. The same physics can be used to check for cracks in an aircraft’s fuselage caused by water ingression. In recently landed planes an infra-red camera can be used to detect cold spots where water has entered the skin and frozen.

NDT plays a role throughout the product lifecycle. A Rolls-Royce turbine blade, for example, is made by a process of investment casting. This first involves making a wax model of the turbine blade containing a ceramic core.

The wax is x-rayed to detect any cracks in the ceramic core. The thickness of the wax is also either x-ray or ultrasonically measured to ensure the correct thickness of the metal when cast.

The wax model is then used to create a ceramic mould, the integrity of which is tested using a blue dye which will show up any cracks.

Once the metal blade comes out of the mould an x-ray method is used to check the correct orientation of its single crystal formation. The blades are then etched and x-ray inspected again to look for stray grains and inclusions. The blade is also penetrant tested, its thickness measured by ultrasound or x-ray computed tomography is used to look at a 2-D slice through the blade. Finally the blade is machine finished and another penetrant test conducted.

NDT doesn’t stop when an engine leaves the factory. NDT has a role in the field too. Turbine discs, for example, undergo a penetrant and eddy current testing at every shop visit.

The use of NDT in service environments highlights, according to Dunhill, another significant challenge of using NDT. That is how to make the process as

reliable as possible and ensure that two people carrying out identical tests anywhere in the world produce the same results and make the same decisions. The importance of this is underlined by Dunhill who estimates there are approximately 25,000 inspections done every day in the UK alone.

The response to this is two-fold. One is the development of automated processes. This involves understanding and digitising the human processes that inform the testing process. For example, the manufacture of large LiftFan™ blisks which help provide the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) operations for the supersonic capable Joint Strike Fighter, require a high reliability inspection around the base of the aerofoils. A robotic eddy current system has been developed to accurately manipulate a probe around the whole surface. To maintain the required sensitivity the probe element must be kept at right angles to the surface, making a hand held operation too unreliable.

INTERNATIONAL The other is the development of international inspection standards and the training that underpins them. Through the British Institute of Non Destructive Evaluation (of which he is about to become President) Rolls-Royce has been active in the development of a worldwide training and licensing scheme for practitioners.

Dunhill and the NDT lab team are continually developing new and better tests.

In 2010 they won the Sir Henry Royce Award for Innovation for developing a new penetrant test which can be performed inside the engine.

This allows the detection of defects in places where they had never been able to be detected before.

It works by painting the penetrant onto the relevant surface using a very small delivery tube tipped with a piece of foam. The penetrant is allowed to sink into the surface for an hour. It is then washed off using a calibrated syringe more normally used to inject antibiotics into cattle. A boroscope is used to look at the surface under ultraviolet light and if the surface is cracked a tiny bright green line will be seen and the appropriate action taken. The test is now used worldwide by Rolls-Royce.

Most recently the company has created the first 3-D image of a single

crystal turbine blade in an engine. To do this they used an ultrasonic probe to fire sound energy into the part and advanced mathematics and substantial computing power to process the feedback and create the image.

The process has been developed through the UK Research Centre for Non Destructive Evaluation (RCNDE) which Dunhill and Rolls-Royce helped set up.

The centre was established in 2004, partly as a result of the identification by the enquiry into the Hatfield rail crash of the need for a national centre for NDT research. The centre brings together six universities and 16 of the UK’s leading companies to develop world leading expertise in NDT for delivery over the next five, ten and 20 years.

Asked what this expertise might look like, Dunhill identifies work being done at the RCNDE to measure the onset of fatigue non-destructively.

Currently this can only be done by cutting into a part, effectively destroying it, to analyse the dislocation densities. The centre has already identified three promising non-destructive techniques.

This could be powerfully combined with work at Rolls-Royce on condition monitoring or self-monitoring structures. This is the permanent installation of NDT technology into engines in service. This would monitor the state of the engine’s materials in use, in the way that aircraft engine temperatures and pressures are measured inflight today. This would allow more effective preventative maintenance and would be a significant extension of existing engine health monitoring. ‘An ideal place to be in ten years’ time,’ says Dunhill ‘would be to have monitors in test engines which can detect changes in the material properties of that engine.’

There are very few engineering sectors where some sort of inspection isn’t applied. How something is inspected has an enormous impact on how long it lasts, its reliability and ultimately its safety. Searching for the development of tiny flaws and new ways to detect them makes an important contribution to the safe and effective operation of thousands of products across the world from jet fighters to hotel balconies.

