Skylon and the Sabre Engine
Discussion
I think we sold them the engines (Nene) for a considerable sum (ie not given away), and they reverse engineered them. Then a slightly modded copy of the Nene was used in Korea in the MiG 15 successfully against the Americans.
Ironically, in Korea the Americans were also using Nene engines (license built by Pratt and Whitney) in the F9F Panther, which was inferior to MiG 15 as a fighter mainly due to aerodynamics rather than the engine.
Either way, a bit of a faux pas, but I don't think we actually gave the engines away.
Ironically, in Korea the Americans were also using Nene engines (license built by Pratt and Whitney) in the F9F Panther, which was inferior to MiG 15 as a fighter mainly due to aerodynamics rather than the engine.
Either way, a bit of a faux pas, but I don't think we actually gave the engines away.
Simpo Two said:
dr_gn said:
Ironically, in Korea the Americans were also using Nene engines (license built by Pratt and Whitney) in the F9F Panther...
The main adversary of the Mig-15 was the Sabre - which brings us neatly back to the thread 
The points made about existing airframes are very true.
I guess the point the guys were trying to make was that aircraft using these engines could operate out of existing infrastructure - airports etc.
You'd have the option then of using flying out of a normal airport, then turning the dial up to 11 once over the sea.
Or
Of using much smaller engines on conventional craft to replace existing gas turbines. You could think of lots of reasons for using smaller lighter engines, perhaps even in conjunction with all electric drive.
ETA Actually I don't know if the sabre engines put out their huge power at low speeds - cos it's the low speeds that are required for normal commercial airframes.
I guess the point the guys were trying to make was that aircraft using these engines could operate out of existing infrastructure - airports etc.
You'd have the option then of using flying out of a normal airport, then turning the dial up to 11 once over the sea.
Or
Of using much smaller engines on conventional craft to replace existing gas turbines. You could think of lots of reasons for using smaller lighter engines, perhaps even in conjunction with all electric drive.
ETA Actually I don't know if the sabre engines put out their huge power at low speeds - cos it's the low speeds that are required for normal commercial airframes.
The thing is, NO current airframes could withstand the high heat loads put into them by the speeds that Skylon is capable of - without adding some sort of thermal protection system as used in the Space Shuttle.
Of course, things have moved on a bit since the Shutle was designed in the 1970s but bolting a set of Sabres onto (say) an Airbus A320 would result in a serious melted/charred/fried A320.
Of course, things have moved on a bit since the Shutle was designed in the 1970s but bolting a set of Sabres onto (say) an Airbus A320 would result in a serious melted/charred/fried A320.
Eric Mc said:
The thing is, NO current airframes could withstand the high heat loads put into them by the speeds that Skylon is capable of - without adding some sort of thermal protection system as used in the Space Shuttle.
Of course, things have moved on a bit since the Shutle was designed in the 1970s but bolting a set of Sabres onto (say) an Airbus A320 would result in a serious melted/charred/fried A320.
No it wouldn't. There wouldn't be an Airbus A320 to heat up, as it would break apart before the temperatures got too high Of course, things have moved on a bit since the Shutle was designed in the 1970s but bolting a set of Sabres onto (say) an Airbus A320 would result in a serious melted/charred/fried A320.
"The engine is called Sabre, which stands for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, and was built by British firm Reaction Engines."
"The Sabre engine has taken part in 100 successful test runs and its design was recently validated by the European Space Agency to validate the design."
So, from that it reads like it's already been built, tested (and then design validated last) then?
What an utterly crap article.
dr_gn said:
"The engine is called Sabre, which stands for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, and was built by British firm Reaction Engines."
"The Sabre engine has taken part in 100 successful test runs and its design was recently validated by the European Space Agency to validate the design."
So, from that it reads like it's already been built, tested (and then design validated last) then?
What an utterly crap article.
It's doomed from the start, since the acronym won't work for the Americans and they therefore won't understand it."The Sabre engine has taken part in 100 successful test runs and its design was recently validated by the European Space Agency to validate the design."
So, from that it reads like it's already been built, tested (and then design validated last) then?
What an utterly crap article.
dr_gn said:
"The engine is called Sabre, which stands for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, and was built by British firm Reaction Engines."
"The Sabre engine has taken part in 100 successful test runs and its design was recently validated by the European Space Agency to validate the design."
So, from that it reads like it's already been built, tested (and then design validated last) then?
What an utterly crap article.
I think the special bit is the air coolers, which have been ground tested but I presume they weren't able to get anywhere near flight conditions. The original idea was to liquefy the air but that froze the coolers so they cool it a bit less. The actual drive engine itself is pretty much existing tech I believe, just with a clever exhaust bell to change the profile for low/high altitude - they use a moving shock cone in the bell chamber (an Expansion Deflection Nozzle apparently)"The Sabre engine has taken part in 100 successful test runs and its design was recently validated by the European Space Agency to validate the design."
So, from that it reads like it's already been built, tested (and then design validated last) then?
What an utterly crap article.
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