Rolls Royce - The Magazine Issue 142

the magazine ISSUE 142 SEPTEMBER 2014

United Airlines

A fan of the -535 and anticipating the Trent XWB-97

Protector

Taking care of ceramic composites

Surveying at sea

Simulators for seismic survey vessels

What happens in Vegas…

Exercise ‘Red Flag’

for customers

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

Welcome to the September issue

How do ceramic coatings work, what are the top-gun pilots up to in Las Vegas and how do you learn to conduct seismic surveys at sea without leaving shore?

Plus, find out what United Airlines think of their -535 powered Boeing 757s as they eagerly await the arrival of their new Airbus A350-1000s with Trent XWB engines.

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

rolls-royce.com

the magazine CONTENTS

inside the magazine

Editorial Board Tom Bell, Ian Craighead, Simon Goodson, Lawrie Haynes, Andrew Heath, Peter Morgan, Mark Morris, 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 © Rolls-Royce plc 2014 the magazine September 2014 Rolls-Royce plc 65 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AT England www.rolls-royce.com

2 We are United

United Airlines is delighted with the reliable performance of the RB211-535 engines on its current Boeing 757 fleet and that gives it confidence in looking forward to the arrival of the Trent XWB-97 on its future Airbus A350-1000s.

7 Seismic simulator

A Seismic survey vessel can house equipment worth up to £2 billion. Deploying such expensive survey equipment is a complex task, so having the opportunity to learn and to make your mistakes in a simulator is far less costly than doing so at sea.

10 Generation Vineland

Owned by the citizens of Vineland, NJ, their local municipal electricity utility has been operating a Rolls-Royce Trent 60 gas turbine since 2012.

14 Keep the ‘Red Flag’ flying

Within sight of the Las Vegas casinos, top-gun fighter pilots take part in exercise ‘Red Flag’. It’s a chance for allied nations to train together and for aircrews to hone their skills against the best in the world.

22 Sea green

Using Bergen-class engines, which run on liquefied natural gas is cleaner, more efficient and, according to operator Fjord Line, will make their ferry operations 30-40 per cent more competitive when Europe’s new emission boundaries come into force in January.

26 Protector

Ceramic composites can work at very high temperatures but they need protection in the harsh environment of a gas turbine. Dr Kang Lee is the man who knows how to do it.

28 “I name this ship...”

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier has been named, floated and is now being outfitted, ready for commissioning trials which are due to start next year.

30 Turboprop to turbofan

It’s 100 years since Rolls-Royce first entered the aero engine business. Here we tell the story of the Dart and the RB211, two of the most important engines in the company’s history.

19 Bluebird double Front cover: A pilot checks his EJ200-powered Eurofighter Typhoon during exercise ‘Red Flag’.

Donald Campbell was the only man ever to hold both the world land and water speed records in the same year. It was 50 years ago in 1964.

the magazine ISSUE 142 1

We are United

United operate a fleet of 62 RB211-535E4 – powered Boeing 757s.

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the magazine AViAtiOn

In the heart of Chicago’s business district, the world’s largest airline is managed from one of the world’s largest buildings.

W

hen United Airlines merged with Continental in 2010 it created a new airline with a fleet of 700 aircraft. The headquarters of the new airline became the Willis Tower in Chicago, which at 108 storeys and 1,451 feet tall, dominates the city’s skyline and which, when it first opened in 1973, was the tallest building in the world.

Apart from the executive offices, the building is also home to the airline’s network operations center (NOC) which was opened in 2012 to provide a state-of-the-art hub to manage effectively the day-to- day flying activities of the new, larger United. Here on the 27th floor, the NOC houses representatives of all the essential teams to ensure smooth flying operations: dispatch; air traffic control; flight information; crew management; maintenance; communications and of course, meteorology.

It’s a lot to monitor and a lot to manage. United Airlines and United Express (operated by regional partners) have over 5,200 daily departures The Willis Tower dominates and a network that the Chicago skyline. encompasses 374 airports across six continents. In 2013, United and United Express operated nearly two million flights carrying 139 million customers.

The merger of United and Continental airlines brought large numbers of Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft under the United umbrella. United Express is a big operator of the Rolls-Royce AE 3007-powered Embraer -145 series regional jet, with 240 of these flying for the carrier.

And the Rolls-Royce reputation in the mainline fleet is currently being enhanced by the operation of the RB211-535 engine on 62 of United’s Boeing 757-200 and -300 aircraft.

United flies the 757-200 on several long-haul routes, including its trans-Atlantic operations - for example, Rolls-Royce powered 757s are currently operating routes such as New York to Berlin and Chicago to Edinburgh whereas the 757-300s are flown domestically and to Hawaii.

“The 757-200 is a versatile aircraft and when operated at long-stage lengths the economics are superior. The capabilities and the reliability of the Rolls-Royce engines definitely give us the ability to use this aircraft to fly trans-Atlantic into the European market,” says Chandresh Malkani, Senior Manager of Fleet Transactions and Planning for United.

“The reliability of -535 engine has allowed us to keep it in our fleet for 20 years and to sign the new TotalCare contract.

We are confident this engine will continue to operate in our fleet for years to come,” he adds.

The new TotalCare service and maintenance agreement Chandresh is referring to was announced in July at this year’s Farnborough International Air Show, and covers the lifetime support by Rolls-Royce of all the -535 engines operated

by United. An important element of the new contract was that it focused on the most effective management of mature engines.

Alex Orosz, Director Technical Procurement for United agrees, “Once you start seeing the engine fleet mature then it is a challenge to balance recently overhauled engines with some that have been flying for a long time and may need overhauling. We also had to consider that, because of the maturity, we may need the flexibility to start exiting engines from the fleet.

“We initially considered alternative maintenance options for this fleet. However, we were pleased when Rolls-Royce came up with a very creative solution. They took the current structure of their TotalCare programme and modified it to make it work. ” So the 757 and RB211-535 combination look set to provide sterling service for some time to come within United’s mainline fleet. The airline is also due to become an operator of the Trent engine for the first time as a result of its decision to place a large order for the Airbus A350-1000.

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This is the longer range version of the new Airbus aircraft and comes powered by the Trent XWB-97.

“This is the first time United will have employed Trent engines in our fleet and we are really looking forward to the engine arriving. This is leading-edge technology and we have worked closely with Rolls-Royce on a great deal of technical information exchange.” says Alex Orosz.

United has ordered 35 A350-1000s, the first of which are due to start arriving in 2018. The airline is already planning a two-three year ramp-up programme internally to ensure a smooth introduction. Everything needs to be considered from airport capability at departure and destination points, to engineering and maintenance, crew and pilot training.

United’s pilot training is undertaken at both Denver and

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Houston, although the airline is yet to decide which of these bases will have A350 responsibility.