Author: Simon Kirby consults and lectures in marketing communications with a particular interest in technology.

He has worked in communications roles extensively in both the public and private sector.

Technicians at work in a Rolls-Royce NDT lab.

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Australian heavy-lifters RAAF’s C-130Js bring relief to those hard to reach areas.

he last time The Magazine visited the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Air Lift Group in 2002 they were rapidly spooling up operational capability of their new C-130J fleet. So, to paraphrase a common greeting Down Under, ‘How they going mate?’

In the stewardship of 37 Squadron, one of the busiest units in the RAAF, the last ten years have seen a sustained deployment to Afghanistan as part of NATO operations. In addition, the fleet has been involved in a myriad of humanitarian operations, bringing aid to populations stricken

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by natural disasters in New Zealand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and much closer to home in Queensland.

The fleet of 12 C-130Js is based 50km northwest of Sydney at Richmond, the home of Air Lift Group and the hub of logistics support for the Australian Defence Force. With over 50 years of experience the RAAF know a thing or two about operating the Hercules but, as Group Captain Donald Sutherland, Officer Commanding 84 Wing, explained, their capability continues to expand: ‘Traditionally it’s been a short notice/on-call platform for search and rescue, humanitarian

DEFENCE

A Royal Australian Air Force C-130J Hercules at Multi National Base – Tarin Kot, Afghanistan.

OUR CApAbiliTy COnTinUes TO expAnd. Group Captain Donald Sutherland issUe136 17

operations and anything the government has asked us to do; but the deployment to Afghanistan has brought new challenges in the operation of the aircraft. we operate globally, but only relatively recently have we been exposed to cold weather operations, ironically in the middle east where winter is different’. ‘it’s the stuff that we do on the ground that’s having equally as big an impact as what we do in the air. we have restructured the squadron to support deployed operations and the increasing demands on the aircraft have led to improvements in fleet planning that is the equivalent to having an extra aircraft available per day. Our capability has improved through the use of tools such as engine health monitoring (ehm) which have brought significant operational benefits.’

PERFORMANCE The RAAF has used ehm, a technique that proactively monitors performance, to maximise the availability of the Rolls-Royce Ae 2100 engines that power the C-130J fleet. sergeant brendan Church of the Air lift systems project Office, explains:

Afghanistan, where temperatures can soar to 50°C in summer and plummet to sub-Arctic levels in winter and airfields are located as much as 6,000ft above sea level. squadron leader ben poxon is one of four flight commanders in 37 squadron and has amassed nearly 2,500 hours flying the C-130J. ‘moving into Afghanistan has changed the way we fly tactically – the weather is either very hot or very cold, and that changes the threat level. The weather and altitude dictate how we fly and how the engines perform, but we have had 98-99 per cent availability for task in Afghanistan. ‘we fly a combination of cargo (vehicles or pallets), passenger or vip tasking from our main base at Al minhad in the United Arab emirates to all the major bases in Afghanistan. The threat environment adds complexity to any mission. There are lots of different aircraft operating from different nations in tough weather and airspace can change by the minute.’

The squadron operates four flights on a rotation basis, so while one is in Afghanistan another will be preparing for deployment. A third will have recently returned so will be retraining in some of the

engine ReliAbiliTy hAs impROved TO sUCh An exTenT ThAT we hAve hAd TO enFORCe pReseRvATiOn OF OUR spARe engines As They ARe in sTORAge FOR sO lOng. ‘prior to ehm we only looked at the engine when something went wrong. now we monitor engine performance continuously and react if we anticipate that there is going to be a problem, which has doubled the time between removals. it’s also enabled us to identify deteriorating trends and remove engines during normal scheduled maintenance, making planning easier and enabling us to cope with any sort of surge in flying operations. ‘we don’t have a big logistical footprint for our Afghanistan deployment, so engine reliability is crucial. in fact, reliability has improved to such an extent that we have had to enforce preservation of our spare engines as they are in storage for so long, which would have been unheard of before.’

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elements and skills not required in-theatre, such as air drop, and one is on standby for rapid deployment anywhere in the world.

For 37 squadron rapid deployment invariably means disaster relief. The RAAF has a fine tradition of humanitarian support, dating back to its role in the berlin airlift, and since 2003 the call sheet for their C-130s has read like a tasking list for international Rescue. ‘we are performing humanitarian missions day-in, day-out, from the Tsunami relief work in papua new guinea to the relief efforts in the aftermath of the new Zealand earthquake and the Queensland floods.

