Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent

1940s British turboprop aircraft engine

RB.50 Trent
A Rolls-Royce Trent turboprop on display at the Science Museum (London)
Type Turboprop
Manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited
First run June 1944
Major applications Gloster Meteor(Trent Meteor version)
Developed from Rolls-Royce Derwent
Developed into Rolls-Royce Clyde

The Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent was the first Rolls-Royce turboprop engine.[1]

Design and development

The Trent was based on an invention by Sir Frank Whittle. It was a Derwent Mark II turbojet engine with a cropped impeller (turbine unchanged)[2] and a reduction gearbox (designed by A A Rubbra) connected to a five-bladed Rotol propeller. The Trent ran for 633 hours on test before being installed in a Gloster Meteor jet fighter which flew for the first time on 20 September 1945 at the start of a 298-hour flight test programme.[3]

Applications

  • Gloster Meteor

Engines on display

A preserved Rolls-Royce Trent turboprop engine is on display at the London Science Museum.

A preserved RB50 Trent is displayed at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust in Derby.

Specifications

The sole Trent Meteor EE227

General characteristics

  • Type: Turboprop
  • Length:
  • Diameter:
  • Dry weight: 1,000 lb turbine unit, reduction gear 250lb, propeller 250 lb, total engine/propeller weight 1,500 lb[4]

Components

  • Compressor: 1-stage double-sided centrifugal compressor
  • Combustors: 10 x can combustion chambers
  • Turbine: Single-stage axial
  • Fuel type: Kerosene
  • Oil system: pressure feed, dry sump with scavenge, cooling and filtration

Performance

  • Maximum power output: 750 shp, with 1,250 lb (570 kg) residual thrust

See also

Related development

Comparable engines

Related lists

References

Notes

  1. ^ Gunston 1989, p.147.
  2. ^ "Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989, ISBN 1-85260-037-3, p.119
  3. ^ Pugh, Peter (2001). The Magic of a Name, Part Two. Icon Books. ISBN 1-84046-284-1.
  4. ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%200240.html [dead link]

Bibliography

  • Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent.
  • "The First Propeller Turbine Engine to Fly" a 1946 Rolls-Royce advertisement in Flight
  • "Know-How From the Trent" a 1947 Flight article
  • Trent Meteor "In the Air" - a 1948 Flight article on flying the Trent Meteor
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See also Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent and Rolls-Royce RB.203 Trent
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