With regard to the decision to select the A350, Chandresh Malkani says: “In any fleet renewal decision the cost of acquiring a new aircraft is weighed against the benefits you will gain in efficiency and reduced operating costs. With the A350’s capacity of 330-350 passengers, we are able to serve our long-haul, high-demand markets more efficiently than with older Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft.”

Long-haul routes are ideal for the A350-1000s.

Traditionally it is the Asian market that United has served with 747s but the A350 can provide capability from Chicago to Asia and from its West-coast hub of San Francisco into Europe.

Above Checking in at Chicago.

Below The airline’s network operations centre manages the day-to-day flying activities.

Right Alex Orosz, Director Technical Procurement.

The -535 has been the backbone for our 757 fleet for 20 years, and we look forward to working together on the new Trent XWB when it arrives.

United also knows that the arrival of new airframes brings marketing opportunities and a strong public relations effects both within the airline for employees and among its customers – particularly frequent flyers. These days, the buzz created on social media by the arrival of the new aircraft into an airline creates its own marketing momentum.

United’s focus is not just on future aircraft, however. The airline has been investing substantially in its existing fleet to enhance the passenger experience. The airline expects to have more than 450 aircraft in its fleet equipped with Wi-Fi by the end of 2014 and has begun installing a new personal device entertainment system on select aircraft, enabling customers to choose from more than 150 movies and nearly 200 television shows and then watch them on their own laptops or iOS devices.

On United’s IAE powered A320 fleet, new slimline seats have been introduced, new lighting and overhead bins that nearly double each plane’s carry-on capacity – all resulting in very positive customer feedback.

In addition to the aircraft improvements, passengers to and from London will have noted that United has now consolidated its operations into Heathrow’s new Terminal 2, or Queen’s Terminal, and at Boston Logan the company recently unveiled a new ten-gate concourse to help streamline customer experience there.

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A new TotalCare service and maintenance contract has recently been signed to cover lifetime support of the -535E4 fleet.

“We know that everybody has a choice and United is focused on providing clean, safe and reliable service. However, at United, we strive for more. To set ourselves apart from the competition, we are investing in our fleet and our customer experience to make us the preferred carrier.” says Alex.

“Rolls-Royce has been and continues to be a great partner to United and gives us the ability to reach our goals.

Rolls- Royce’s continued dedication towards technological innovation and to improve the reliability of its engines matches United’s pursuit for excellence. The -535 has been the backbone for our 757 fleet for 20 years, and we look forward to working together on the new Trent XWB when it arrives,” he added.

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.

The capabilities and the reliability of the Rolls-Royce engines definitely give us the ability to use this aircraft to fly trans-Atlantic into the European market.

Chandresh Malkani, Senior Manager - Fleet transactions and Planning.

United’s network encompasses 374 airports across six continents.

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the magazine MARINE

Seismic

Simulator

You are standing on the aft-deck of the latest seismic survey vessel supervising the deployment of multi-million pound high tech cable which rolls from a drum and disappears over the stern at the rate of 36 metres per minute. Suddenly the spur line breaks. the cables already deployed are out of control. What do you do? the magazine ISSUE 142 7

t

he answer? Press pause. the deck you are each streamer cable there is a spread rope ensuring that the looking down on is computer generated – like streamer cables are kept between 25 and 100m apart from an actual size, incredibly detailed video game. each other.

You are in one of three pods designed to the rolls-royce latest seismic survey vessel design, the simulate the aft deck of the latest generation of seismic 110m long ut 833 WP, can deploy 18 streamers each 10km survey vessels and allow the ships’ crews to train on the long plus the air gun array. the biggest vessels are designed equipment and control systems found on board. to deploy up to 24 streamers and a complete streamer rig Every month, or so, groups of eight survey vessel crew can survey an area greater than 12km², over eight times spend a week at the rolls-royce training Centre based in larger than london’s Hyde Park. Ålesund, Norway, learning the basics of deploying seismic Deploying such a complex system needs more than one survey equipment. they learn to operate and maintain the person. a typical aft deck crew will consist of four or five winches and control systems they will use at sea in a safe people working with the Captain. Communication is key. environment and where any mistakes aren’t costly in terms the simulator will allow whole teams to be trained to of equipment or time. work together, learning by doing, without risk to themselves and that’s important. the cost of the survey equipment is approximately three times that of the ship itself and can run to £2billion plus. With it also taking several days of round the clock operation to set up the equipment, multiple well-trained Arnstein Erdal, Training Manager at the Ålesund Training Centre teams are essential.

Seismic survey vessels are used by or the equipment. they respond together to scenarios oil and gas companies to look for new deposits. actually encountered during operations – for example the they work by towing an array of up to 18 streamers – cables containing a great number of underwater breaking of a spread rope which would cause the cables deployed behind the vessel to move to the centre – loaded hydrophones–behind them. these gather sound pulses, into the computer. Weather conditions, sea states and generated by an air gun array also towed behind the ship, which bounce off the sub-seabed strata. these are then currents can all be added to the simulation. processed by powerful computers to give a 3D picture of the trainees can step straight from the simulator into the real world in just a few seconds. the workshop area of the composition of the seabed below and allow any oil and gas reservoirs to be identified. training centre is a neighbouring room. this houses a fully functioning Control streamer winch with its hydraulic Each streamer can be up to 12km long and is winched out control system and remotes. this individually over the stern through a fairlead. a float is allows trainees to experience all attached to the very end of the streamer, containing GPS facets of its operations. sensors with a radar beacon. the streamer is kept at the according to right depth by monitoring and control devices known as arnstein Erdal, birds, which have to be attached at regular intervals. it is training attached to the ship by a 1km long lead-in cable. a spur line manager at is connected between the deflector plates and the outer the Ålesund streamer cables, this spreads the cable apart. in between training Centre:

Everything you see on the simulator is built

by Rolls-Royce, we sell the winch equipment and deck machinery as well as the ship design.

The Fa Xian, a Seismic survey vessel at work.

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One of the three simulators at the Rolls-Royce training facility at Ålesund in Norway.

“lots of people can do simulator training but the advantage here is that we have the actual hardware as well. Everything you see on the simulator is built by rolls-royce, we sell the winch equipment and deck machinery as well as the ship design. Having both the simulator and the hardware gives added value to the training.” the simulator was developed in response to customer demand. Customers new to the seismic survey market wanted training in how to operate the systems prior to actually acquiring the ship itself. Building a simulator made this possible.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t need massive computing power running off an ordinary desktop computer, albeit with a very powerful graphics card.

“We are constantly developing the simulator to provide

more functionality,” Erdal says. “the simulator adds value to the training; the alternative would be to show a video or a PowerPoint presentation on how to deploy the streamer cables. With the simulator you get immediate feedback when operating the remote control as you would do on a real vessel. Faults and difficult working scenarios are injected as confidence increases, to ensure the crew can work as a team and cope with virtually any set of circumstances.”