For the Christchurch earthquake one of our C-130Js was the first aircraft on the scene – the ground was still rocking with aftershocks when we arrived,’ says group Captain sutherland.

Above A C-130J Hercules of No 37 Squadron in flight off the Gold Coast.

Here Sergeant Brendan Church of the Air Lift Systems Project Office.

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Fuel mAnAgement With fuel bills representing a huge proportion of shrinking defence budgets, the prospect of cutting consumption is an attractive one to military customers. As part of the RAAF’s drive to extract greater capability and performance from its C-130Js it is pioneering the use of Rolls-Royce fuel management technology in the military sector.

The team at Richmond started a 12-month trial in February 2012 using analysis techniques developed by Rolls-Royce subsidiary OSyS for use by commercial airlines. Adapting tools and techniques across to the very different sphere of military operations has proved challenging but

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when The Magazine visited Richmond there were encouraging signs.

Matt Horlor from the Rolls-Royce Flight Operations Team is deployed at Richmond to assist with the trial and works with the flight crews to examine all the factors that contribute to reducing a use of fuel.

‘Optimising flight profiles can also benefit structure or engine life – flying at reduced power can increase engine time between removals and flying with less weight brings benefits on airframe fatigue life. At the end of the trial we‘ll deliver recommendations on fuel savings and knock-on benefits but we’ll also identify any downsides in order that

the RAAF can make an informed decision.’

According to Squadron Leader Ben Poxon, this level of customer intimacy is vital to the success of the trial.

‘It’s important to get in touch with people that operate day-to-day. The data needs to be validated to get a working solution but it’s a positive step forward. The main savings will be in people changing mindsets – it’s an educational and cultural thing.’

The shared insights from the trial are helping Rolls-Royce shape its fuel management services for military operations, while identifying opportunities for the RAAF to realise fuel and operational cost saving in the future.

’we are ready to go at a moment’s notice. in fact our response time is dictated by our load – there’s no point in the first ten aircraft arriving in a disaster zone all bringing in blankets if the first priority is food. The C-130 is great in this role, it can get to lots of remote places and benefits from a good global support network. it’s a vital part of the system that takes the right stuff to the right place at the right time.’

The aircraft’s contribution to the smooth running of relief efforts doesn’t end when supplies are unloaded from the cargo door.

nOThing dOes iT beTTeR ThAn The C-130J, iT’s inCRedibly ReliAble And sTURdy And Fills A niChe. Left Matt Horlor of Rolls-Royce at work with the RAAF. Above The maintenance team preparing a C-130J at the facility.

‘its performance blows people away. ground manoeuvrability is crucial at some of the locations we operate and the ability to back the aircraft up can have a really positive effect. One thing that can limit a relief operation is the amount of aircraft an airfield can handle – in an emergency there aren’t too many tow trucks available – so the fact that the C-130 doesn’t need one is a huge plus and can increase the number of aircraft that can fly in.’

According to squadron leader poxon, flying these humanitarian missions certainly add to job satisfaction. ‘if you deliver cargo and it just disappears out the back on a normal flight you feel like a part of the jigsaw but, when you can see an impact of your operation in a humanitarian mission at the coalface, delivering much needed supplies, it’s very rewarding

and gives you a good feeling.’ despite the addition of new aircraft types to the RAAF inventory, group Captain sutherland feels the C-130J still has a big role to play. ‘nothing does it better than the C-130J, it’s incredibly reliable and sturdy and fills a niche. it can carry stuff where a C-17 can’t go and you don’t have 6,000ft of straight concrete to land on. in papua new guinea we operate in some of the remotest country in the world. There are mountains and valleys and the tropical weather is accentuated by the unique

topography. it’s a challenging environment with a lot of one-way airstrips where the threshold is about a mile away. you have to commit to landing at that distance – there’s no go-around option because there’s a mountain in the way. we’re taking these aircraft into airfields where they normally only operate small Twin Otter aircraft.’

To illustrate the point that no-one uses the C-130J like the RAAF, a recent operation in papua new guinea saw them take electoral staff and ballot boxes to remote areas around the country.

As group Captain sutherland says: ‘we never know what we’ll be doing tomorrow’, but he’s confident that, whatever challenges tomorrow brings the RAAF’s fleet of C-130Js is more capable than ever of handling them. ‘we always had the ability to fly the aircraft globally, now we can operate it globally. lots of people can fly it, we can operate it.’