With 88 seismic survey vessels currently operating worldwide and more on order, demand for the seismic simulator is booming.

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.

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generation

Monitoring the Industrial Trent.

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the magazine energY

vineland

vineland Municipal electric Utility is once again taking the bull by the horns and is building its own generating capacity. in its latest endeavour, the company is putting its trust in Rolls-Royce gas turbine technology.

v

ineland Municipal electric Utility (vMeU) has always strived to be the master of its own destiny. Owned by the citizens of vineland and regulated by the city council, vMeU is one of nine municipal utilities in new Jersey, USa. its origins date back to 1899 when the city’s founding fathers installed the first electric light bulbs on Main Street.

Having difficulty finding a utility to run a power line down to the then rural south Jersey, vMeU decided to build its own power plant. This proved to be the start of a ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude that still prevails today.

“That’s how the generation ethic got started in vineland,” says Joe isabella, City Municipal Utilities director. “and today we are still the only municipal utility in new Jersey that has utility size generation. Our approach has been that we can handle it and we really don’t need help.”

For many years, vMeU ran several small coal and oil fired steam units. These, however, were becoming expensive to run and since 2008 had come under increasing environmental pressure.

“They required a lot of fixed operation and maintenance expenses. also, the environmental rules in new Jersey became very strict – we have the second toughest

environmental limits in the US after California – and we were having to make huge investments to keep them running,” notes isabella. vMeU therefore decided to retire the units and install a new simple cycle gas fired power plant based on a Rolls-Royce Trent 60 gas turbine at its Howard M down Generating Station. The 60MW ‘down Unit 11’, which began commercial operation in June 2012, was the first new power station to be installed by the utility in more than 40 years. it was also the first air permit for a generator under new Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Investment

Significantly, at a cost of US$60 million the installation represented vMeU’s biggest investment in its long history.

But it has been money well spent. The cost of producing energy has been cut by around ten per cent – a potential saving of U$$6-8 million a year. This has allowed vMeU to reduce rates three times, meaning its 1,000kWh/month customers now enjoy the lowest retail rates in new Jersey.

Following some initial fine-tuning, target emission levels in terms of nOx and CO are also being achieved.

Spurred by the positive experience and benefits of this

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installation, vMeU has now embarked on installing a second unit that is scheduled to start operation in June 2015. its start-up will go a long way to satisfying vMeU’s capacity requirements. isabella noted that retirement of the steam units left the utility with only 26MW of capacity. “We are a 160MW utility.

When we retired the units we were 134 MW short. With down 11 we got 60MW back and in 2015 we will get another 60MW. during that period, we have also added 16 MW of solar production, so in June 2015 we will be capacity self-sufficient.”

Meeting the power needs of its customers, however, was not the sole reason for boosting capacity.

“The reason we embarked on this is not only the generation ethic in vineland,” says, isabella. “The PJM power pool* has a capacity market that is extremely volatile. it bids capacity each year, three years in advance. Our access to very reasonable financing and the fact that we don’t have to provide a return to investors means we can deliver power to the pool at roughly half the market clearing price for capacity.

So economically it’s in our customers’ best interest that we provide this capacity. The reduction in energy production cost that we get is just a bonus.”

Support

a second unit will therefore bring even greater benefits for customers. The new turbine is to be installed at a greenfield site about a 15-minute drive away from the down 11 Unit. in addition to providing more generating capacity, it will provide voltage support in the immediate vicinity. like down 11, the new unit will also use a Trent 60 Wle (Wet low emissions) turbine that will run on gas, with the capability of running on oil if necessary. There were several reasons for opting for the same technology. isabella explains: “For down 11, we asked the bidders to provide an option for a second unit. as a fairly small utility, we wanted to make both units the same. This means our employees would not have to be trained to operate two different types of equipment and it would also allow us to maximise the utilisation of spare parts.” vMeU evaluated turbines that could deliver efficient, peaking operation. “PJM is the largest most liquid market in the world and we still buy 85 per cent of our power from it,” says isabella. “The power that we buy is generally below the cost at which we could produce ourselves, even with these efficient turbines. But these units can start in approximately ten minutes to allow us to knock the top off our cost curve and really impact our ability to keep our costs under control.” * PJM is the Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland Interconnection LLC (Mid-Atlantic region power pool)

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Below The first of the two Industrial Trents in operation at Vineland.

vMeU essentially marries its generation to its wholesale power portfolio, effectively buying enough power to match its average load, and uses the peaking units to take care of peak loads and drive costs down.

The heat rate and power output of the Trent 60 Wle were therefore key factors. The 60Hz version has a design gross heat rate of 8,723kJ/kWh for a gross electrical output of 62.9MW at iSO conditions – better performance figures than its nearest competitor, according to vMeU. “The Trent had a slightly better heat rate and offered more power output for approximately the same price, so it was really a no-brainer for us,” notes isabella.

The second Trent project should be more straightforward than the first. in addition to incorporating general lessons from the first project, being on a greenfield site will make life easier.

Pete Kudless, Project Manager, says: “The site for the first unit had equipment from old units that we had to demolish. it’s right in the middle of the city, adjacent to an underground water reservoir. So we had to be a little careful in how we prepared the site.

it’s a very different situation at the new site. There are a few challenges on the permitting side but the site preparation will be much simpler.”

Responsibility

True to its do-it-yourself ethic, vMeU has taken on responsibility for building the project and thereby reduced the cost of the project. isabella explains: “Small utilities usually award a turnkey contract to build a plant. The turnkey contractor will normally add a risk premium for guarantees. We looked at this and could see that Rolls-Royce had most of the guarantees ie. heat rate, output and environmental compliance. So we did not go for turnkey. We did our own engineering and are acting as our own project management.

This will save us roughly 10-15 per cent on the risk premiums that a turnkey contractor would apply.”

So far, things are progressing smoothly. Site clearing began in april; all major equipment for the second unit has been ordered and is being manufactured.

Just like in 1899, vMeU’s experience of doing-ityourself is once again proving to be a positive one and the company is confident that it has prepared itself for the future. isabella concludes: “Over the last six years we will have completely re-tooled the energy supply portion of this utility to the extent that we will be in good shape for the next 30 years.” author: Junior isles has been a journalist in the power industry for nearly 25 years.

He now has his own company and is editor-in Chief of the energy industry times.

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Keep the ‘red flag’ flying

‘The Home of the Fighter Pilot’ proclaims a large sign at the main entrance to Nellis Air Force Base – just north of the glitz of Las Vegas, Nevada.

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the magazine DEFENCE

t

his base is renowned around the world and is all about maintaining the exacting standards of the US Air force. it is home to a test unit that helps develop advanced capabilities for the world’s largest air arm, and home to the famed USAf Weapons School. nellis is also the spiritual home of exercise ‘Red flag’, an air training exercise developed following the Vietnam War, when US Air force f-4 phantom ii crews struggled in combat against nimble enemy Migs. ‘Red flag’ was designed to give these young pilots a taste of combat, so that when they went to war for real it wouldn’t be a baptism of fire.

As the exercise has progressed over time, it has also served as a proving ground for new technology, and the ultimate place for allies and partner nations to train together — so that they too are best prepared for whatever may come over the horizon. for the Royal Air force, ‘Red flag’ has become a critically-important part of both training and

Eurofighter Typhoons line up at Nellis Air Force Base.

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of providing a true litmus test for its squadrons and capabilities. The complexity of the range, combined with the mock enemy (aggressors) that ply their trade here, offer a fighter pilot training experience like no other on the planet.

In February this year, the RAF made one of its regular deployments to Nellis. ‘Red Flag’ is now providing the ultimate test for the RAF’s expanding Eurofighter Typhoon Force. For the ‘14-2’ edition of this exercise the RAF debuted its latest standard of Eurofighter Typhoons.

Led by No 6 Squadron from RAF Leuchars, Tranche 2 standard aircraft plus teams from sister unit No 1(F) Squadron, played a major

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role in the exercise that ran from 27 January to 14 February.

Building on the successful ‘Red Flag’ participation last year by No XI Squadron and its Tranche 1 jets, this year the Tranche 2 jets were operating in the air-to-air role as part of their proving ground and progress towards becoming the RAF’s main ‘warfighting’ aircraft.

As the year progresses, the RAF Leuchars Wing will relocate north to their new home at RAF Lossiemouth. They will also add the Litening III targeting pod and versatile Paveway IV Precision-Guided Bomb to the capability of the Tranche 2 jets later this year, with the aim of

returning to Nellis in early 2015 for a full exercise to test all the multi-role elements of the Typhoon arsenal.

Getting eight Eurofighters and all of the infrastructure and personnel out to Nevada from Scotland takes quite some planning.

Flt Lt Si Revell is the operations officer on No 1(F) Squadron, and he was heavily involved in both the build-up and the execution of this year’s event.

“Coming here things are very different. For a start it is down to me to ensure that everything is in place, so the pilots don’t have to worry about local procedures, etc, they just get on

We have been able to explore the full capabilities of the jet.

with planning their missions,” he says. flying two waves of six jets twice a day usually takes its toll on fighter squadrons.

“We have done well with serviceability,” Revell comments. “As the exercise has gone on, serviceability has actually got better. in this, week three, of the exercise, we’ve not dropped a single sortie.”

When asked about technicians being deployed to support the eurojet eJ200 engines, Revell says that these were not deemed necessary; “the engines never break,” he enthuses.

Wg Cdr Mike Baulkwill is Officer

Commanding no 6 Squadron, also known as the ‘flying Canopeners’ in deference to the unit’s tank-busting heroics in the north African theatre in 1942. “it’s been great for us exercising the tranche 2 typhoons for the first time on ‘Red flag’. the jet has performed really well, as we’d expected. the engineers have seen that producing aircraft at a high tempo has been hard work but very rewarding, and the pilots from flt lt to Wg Cdr have all learned a lot.”

Wg Cdr Baulkwill continues: “All aspects of the aircraft; from secure radios to our link-16 have been great – and we have been able to

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The Typhoons were flying two missions a day.

explore the full capabilities of the jet. Our heA (helmet mounted information and sighting system) has made a massive difference! When you lock a target with the radar and then need to find it visually you just look out of the cockpit and there it is – the heA allows you to get your eyes on it very quickly. So you’re seeing aircraft at twice the range you would normally. this really helps with the intercept, because you can set yourself up, put yourself in a better position to complete the intercept.”

Experience

looking ahead, Wg Cdr Baulkwill was clear of the capabilities that are coming online, especially with multi-role. “All of our work here at ‘Red flag’ will translate across to p1e (multi-role).”

Most of the guys on the squadron are already multi-role combat ready, they’ve flown the tranche 1 jets and we’ve all dropped bombs. paveway iV allows us to do so much more with the weapon, and next year we will return here as a multi-role tranche 2 standard squadron, so this exercise has served us well as an important stepping stone towards that.” no 6 Squadron’s XO (exec) is Sqn ldr Sam Cowan. Cowan is an experienced fighter pilot, having spent his early RAf years patrolling the UK’s northern approaches in the tornado f3. for him, the ‘Red flag’ experience has etched some valuable lessons.

“We are becoming more practiced at working with fifth-generation platforms, ensuring we are using these and our typhoons to their strengths (the lessons will prove invaluable to the RAf as the future f-35B comes online later this decade), he says. “the vast array of information we get in the cockpit can take a

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while to process. you’re being looked at by SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles), as well as air-to-air missiles, there’s jamming and you’re always scanning the DASS (defensive aids sub-system). i hadn’t used the heA a whole lot before this exercise and the benefit for SA (situational awareness) is fantastic. “the heA also gives us other data such as our missiles that are remaining.” the operations at nellis often involved the typhoons working up at high level and at high speed and also in close in engagements, which reportedly ‘stunned’ their adversaries by using the heA to cue some ‘eye watering’ ASRAAM kills. the eJ200 engines mean that the eurofighter can routinely operate up in ‘Block 4’ – above 40,000ft. this coupled with its high speed means that it can add maximum inertia to its long-range missile – offering kills at very long distances.

An RAF pilot prepares for another sortie.

Working alongside the leading-edge technologies fielded by the US Air force and the Royal Australian Air force, and actively developing tactics and doctrines is clearly of huge benefit all round.

As new weapons and capabilities come online, the eurofighter’s impressive core performance means that carriage of even the largest stores such as the MBDA Storm Shadow CASOM (conventionally armed stand-off missile) is relatively straightforward. if the capability plan remains on track during this decade, it would mean that the eurofighter typhoon will remain a strong proposition on the world export market.

Author: Jamie Hunter is a professional aviation photojournalist, with his company Aviacom Ltd having been providing media services for the aerospace industry since 1999.

the magazine GENERAL The Bluebird K7 in action.

Donald Campbell and team prepare the Bluebird CN7 car for an attempt to gain the land speed record.

Only one man ever claimed world land and water speed crowns in the same year – it was 50 years ago in 1964.

BlueBird double D

onald Malcolm Campbell, born in 1921, was the son of Malcolm (later Sir Malcolm) Campbell, internationally famed and admired for his motor-racing successes and his daring repeated world speed record efforts in the 1920s and ‘30s in his high-performance Bluebird cars and boats.

Young Donald showed intense interest in his father’s exploits and during World War Two, unable to serve in the armed forces because of his childhood rheumatic fever, he trained as an

engineer to gain a fuller understanding of the technical pressures exerted on vehicles and engines by high-speed operation. When Sir Malcolm died in 1948, Campbell adopted his father’s mission in life – to travel faster than ever before.