Author: Nick Britton is Communications Manager for the Rolls-Royce defence aerospace business. Starting with British Aerospace in Bristol he has worked for a number of leading names in the aerospace industry over the past 20 years.

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MIKASA FLAGSHIP OF JAPAN For over 40 years Rolls-Royce has been a major supplier of engines to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF). Today, Japan remains one of the biggest operators of the company’s marine power systems. pey marine gas turbines are installed in some of Japan’s most modern destroyers, and Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets, propulsion systems and other specialist marine equipment are in significant use across the JMSDF and Coastguard service.

But, in a quirk of fate, perhaps the longest Japanese naval tie comes as a result of the acquisition by Rolls-Royce of the Vickers marine business in 1999. Through this, the company is linked to one of the most important naval vessels in Japan’s history, one that made its mark well over 100 years ago.

Just along from the US naval base at Yokosuka near Tokyo is Mikasa Park, named after the Japanese battleship HIJMS Mikasa, a vessel that found fame in the 1905 Russo-Japanese war and that is preserved as a museum at the park to this day.

Mikasa was a battleship built in 1900 by Vickers in the UK. She was commissioned two years later and served as the flagship of Admiral Togo, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the battle of the Sea of Japan.

Rolls-Royce has marked its association with HIJMS Mikasa by presentation of a painting which can be seen by visitors touring the vessel. Commenting on the historical association and the current relationship with the JMSDF, Rolls-Royce Regional Director for Japan, Richard Thornley, said: ‘Japan is a very important customer for our marine business today but clearly the UK and Japan have had a strong naval association for over a century and a very direct link with one of Japan’s most important naval officers and most important ships.’

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MARINE

Not only was Mikasa built in England but Admiral Togo himself also spent much of his naval officer apprenticeship there where he earned the respect and admiration of his peers, graduating second in his class.

He studied in England for seven years, gaining a reputation at naval college as a determined, tough, quiet man and those qualities were to come to the fore in the battles that lay ahead. He was to emerge as an astute naval commander earning the sobriquet ‘Nelson of the East’ as a result of his career achievements.

At the start of the 20th century the war between Russia and Japan began as a result of imperial ambitions and a complex series of disputes in Asia between Japan, China and Russia.

Russia was determined to have a warm water port for its Pacific fleet and saw the opportunity to create this at Port Arthur, a naval base in Liaotung Peninsula which was leased to Russia from China.

The peninsula is close to Korea, a country Japan believed to be strategically important and which had already been at the heart of the Sino-Japanese war. Japan thought it vital that Korea remained independent, or under Japanese influence, in order to protect Japan’s interests in the region.

Diplomatic solutions to the latest dispute were tried but when Russia refused to withdraw its troops from the province and began further fortifying Port Arthur and Dalian, the Japanese took action in 1904 and attacked the Russian fleet.

The Russians were blockaded and eventually defeated at Port Arthur. There followed a number of engagements at sea between the navies, culminating in the battle of Tsushima in which Admiral Togo virtually destroyed the Russian fleet.

Admiral Togo knew that, with the fall of Port Arthur, the remainder of the Russian fleet would try to reach the only other Russian port in the Far East, Vladivostok.

He therefore planned to intercept them.

Above The painting The Japanese engaged battle in the Tsushima Straits on of HIJMS Mikasa 27–28 May 1905. Russia lost 19 key naval ships, and nearly

by Anthony Saunders presented by Rolls-Royce. 5,000 men, while the Japanese lost three torpedo boats and 116 men. Only three Russian combatant vessels (one cruiser The HIJMS Mikasa and two destroyers) escaped, the rest were sunk or captured. museum and statue of Admiral Togo.

Japan’s victory was total.

This was one of the most important and decisive battles in naval history. Japan defeated the might of the Russian navy against all odds and expectation by a watching world – even to the surprise of its own people. Admiral Togo became a national hero as a result, having preserved Japan’s ability to protect its seas and having restored Japan’s authority in the region.

So significant was the victory that news of it reverberated around the world, strengthening the resolve of many smaller countries in Asia and Africa against the might of the major European powers of the time.

Author: David Howie is Director of Brand for Rolls-Royce. He joined the company from a marketing consultancy and prior to that was a press officer.