On water, his first attempt in 1949 (in Bluebird K4, the boat with which his father had set the world speed record of 228.kph [141.7mph] in August 1939) proved unsuccessful. By 1950 American speed specialist Stanley Sayers had raised the record

to 257kph (160mph) and soon again to 286kph (170mph). Campbell, desperate to recapture the title, equalled that speed in 1951 only to suffer a major structural failure that wrecked K4, leaving Campbell unscathed but more driven to succeed than ever before.

Exploiting his engineering skills, Campbell began development of a highly advanced new steel-framed, aluminium-skinned boat in 1953 – Bluebird K7, a three-point hydroplane powered by a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl turbojet with a design speed of 400kph

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The Bluebird CN7 car set a land speed record at 403mph in 1964.

Courage is not being fearless.

Courage is overcoming and smashing through fear.

Donald Campbell

(250mph). With it Campbell not only recaptured the world speed record for the UK – a passionate ambition, for he was deeply patriotic – but also repeated the achievement in November 1955, when he gained fame across the United States for his series of runs on Lake Mead on the Colorada River south-east of Las Vegas, climaxing in a 347.94kph (216.2mph) finale.

Campbell went on to establish himself as the world’s most prolific speed-record holder by setting six more highs between July 1955 K7’s first at 325.6kph, (202.3mph) and December 1964, when he raced to 444.7kph (276.3mph) in Australia. It was his final world water speed record.

But Campbell’s passion for driving himself ever harder and faster didn’t let him rest there.

After his Lake Mead water-based record in 1955 his ambitions began to focus on land speed

20 rolls-royce.com

records, too. He set about creating a car fit for purpose, one that would beat the then land record of 634kph (394mph), set by Briton John Cobb eight years earlier.

As ever, Campbell took enormous pride in high-quality engineering and, working with his Bloodhound designers (brothers Ken and Lew Norris) he strove for total quality that would showcase the best of British engineering talent.

Many major UK automotive companies signed up to the project, as did one of the UK’s then two leading aero engine manufacturers – Bristol Siddeley, which modified a Proteus turboprop engine to serve as the all-wheel-drive powerplant of what was to prove the most advanced car in the world, Bluebird CN7.

Designed to clock close to 805kph (500mph), this land-based Bluebird was rolled out in 1960.

Initial low-speed trials in the UK proved

encouraging and Campbell and his entourage set off for the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, US, the venue of his father’s final land-speed triumph in 1935. High-speed trials went well until Bluebird lost stability at around 580kph (360mph), probably the result of poor surface conditions. Bluebird was wrecked yet Campbell escaped with relatively minor injuries, a tribute to the structural integrity of his vehicle. Its robust Proteus engine was undamaged.

Undaunted

The stoic Campbell oversaw the car’s rebuild and searched long and hard for a better venue for his next record bid. He fixed it for Lake Eyre in South Australia, a vast parched salt-lake where no rain had fallen for nearly a decade.

Lesser men than Campbell may have opted for a life of retirement from speed when, before he

of Perth. Technical hold-ups and persistently strong easterly winds that created large waves and fretful delays held his record-holding Bluebird K7 in check until the very last day of 1964, when it notched the 444.7kph mark (276.3mph) with just a few hours of daylight left in the year. Donald Campbell, now the double world king of speed, had at last achieved his ultimate goal.

But Campbell, a complex yet life-loving character, didn’t stop there. He gained important support from Rolls-Royce, with a more powerful engine (an Orpheus turbojet) and skilled technicians to help him past the 300mph mark on water. But this attempt came to grief on a UK lake in early 1967 when (nearing the final stages of a two-way run that would have surpassed that figure) Bluebird K7, beyond the margins of stability and in the grasp of unexplored ground-effect aerodynamics, became airborne, crashed and sank. Britain had lost a much-admired hero, a powerful patriot and a superb driver and engineer.

Never content to rest on achievement,

Campbell’s most ambitious plan of all was to build a supersonic car, flying of course the Union Jack. He announced his plans in 1965.

In reality it took another 32 years for the Rolls-Royce powered Thrust SSC car, built and run by today’s Bloodhound Project partnership of team leader Richard Noble and pilot Andy Green, to hit that extraordinary target.

Today, again with Rolls-Royce power in the shape of engineering expertise and a modern high-power Eurojet EJ200 engine from a Typhoon fighter, Noble and Green and their Bloodhound Project are heading for the uncharted 1,000mph-plus territory with confidence, commitment and professionalism, reinforced by ultra-strenuous testing and some of the most advanced engineering on the planet.

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.

Richard Noble, team leader of the Bloodhound project with a mock-up of the car.

could progress beyond low-speed trials on the lake bed, the unbelievable happened. It began to rain, hard and at length, causing total abandonment of that 1963 attempt.

Undaunted, Campbell returned to Lake Eyre in spring 1964 but so did the rains. After protracted delays, initial runs over a shortened and dampened course began to lift the team’s spirits. Bluebird CN7 could finally get into her stride in spite of still difficult course conditions.

And then, in July 1964, Campbell finally gained the accolade his father had earned so often – becoming world number one, with his new land speed record of 648.7kph (403.1mph).

Now Campbell could pursue the challenge of clinching his biggest ambition of all – to become the first to gain car and boat world titles in one year. Again Australia provided the venue, at Lake Dumbleyung, 300km south-east

the magazine ISSUE 142 21

Sea

Green

Using liquefied natural gas as a marine fuel is good business for the operator and good for the environment.

22 rolls-royce.com

the magazine MARINE

F

jord Line’s recently delivered cruise ferries MS Bergensfjord and MS Stavangerfjord are both fitted with Rolls-Royce gas-only Bergen-class engines. They are two of the most fuel-efficient and environmentally sustainable ferries in operation anywhere in the world.

Norwegians hop on and off ferries rather like Londoners use buses, or New Yorkers use the subway. In fact, Norway’s complex network of coastal ferry routes in some ways resembles a seaborne bus or rail network.

Norway is one of the world’s northern-most countries and its coastline, laid end-to-end, would stretch two-and-a-half times around the world. It runs from the Skagerrak inlet in the south to the North Sea in the south west, the Norwegian Sea in the west and the Barents Sea in the north. Dotted along its rugged coast are some 50,000 islands. away from the coast – where most of Norway’s five million people live in what were once isolated communities – the country is mountainous. average elevation is 460 metres and nearly a third of land lies above the tree line.

Today, coastal communities are connected by sea, and ferries for freight and passengers have been central to Norwegian life for decades. apart from the many jobs available in marine-related industries such as offshore energy, fishing and aquaculture, the sea is a key component of the country’s make-up.

Larger vessels – cruise ferries – also provide vital links on routes to the south. Such vessels run daily schedules and longer voyages to cities in Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

But Norway’s ferry sector is undergoing a transformation. and, a relatively small and young ferry company is playing a pioneering role.

Options

Ingvald Fardal is Fjord Line’s President and Chief executive.