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Transforming

TRENTS

Replacing ageing gas turbines with highly-efficient modern aero-derivative Trent gas turbines has delivered more power for less at a power station in north-west Germany.

ingen, in Emsland, adjacent to the Dortmund-Ems canal and River Ems, and not far from the Dutch border, has played a significant role in Germany’s energy infrastructure for many years. It is a hub in the Germany gas supply system, served by no less than five independent supply lines connected to separate networks.

It hosts a gas fuelled combined cycle plant, unit D, commissioned in 2010, a gas compressor facility and a gas storage system (employing an underground pipe array).

The site is also home to two combined cycle blocks, installed in 1974/75, units B and C. These each have a gas fired boiler and a steam turbine, but also include a ’topping’ gas turbine connected to each boiler. In 2009, the German operator, RWE, decided to remove the two ageing low efficiency gas turbines and replace them with modern, state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce Trent 60 WLE gas turbine generators.

The replacement has proved to be the key to transforming the elderly natural gas fuelled B and C units of the Lingen power station into highly efficient and flexible generating assets for Germany’s leading electricity producer.

As a result of the €200 million upgrade at the power plant, which provides

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ENERGY

Left An aerial view of the Lingen power complex.

Here A Trent 60 WLE in its housing.

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process heat to local industry as well as generating electricity, Lingen’s strategic importance will increase over the coming years. A major reason is the rise of intermittent renewables in the German energy mix. The site is in the north-west of Germany, where many of the country’s land based wind turbines are, and close to the North sea, where a huge expansion in offshore wind capacity is planned.

Having highly flexible but dependable gas generation in this wind-rich locality is vital as it is able to start up rapidly when the wind fails to blow, helping to maintain grid stability. The two Trent units having a high level of flexibility are ideal partners for renewables.

As an aero-derivative gas turbine, the Trent 60 WLE is capable of very fast starts, some nine minutes to full power. At the same time it is also highly efficient, achieving 40 per cent, compared with less than 30 per cent efficiency for the two older gas turbines replaced at Lingen. Re-powering this existing station with the higher efficiency Trent gas turbine has achieved a number of environmental and production benefits for RWE including a saving of around 45,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

CAPACITY The Lingen gas turbines are used in an arrangement that was quite common in the 70s. They drive generators but, in addition, their hot exhaust, containing oxygen, is used for combustion in the large natural gas fuelled boilers and also heats the water coming into the boilers, thereby increasing efficiency. Each of the two boilers serves a 365MW steam turbine generator.

As a result of the Trent 60 retrofit the efficiency of the plant as a whole, originally 41 per cent, has increased by five-eight percentage points, while the total power has been increased by 130MW from 820MW to 950MW. This has led to less gas consumption and reduced emissions (eg carbon dioxide).

By utilising existing buildings, transmission lines and major parts of the existing station, re-powering effectively increases capacity without the need for a new power station.

This greatly reduces the time between order placement and the delivery of increased power.

At Lingen it has been achieved without replacing the existing boilers of units B and C or their associated steam turbines. Re-use of these large items of equipment was fundamental to the

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retrofit concept, which depended on finding modern gas turbines that were compatible with the existing boilers and steam turbines, in terms of temperatures and flows. ’This was one of the major challenges in the development phase of the project,’ says Rolf Gerber, Head of Mechanical Engineering, Rotating Equipment, RWE Technology GmbH. ’The turbines must lead to a clear improvement in efficiency and flexibility of the units while on the other hand they must meet the still valid parameters for the steam boiler plant. I am delighted that we were able to fulfil both objectives by selecting a technologically outstanding solution, and at the same time remain within our budget.’

FLEXIBILITY For RWE, the answer turned out to be to replace the two early-70s vintage siemens V93s (each rated at 55.7MW) with four 58MW Trent 60 WLE gas turbines, two for each boiler/steam turbine generator set.

The temperatures and flows matched up remarkably well. The Trent 60 WLE exhaust gas temperature is 430-450ºC, compared with 390-420ºC for the original gas turbine, while the exhaust gas flow of two Trent 60 WLEs combined (1,000,000m³/h, 338kg/s) is pretty much the same as that of one of the original gas turbines.

Having four gas turbines instead of two, as well as boosting the power output, also further helps to increase flexibility, a very valuable characteristic for a power station, opening up a variety of different operating modes, depending on grid requirements. Examples include: one gas turbine plus one boiler; boilers alone; and one to four gas turbines operating in ’simple cycle’, ie without the boilers and their steam turbines. A system of flaps is used to convert between simple cycle (where the gas turbine exhaust goes to a bypass stack) and combined cycle (where the topping gas turbine exhaust goes to the boiler). The upgraded plant is also able to operate at a lower minimum load than before, while maintaining high efficiency, further increasing its versatility.