The company’s two new cruise ferries, MS Bergensfjord and MS Stavangerfjord, are the world’s first such vessels to be fuelled entirely by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Mr Fardal explains why the ferry firm chose gas-powered vessels.

“We examined various options – in fact, the two ships were originally designed with conventional engines capable of undergoing conversion to LNG power at a later date,” he explains. “But when we looked into it, we found that the Rolls-Royce Bergen engines are more fuel-efficient, more flexible, more responsive and simpler than equivalent dual-fuel engines.

“However, for us, there was one deciding factor,” Mr Fardal continues. “From next January, all ships operating within the boundaries of europe’s emission Control area (eCa) will have to burn fuel with a sulphur content of less than 0.1 per cent.”

Operators of conventional ferries will either have to burn much more expensive distillate fuel or fit expensive ‘scrubbers’ in their ships’ funnels – if there is sufficient space – to clean exhaust gas before it is released into the atmosphere. The traditional operating economics of

the magazine ISSUE 142 23

conventional ferries operating in such waters will be turned upside down.

But Fjord Line’s vessels already meet the strict new fuel criteria. In fact, they exceed them. as of 1 January, they will instantly become 30-40 per cent more competitive, Mr Fardal believes. and although the cost of the Bergen engines is higher than conventional propulsion units, this will soon be offset by lower running costs. “We will have a substantial competitive advantage,” claims Mr Fardal.

Fjord Line’s two new ferries, have 306 cabins each and are capable of carrying 1,500 passengers and 600 vehicles. They operate on routes between Stavanger and Bergen in Norway and Hirtshals in northern Denmark; and between Hirtshals and Langesund on Norway’s Skagerrak. also known as ropax vessels – roll-on, roll-off ships with passenger capacity – the two ships join a growing number of ships working off Norway’s coast powered by gas. They include car and passenger ferries, merchant, fishing and offshore supply ships.

Embracing

Mr Fardal admits that embracing a new propulsion technology has been challenging at times, not least because Fjord Line is a relatively small company and certainly does not have the deep pockets of some of its competitors.

In fact, he concedes that the ferries would probably never have been built but for Norway’s clever ‘NOx Fund’, a Government scheme whereby ships sailing in Norwegian waters pay a levy based on oxides of nitrogen emissions. The money is then channelled into the development and adoption of emission-saving technologies.

LNG propulsion is just one such initiative.

Compared with marine diesel oil, oxides of nitrogen emissions in LNG are reduced by more than 90 per cent; sulphur emissions are eliminated entirely; particulate emissions are cut by close to 100 per cent; and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by about a quarter.

Mr Fardal explains that an early challenge came as the ships were being built. The hulls were constructed in Stocznia Gdansk in Poland but were subject to delays. The ships were then fitted out at Bergen Group’s Fosen Shipyard in Rissa, Norway. They were originally to be powered by conventional diesel engines capable of being converted to operate on gas at a later date.

However, while the hulls were delayed, Fardal and his team had a change of heart.

“We decided on gas-only Bergen-type engines from Rolls-Royce instead of the conventional engines we had

24 rolls-royce.com

originally chosen,” explains Mr Fardal. “With the benefit of hindsight, gas engines should probably have been our choice from the outset. apart from their outstanding emissions profile, the ships’ engines are also very efficient and we have received only positive feedback from our customers and crew.”

Mr Fardal lists some of the benefits of the new ferries which include improved fuel consumption, a more efficient combustion process and a cleaner atmosphere on board, with less noise and virtually no vibration. apart from the economic benefits, exhaust gas from the two ferries’ funnels is far less damaging to the earth’s atmosphere.

Not everything associated with a new technology falls directly into place, however. One ongoing challenge relates to the regular re-fuelling of the ships. ‘Bunkering’, as it is known in marine circles, is the process by which ship operators re-fill the fuel tanks of their vessels. For

Above Controlling operations on the bridge.

Left Ingvald Fardal, President and Chief Executive at Fjord Lines.

Right One of the vessels entering port.

Bergen engines set new standard Rolls-Royce has extensive experience in the design and construction of gas-burning engines with more than 650 units sold and over 20 million operating hours achieved. It is only recently, however, that they have been adapted for use on ships.

Today, Rolls-Royce has gas engines installed on board 22 ferries, mostly in Norway, as well as a range of other vessels including short-sea cargo ships, fishing boats and offshore supply vessels.

On board Fjord Line’s MS Bergensfjord and MS Stavangerfjord each has four Bergen BV12 gas engines, two 295 cubic metre LNG storage tanks and gas supply system, two Promas controllable pitch propulsors, two stabilisers and two tunnel thrusters. All aspects of the fuel management system are constantly monitored in a comprehensive safety system.

Rolls-Royce has a wide range of conceptual designs for vessels which could potentially operate on gas-only Bergen engines. These include cruise ships, towboats, ferries and small LNG carriers.

conventional engines, this generally means either filling up with marine diesel or heavy fuel oil from shore terminals or bunker barges.

But liquid natural gas has to be stored and pumped into special storage tanks on board the ships at minus 164°C and this requires a complex technology all of its own. and although Norway leads the way in LNG bunkering infrastructure around its coast, there are still supply issues to deal with.

For the moment, Mr Fardal explains that the two cruise ferries take on LNG from fuel trucks in Denmark during calls in Hirsthals, and from trucks at the Risavika ferry terminal in Stavanger. From September, however, he says that the re-fuelling issue will become more straightforward. a dedicated LNG pipeline in Risavika will mean that truck-toship LNG transfers will no longer be required.

Author: Paul Bartlett has spent more than three decades in international shipping. Today he runs his own shipping consultancy specialising in ship finance and technological innovation. He contributes regularly to a range of international shipping publications.

the magazine ISSUE 142 25

Protector

Dr Kang Lee is a pioneer in materials protection.

Over the past two decades he has discovered and developed a ‘game changing technology,’ Environmental Barrier Coating (EBC).

26 rolls-royce.com

the magazine PROFILE

E

BCs play an essential role in protecting another technology critical to the next generation of gas turbines, ceramic matrix composites.

Such composites are a high temperature lightweight material. They can operate at higher temperatures than Nickel based superalloys and can replace parts used in the hotter sections of an engine. This will make the engine lighter and able to run hotter reducing specific fuel consumption and emissions.

“Composites cannot survive in the harsh environment of a gas turbine without an EBC to protect them from environmental attack.”

That attack comes in the form of water vapour. Water is about ten per cent of all gaseous products produced by burning jet fuel. At high temperature a Silica scale (Silicon dioxide - SiO2) forms on the composite and acts as a protective coat. But water vapour removes the scale, more Silica is created and the cycle is repeated, eroding (volatising) the part.

As water vapour pressure increases so does the rate of this volatility. A gas turbine engine can operate at a pressure of approximately 60 atmospheres. In air the pressure of the ten per cent water vapour would be 0.1 atmospheres this rises to six atmospheres at the heart of an engine.