The increased efficiency of the new Trent gas turbines does have one small downside: there is less oxygen in their exhaust gas than the old gas turbines. so the Lingen B and C retrofit has included the fitting of air blowers to increase oxygen content in certain operating modes to maintain adequate natural gas combustion in the burners of the boilers – for example, on hot days in summer or in combined cycle mode when just one gas turbine is being used.

The Lingen B and C retrofit project was completed on time and on budget and the approach should be applicable to extending the useful life of other ageing gas fuelled power plants.

Above Lingen town centre at night.

Here The Trent WLE engines have increased output and reduce emissions.

Author: James Varley is Group Managing Editor, Global Trade Media, with responsibility for international power technology publications, including Modern Power Systems and Nuclear Engineering International. He spent several years in the field of energy analysis before becoming involved in publishing.

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One careful owner When aspiring companies consider entering the business jet aviation market they often underappreciate the importance of service to their potential customers.

n this article, Dean Roberts, Director of Market Analysis, Civil Small and Medium Engines for Rolls-Royce, argues the case for knowledge and experience in the support of business aircraft.

Above all else, time is the important benefit delivered by business aircraft and the service provider needs to fundamentally appreciate this.

And if time is critical, then you need to know that your aircraft is serviced and ready to fly whenever you want it.

There are two types of business aviation customers and outside observers can often get confused between the two. For simplicity, let’s call them the user and the operator.

The user is the person that is transported by the aircraft and is often termed ‘the person sitting in the back’. This could be, for example, the senior management of a company visiting outlying facilities that are distant from major airport hubs, or the sales/commercial people flying out of the country to negotiate an important deal with a new customer. On occasion, it may be a company Chief Executive Officer or Chairman visiting several

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places in one day to optimise his time.

I will define the operator as the team that flies and maintains the aircraft. In many cases this will be a handful of individuals and they will be responsible for a multi-million dollar aircraft asset. As ‘fleets’ of one aircraft are the norm in business aviation, having a vast support team is simply not feasible.

So the support infrastructure for these operators is minimal. As a result they are more dependent on the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), or a third party service provider.

PRODUCTIVITY The two business aviation customers have different perspectives but they are united in one belief – the aircraft is a time machine. Users want to arrive at their destination as fast as possible, this is the utility value of the aircraft. The aircraft is not usually a revenue earner, but it is a profit or relationship enabler. In short, the aircraft is a productivity investment and time is the metric of value being measured.

For the business jet operator the requirements are straight forward; exceptional levels of aircraft

reliability and outstanding levels of service.

Reliability is required because the operator’s role, with limited resources, is to get the user to their destination on time. Outstanding service is required by the operator when very occasionally things go wrong. So in essence, reliability and service are discriminators that define leading aerospace companies that ‘get’ business aviation.

So what does this mean for companies wanting to enter business aviation as a service provider?

The problem with much of the economic and management theory on market entry to business aviation is that it does not capture the importance of intangibles such as service.

Much academic work concentrates on economies of scale, government regulation, level of R&D, intellectual property, and switching costs. These factors are easy to assess and the connection to them being an entry barrier is easily observed.

However, the influence of service is more subtle and therefore difficult to explain in terms of adding value. In business aviation the need for service is not a regular event. If, for example, the aircraft needs to go in for a D-check, or the engine

AVIATION

Rolls-Royce offer a comprehensive CorporateCare support package for owners and operators.

Below Dean Roberts has 30 years experience in aerospace and aviation.

experiences some FOD, the non-availability of an aircraft far outweighs the cost of the service activity.

Especially if you understand that time is the metric of value in business aviation.

Inexperienced entrants tend to concentrate on the quantifiable rather than the more abstract.

So they focus on whether they have the technology, facilities and the financing in place rather than whether they have a professional service network deployed. Some see their service operation as an annoying cost. However, rather than cost centres, successful operators see their service networks as investments in goodwill and customer loyalty.

It is these companies that garner the high customer satisfaction ratings and their operators actually become advocates for them.

Most aircraft today are incredibly reliable and from year-to-year you may not need to use an aircraft or engine service organisation.

In the case of Rolls-Royce, four factors drive our approach to service: Asset valuation – one of the most telling indicators of an excellent service provider is whether their service programme can be reflected in the aircraft

asset value. Some OEM maintenance-by-the-hour service programmes like CorporateCare® actually enhance the value of the aircraft. This is the free market’s assessment of the worth of the service and is a significant positive endorsement.

Resources that are fit for purpose – some service companies claim international reach but may not be able to deliver in a timely manner. For example, if you operate globally, consider whether your service provider can get spare engines into far flung countries – quickly.

Business aviation experience – if the service provider has been in the business sector a long time it is likely that they understand the market.

In 2012, Rolls-Royce celebrated 50 years of selling Power-by-the-hour™ programmes. This has evolved to become the company’s CorporateCare service.

With that level of experience, we feel we understand business aviation well.

Independent customer satisfaction surveys – an independent survey of a service provider’s performance is very valuable in consistently tracking aircraft, engine and avionics performance.

In my 30 years in this industry one of the

consistent misunderstandings I have seen is that new entrants often do not realise the crucial importance of service to the business aviation operator community. The notion that the role of the aircraft is to buy valuable time is the key differentiator from other civil aircraft sectors.

When considering which service provider to use, checking the four factors is a good place to start.

They will provide a good indication of whether a service provider understands business aviation and is in the industry for the long term. As far as Rolls-Royce is concerned we have a track record that I hope demonstrates that commitment and we are happy to be judged on the four key points here.

We continue to bring new product to the market in this important sector. In late 2012, the new Gulfstream G650 entered service, powered by the Rolls-Royce BR725 engine. In 2013, the latest version of the Cessna Citation X, powered by the Rolls-Royce AE 3007C, will follow.

Author: Dean Roberts is a senior analyst at Rolls-Royce, where he has worked for 30 years. He has held positions in corporate development, sales, marketing and engineering, and is a highly experienced forecaster.

ISSUE136 29

ROYCE THE PERFECTIONIST After the toughest of childhoods, Henry Royce – born 150 years ago – worked tirelessly to attain technical perfection in everything he designed, from cars to aero engines.

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HISTORIC

ife posed a challenge to Frederick Henry Royce right from the moment he was born on 27 March, 1863.

Times were becoming tough for his father James, a flour miller in the rural east of England. James came from a long line of prosperous farmers and millers but he lacked dedication to his work – possibly a consequence of the Hodgkin’s lymphoma from which he suffered. With his mill mortgaged and his health and hope fading, James took his two sons, including four-year-old Henry, to London to fight for financial survival. In 1872 he lost the struggle and died in the poorhouse, aged just 41.

Nine-year-old Henry felt the poverty and hardship acutely. But he had spirit and self-motivation and gained a job selling newspapers on the streets of London, earning crucial pennies. After just one year at school he became a telegram delivery boy in London’s Mayfair.

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UNCEASING At 14 years of age his big break came.

An aunt in the east of England agreed to pay £20 per year (the equivalent of around £1,200 today, or about US$1,900) for Henry to be an apprentice at the Great Northern Railway works in Peterborough.

This move turned a key that unlocked the potential of an engineering genius.

Driven by unceasing need for knowledge, the boy spent his spare time soaking-up English and mathematics at evening classes.

He grasped every opportunity to sharpen his machining and fitting skills and to learn more about the new marvel of electricity.

‘He was fanatically determined to make up for his earlier lack of formal education and make the most of the opportunity that had been presented to him,’ notes Donald Bastow*, one of Royce’s key engineering assistants many years later.

Above Royce’s friend E A Claremont.

Above right An early Royce car.

Right Some of the original sales literature for Royce Limited.

Before Royce could complete his apprenticeship, his aunt’s funding dried up.

But within two weeks, the ambitious 17-year-old found work as a toolmaker in the city of Leeds.

Soon his interest in electricity and its potential uses led to a job with a London-based power company where he flourished, becoming the lead electrical technician on a major street-lighting project in Liverpool.

But within two months of successfully completing the job the company failed, leaving 21-year-old Royce jobless with savings of £20.

At this point, Royce’s friend E A Claremont steps into the story.

With electrical training, youthful ambition and £50 (about £3,200 or US$5,000 today), Claremont teamed with Royce to set up F H Royce & Co, electrical engineers, in Manchester.

The partners realised electricity had a big future across a fertile industrial field. Royce, the technical partner, threw himself into developing new electrical products and the business thrived. While Claremont focused on sales and

business development, Royce designed and perfected unceasingly, often neglecting the need to eat or even to sleep.