Dr Lee’s team are working with the University of Virginia (a Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre) to develop a model for the volatility of EBCs in water vapour. The model will help develop new compounds by predicting the impact on EBCs of time, temperature and engine condition.

Another attack comes from airborne sand or dust entering the engine and coating turbine components.

Known as CMAS* the dust typically has a melting point of about 12300 [degrees] centigrade below the temperatures at which EBCs operate. As CMAS melts it changes the chemistry of the coating detrimentally. It also blocks the pores in the EBC which make it more compliant to thermal cycling (the repeated heating and cooling of the engine environment) causing the coating to crack.

According to Dr Lee, CMAS resistance is the “next big challenge, requiring the development of a very special chemistry.”

A final task remains.

Getting the EBC to ‘stick and stay’ on the component. In order to “stick” a coating has to have very similar thermal expansion behaviour to the ceramic composites it protects.

Different materials expand at

different rates. Without similar thermal expansion behaviour the coated part will expand at a rate different from the coating again causing cracking.

With all these issues another fundamental purpose of an EBC, to provide thermal protection – lowering the component temperature – should not be forgotten. So any EBC also needs low thermal conductivity.

According to Dr Lee: “The most important requirement for any EBC is to be stable in water vapour, then to provide thermal insulation and then be durable, able to ‘stick and stay’ on the component over its lifespan.”

Considering these three requirements it is perhaps unsurprising that “amongst the pool of various oxide compounds available there are a very small number of materials which satisfy all three.”

Current EBCs are based on oxides. Dr Lee and his team search extensive materials databases to find oxides which are stable in water vapour. They then run calculations to establish the volatility of the compound looking for likely candidates. The next step is to run a test to actually measure the volatility.

“There’s a lot of chemistry involved, trading off different properties to achieve the best balance of the three requirements. No single material that we’ve looked at satisfies them all.”

The next task is making the coating: “There are as many challenges in manufacturing as in technology development.”

The answer is to place another coating, called a bond coat, over the composite. This in turn is covered with the oxide coating which has to bond with it but not react with it. Each layer has a different function. The primary function of the bond coat is to stay on the component. It is not directly exposed to water vapour so does not have to be stable in water vapour or have a low thermal conductivity. Good thermal expansion ability is required.

Coating and validating an actual component, on an industrial scale, is also challenging. Each coating requires a specific thickness, microstructure and chemistry. Maintaining these and applying them to a complex shape is extremely difficult.

Plasma spraying is typically used for turbine coatings. It is a line of sight process spraying and coating where it points. Maintaining the thickness of the coating is important and many components have elements which are none line of sight or too narrow to be reached with a spray. Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) is an alternative, but with this the composition of the coating can be different from the raw material.

A new process which gives the desired coating composition and can reach all the required points on the component is needed.

“Partnerships are key. Having developed a likely compound we use specialist suppliers to make the compound and specialist coating suppliers to make and apply it.”

There are no commercial engines flying yet with ceramic composite matrix parts, but the plan is to have engines containing such materials flying in the near future. “When I see a plane with this technology taking off,” says Dr Lee, “it will be an exciting day. I was there, two decades ago, when EBCs were born and to witness the technology taking off, literally, will be fantastic.”

CMAS resistance is the next big challenge, requiring the development of a very special chemistry.

* Calcium-MagnesiumAluminosilicate

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.

the magazine ISSUE 142 27

“I name this ship…”

28 rolls-royce.com

the magazine marine

H

MS Queen Elizabeth is the first of two 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers to be built at the Rosyth dockyard, in Fife, Scotland, due to enter service in 2017.

Rolls-Royce is providing close to £100 million worth of power and propulsion equipment to the ships, and as part of an industry alliance, has delivered virtually all the kit for both ships.

Her Majesty the Queen, the ship’s sponsor, accompanied by Prince Philip, the Lord High Admiral, named ‘her’ ship in front of assembled guests on Friday 4 July. The spectacular event combined the usual pomp and ceremony of a Royal occasion, with a demonstration of capability, in the shape of a vessel that will proudly represent British interests for at least the next 50 years.

For the many thousands of men and women involved in what is one of the UK’s biggest and most complex engineering projects, the day was all about celebration.

“A ship fit for a Queen,” was how First Sea Lord, Sir George Zambellas described the mighty vessel, as she sat proudly in Number 1 dock.

Partners

This mammoth project is being delivered

by The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), an innovative alliance between industry and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The alliance was formed to ensure that all partners take collective responsibility and ownership of the project, and deliver best value for money, and indeed the best possible ships. Alongside the MOD there are three industrial partners: Babcock, BAE Systems and Thales UK. Rolls-Royce is part of a ‘sub-alliance’, led by Thales to deliver the power and propulsion for both ships.

With the ship now afloat, the focus shifts to commissioning the many complex systems on board. For Rolls-Royce Project Manager, Tony Williams, this is one of the most exciting phases.

“We now connect our equipment to the numerous, complex systems throughout the ship. Everything was tested and certified before leaving our factories, but in some cases it will have been five years since that equipment was last energised, such is the logical order of the ship build.

“One of the most challenging tasks is the installation of the massive Rolls-Royce propellers, which each weigh 33 tonnes and measure almost seven metres in diameter. For

HMS Queen Elizabeth, these will be installed underwater by the shipyard,” as Tony explains.

“This isn’t a new procedure, as blades are regularly changed when ships are in service, but it’s quite unusual for a new build and for something this big.

“For Ship 1, now she’s floating, outfitting will continue ready for commissioning to start next year. That means construction of Ship 2 can also begin.”

The Rolls-Royce scope of supply also includes two MT30 gas turbines, each rated at 36MW. These drive large alternators which provide the electrical power for the ships. In total, the gas turbines and four diesel generators provide around 110MW of installed power – enough to power a town the size of Swindon.

For a new build Royal Navy ship, it is usual to appoint a senior naval officer to take charge long before the ship enters active service. For HMS Queen Elizabeth, this role is the responsibility of Capt Simon Pettit. He says: “Having now spent 18 months watching the

future flagship of the Royal Navy come together, I can report that HMS Queen Elizabeth is something very different; a step-change in the capability she can provide both to the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom as a whole.”

author: Craig Taylor is Head of Communications – marine for rolls-royce. He has previously worked in communications roles in the nuclear power and public transport industries.

An MT30 gas turbine and other Rolls-Royce marine equipment were on display during the event.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth has been floated out of the dry dock to begin the outfitting process.

the magazine ISSUE 142 29

An early Dart engine being prepared for test.

Turboprop To Turbofan

Two of the most significant engines in Rolls-Royce history, the Dart and RB211, began life overburdened with problems – but both soon proved their merits in the marketplace worldwide.