In nine years, what had begun as a risky business partnership in a challenging new industry had become secure and robust.

The 30-year-old Royce was now ‘an assured and mature professional engineer in full control of the technical side of a thriving business,’ reports Bastow.

But Royce the workaholic was beginning to suffer. In 1902 he collapsed, victim of continuous overwork compounded by the added pressure of overseeing the building and fitting of a new factory needed for expansion. Unwillingly, he agreed to take his first-ever break, voyaging to South Africa with his wife Minnie (they married in 1893). Refreshed mentally and physically, Royce celebrated back in the UK by buying his first car.

This two-cylinder Decauville re-energised the genius in its owner.

Unsatisfied with its engineering, Royce first modified the Decauville then, with a clarity of purpose that became his hallmark, opted to risk building three trial cars of his own.

Royce strongly sensed the need for a major new product to ensure the company’s survival and growth.

A car that would carry his name, Royce decreed, needed the best design, the finest materials available and the highest level of craftsmanship if it was to succeed.

INSPIRED The first Royce engine ran in September 1903 and the first complete car in April 1904. Right from the start, the Royce proved exceptionally quiet and reliable, the result of tireless and often inspired theoretical and practical research and development.

Enter another key player in the story, the Honourable Charles Rolls, an adventurous 26-year-old British aristocrat anxious to take centre-stage in the fast-developing automobile industry by selling a top-quality British car from his showrooms in London.

Rolls learned about the promising new Royce cars from Henry Edmunds, a director of F H Royce and a close friend of Rolls. At Edmunds’ suggestion, Royce and Rolls met in Manchester.

The two men – 15 years apart and from utterly different backgrounds – sparked in harmony, striking an oral agreement for Rolls to sell every car Royce could build.

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Left Workers pose for a photograph with the Eagle VIII engines during the First World War. Below Sir Henry Royce.

The deal proved perfect. Within three years the company, now Rolls-Royce Ltd, was producing 200 cars per year.

In spite of Rolls’ death in an aircraft crash in 1910 the business continued to prosper, focusing on automobile markets. But with the coming of war in 1914 Royce looked to the skies – the country needed its greatest engineers. Aviation demanded higher power, better power – and gave scope for that genius to fly.

URGENT

By September 1914 Royce and his engineering team had designed a 12-cylinder military aero engine to meet the urgent need for a 200hp powerplant, working from the known main basis of proven reliability. The result, the Eagle, led to a range of engines that began the process of taking the Rolls-Royce name worldwide.

For Royce himself, however, the effort hit hard. His fanatical devotion to work dragged down his health and marriage. He had separated from Minnie and after an operation for bowel cancer in 1911 he was given 32 rolls-royce.com

just months to live. Doctors and company colleagues realised his only hope was to spend his life remote from the factory in milder, quieter climes.

This led to an unorthodox mode in which Royce and a small team of his top-rated engineers lived and worked in Royce’s chosen retreat, the village of West Wittering on the south coast of Britain. Here in rural peace Royce supervised key developments in automobile and aero-engine design, culminating in the R-engine, basis of the all-conquering Merlin of World War II fame.

But Royce lived only to see the start of Merlin development in 1933.

Created a baronet for services to British aviation in 1930, he died on April 22, 1933, aged 70.

Remembered by some as an overbearing perfectionist in younger years and by others as a shy, reserved and kindly man in later life, Henry Royce lived for his work, while his technical genius left a legacy of perfection that still pervades today inside the company that bears his name.

Author: John Hutchinson is an independent writer on a range of topics including technology. He has worked in various corporate and media communication roles, never far from the leading-edge industry of aerospace.

* The quotes are from the book Henry Royce – mechanic (Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, 1989) by Donald Bastow, who became an engineer with Royce’s team at West Wittering in 1931.

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Published quarterly Material contained in this magazine may be reprinted but permission must be obtained in advance from the Editor.

Picture credits All photographs Rolls-Royce plc except: P2-3, P4 top left, NSK Shipping AS P4-5, P7, P13, P15, P24-25 main, P26-27, P28, Andrew Siddons, Peak Photographic Ltd P16-17 main, P18-19 top, Commonwealth of Australia P17 bottom right, P18-19 bottom, P20-21, Paul Jones Photography P24 left, RWE Group Copyright owned by photographer/organisation.

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