30 rolls-royce.com

B

y April 1945 the end was nearly nigh for World War Two, the prime driving force behind the successful development

by Rolls-Royce of jet engines that revolutionised the performance of allied warplanes. Now came the time for Rolls-Royce to focus on ways to bring the benefits of the

jet engine to the future of commercial aviation.

So on 25 April that year, in a utilitarian bare-brick-walled office in Derby, UK, designers began to define the basic shape of the RB53, a turboprop destined initially for a new Royal Air Force trainer but with clear potential for new commercial aircraft. But soon the

the magazine HISTORICAL

only reward for their efforts was a daunting series of setbacks.

The new engine, named the Dart, showed worrying signs of gross overweight at birth – a problem seriously compounded during initial test-bed runs when maximum power reached just 600 shaft horsepower (shp), woefully short of its target 1,000shp. And then the RAF decided to revert to piston power for its proposed new trainer aircraft, leaving the struggling Dart with no immediate market and Rolls-Royce with a crisis on its hands.

But rather than abandon the project the company pressed ahead with a major redesign programme, overseen by an up-and-coming senior engineer, David Huddie. Powerful support for the Dart also came from Sir George Edwards of VickersArmstrong, an ambitious UK aircraft company that wanted the Dart for its promising new Viscount airliner project.

Huddie’s emergency actionplan brought impressive technical results, culminating in an official type test at 1,400shp early in 1951.

By now the increasingly lean and fuel-efficient Dart had also gained extensive flight development experience in a series of aircraft including, in 1948, the first flight of the Viscount.

Production

The setbacks of the early Dart days seemed insignificant when, in April 1953, the Viscount 700 production version, powered by four Dart Mk 505s, took off from London bound for Cyprus, becoming the world’s first gas turbine-powered aircraft to operate a fully scheduled passenger service.

This flight marked the start of the jet revolution for commercial air travel. Passengers loved the smooth, quiet and comfortably pressurised Viscount with its panoramic windows. Airlines clamoured for places on the

proposals began to emerge for even larger aircraft, initially to meet requirements from American Airlines and Eastern Airlines for novel designs that would focus on low-cost-per-seat operations – the first wide-bodied airliners.

With its Dart a world leader in the medium turboprop market, Rolls-Royce had not been standing still. Sir David Huddie, the man behind the Dart’s remarkable recovery and now managing director of the company’s aero division, and senior engineer Geoffrey Wilde both strongly supported development of new three-shaft engine designs, realising the potential to create engines shorter and lighter than equivalent two-shaft rivals – and provide better performance retention in airline service.

Orders

Vickers production lines. With its fuel-efficient Dart the Viscount proved one of the most successful and profitable of all early post-war transport aircraft, eventually logging 445 sales to a broad range of global customers including, innovatively, key operators in North America and China.

Dart’s reputation with the Viscount also inspired success in a series of new aircraft applications, while the engine’s inbuilt suitability for ongoing development – thanks to the foresight of its 1940s design team and Huddie’s recovery programme – ensured it took on board an enduring programme of

technological enhancements right up to the mid-1980s. Eventually over 6,000 Darts were built for commercial and military operators worldwide – and many remain in service today.

Aerospace, however, never stands still and the global success of the Viscount in the 1950s quickly served to spur intense competition, particularly from US commercial airframe and engine manufacturers with their burgeoning domestic market. By the late 1950s, the UK’s post-war lead in commercial aviation had given way to new US generations of larger, faster turbojet-powered airliners. By the mid-1960s

Rolls-Royce was also convinced the three-shaft design would prove the simplest, lowest-cost solution to the problem of gaining significantly lower fuel consumption and lower noise output than two-shaft competitors.

With US airframers Lockheed and Douglas offering new three-engined wide-bodies, the L-1011 TriStar and DC-10 respectively, Rolls-Royce offered its new RB211 design to both. In 1968 Lockheed, announcing orders for 94 TriStars, placed an order for 150 sets of RB211-22 engines. Such a massive order was lauded as an unprecedented breakthrough for a UK company into the big-league US commercial aviation business.

But now Rolls-Royce faced a daunting technical and commercial challenge: to develop a large, complex and radically advanced big-fan engine within a severely tight timeframe. Early engines mirrored the setbacks of the early Dart days – insufficient thrust, too much weight and overly high fuel consumption.

And then, to deepen these

the magazine ISSUE 142 31

RB211- 524G engines powering a Boeing 747-400

woes, came failure of the RB211’s promising new lightweight carbon-fibre fan blades in crucial bird-ingestion tests. Costs of righting these wrongs rapidly spiralled upwards and by late 1970 the project had entered deep crisis.

Rolls-Royce’s insolvency followed in January 1971, with the company nationalised the following month.

From such adversity sprang opportunity for a 63-year-old mathematician who had retired from Rolls-Royce three years earlier.

Dr Stanley Hooker, a key figure in developing the supercharger that boosted the Merlin piston engine

A RB211- powered Tristar.

32 rolls-royce.com

to wartime dominance in the sky and in turning the jet engine from crude prototype into the power of the future, came out of retirement and, working with senior engineers and fellow retirees, rapidly assessed and addressed the RB211’s problems.

Progress came quickly. on 21 April 1972, England’s patron saint’s day, pride rode high as the RB211-22 formally entered airline service with Eastern Airlines. But Hooker, now restored to his pre-retirement role of Technical Director, and senior colleagues clearly saw the looming reality: to

become a true winner, the RB211 needed a bigger market than the L-1011 TriStar alone could provide.

So Hooker and his colleagues quickly defined a secondgeneration RB211 with higher thrust and better efficiency. Enter the RB211-524, the engine that pulled Rolls-Royce from the brink of extinction and began a new era of technical and commercial success.

The 50,000lb thrust -524 offered major performance and efficiency gains over the Pratt & Whitney JT9D in the Boeing 747 and in 1973 Boeing agreed to offer the UK engine on the 747-200. British Airways led the order-book and other top-division operators soon followed suit, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and South African Airways among them. Successive -524 enhancements, up to 60,600lb thrust, continue today to deliver profit-driving benefits for airlines worldwide and the engine also gained ground on Boeing 767s.

Successful land- and sea-based derivatives were developed for power generation and for the oil and gas industry.

Boeing underscored the RB211’s ability when it selected the new 535 version to launch its new 757.

Soon the 535 cemented its lead position on the 757 with a new wide-chord fan version, the 535-E4.

With world-leading performance retention, reliability and availability, the 535-E4 became the template for the next generation of Rolls-Royce three-shaft turbofans: the Trent family.

Today, with Trents clearly the engines of choice of airlines for current wide-body aircraft, Rolls-Royce leads as world number one in this ultra-competitive marketplace. The role of the RB211 in this transformation, and of the people who strove so hard and effectively to turn around its fortunes and deliver its enormous potential, is pivotal. As in the Dart before it, unstinting attention to engineering excellence ensured long-term success.

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.

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