Aircraft with Ramjets

[KHambsch]

Looking down the barrel of a Marquardt 30" diameter ramjet engine..note the "tic, tac, toe" flame holder and circular fuel pressure lines with spray jets facing forward. Can see why these first ones were so fuel inefficient. KView attachment 652128

Finally, I located an image of the Marquardt 30" diameter ramjet engine. It is almost 11 feet in length: (130.75 inches), and weights over 300lbs...I'll get that exact amount in a later post. This image gives an idea of the shear size.

Here's the snip from the Shunk Works doc. That 48"er is one unusual looking unit!!! K
***Note: The quazi teardrop shaped diffuser in the 48" ramjet engine is actually also a fuel tank. Since the wingtip fuel tanks of the P-80 were removed to mount the ramjet engines, the over all fuel capacity was significantly limited.
So much so, that it was decided to stow extra fuel in the abovementioned. The ramjet engines also required a certain amount of "warm up" time to be fully evaluated. In fact, test periods were very short in duration: a matter of a few minutes or less, for both for warming and actual testing, at various altitudes. Am attaching what the P-80 would have looked like with the 48 inch diameter units.

 

[World B4]

The Kayaba Katsuodori was one of the cuter looking Japanese WW2 never-weres

Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal Specifications and Pictures

Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal including pictures.

www.militaryfactory.com

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/kayaba-projects-and-prototypes.18980/

 

[KHambsch]

The Kayaba Katsuodori was one of the cuter looking Japanese WW2 never-weres

Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal Specifications and Pictures

Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal including pictures.

www.militaryfactory.com

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/kayaba-projects-and-prototypes.18980/

Do you have specs on the RJ engine? Thnx. K

 

[World B4]

The Kayaba Katsuodori was one of the cuter looking Japanese WW2 never-weres

Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal Specifications and Pictures

Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal including pictures.

www.militaryfactory.com

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/kayaba-projects-and-prototypes.18980/

Do you have specs on the RJ engine? Thnx. K

the first link states the engine was called the Kayaba model 1, with a projected thrust of 1,655 lbs
This link states estimated values for airspeeds up to that point http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Kayaba Katsoudori.htm
But anyway I'm an idiot, I forgot this was the postwar section.

 

[KHambsch]

The Kayaba Katsuodori was one of the cuter looking Japanese WW2 never-weres

Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal Specifications and Pictures

Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet-and-Rocket Powered Interceptor Proposal including pictures.

www.militaryfactory.com

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/kayaba-projects-and-prototypes.18980/

Do you have specs on the RJ engine? Thnx. K

the first link states the engine was called the Kayaba model 1, with a projected thrust of 1,655 lbs
This link states estimated values for airspeeds up to that point http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Kayaba Katsoudori.htm
But anyway I'm an idiot, I forgot this was the postwar section.

Thank you, very cool! Kevin

 

[KHambsch]

Hiller YH-32.

 

[World B4]

Kayaba Heliplane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[hesham]

From Interavia 1959,

the Napier vehicle.

 

[KHambsch]

From Interavia 1959,

the Napier vehicle.

Majorly cool Hesham! Thank you! Got any more on it? Kevin

 

[KHambsch]

These are purported to be 30" diameter engines...not sure about that. Have some stuff from the Smith to post, if I can locate in the archives. KevinView attachment 652123
View attachment 652125
View attachment 652124
More to come , Kevin

So the above do appear to be the 20" diameter Marquardt ramjet engine. Length per the Skunk Works document = 87.25".
Additionally, I located a pic of a number of these
in the factory, waiting for shipment. K

 

[hesham]

From Interavia 1958.

 

[KHambsch]

From Interavia 1958.

Neet drawing Hesham! .... I think a little unusual in that there is a proximal diffuser and then a second one integral to the ramjet engine itself.
Hmmm. K

 

[hesham]

From Interavia 1958.

Neet drawing Hesham! .... I think a little unusual in that there is a proximal diffuser and then a second one integral to the ramjet engine itself.
Hmmm. K

Thank you my dear KHamsch,

and please notice the Bristol's chief Engineering.

 

[KHambsch]

Thank you very much Sir Hesham!!!

 

[KHambsch]

Thank you very much Sir Hesham!!!

 

[KHambsch]

From Interavia 1959,

the Napier vehicle.

 

[Motocar]

I donot know whether this one qualifies.
In the 1980s Mr. Douglas Wheeling of Michigan/USA built a small pulsejet powered light plane (see photo).
The PJ-1 (registered N17PJ) was shown at Oshkosh 1982, but I have no confirmation it was actually flown.
(anyone knows?). Certification date 7 May 1980, year of manufacture 1982.
The PJ-1 had two Gluhareff G82-130 pulsejets.

 

[KHambsch]

I donot know whether this one qualifies.
In the 1980s Mr. Douglas Wheeling of Michigan/USA built a small pulsejet powered light plane (see photo).
The PJ-1 (registered N17PJ) was shown at Oshkosh 1982, but I have no confirmation it was actually flown.
(anyone knows?). Certification date 7 May 1980, year of manufacture 1982.
The PJ-1 had two Gluhareff G82-130 pulsejets.

Those are Gluhareff 130 "pressure fed" pulsejet engines. Unusually, they can be throttled to an extent. These 130 oval intake engines are reported to have a TSFC of 1.33. Gluhareff reported that ram pressure directed into the intake system would reduce TSFC to ~0.77 @ 293 ft/sec. The intake system of this engine is oval in shape in order to fit into the cord of the end of a helocopter blades (the main rotors).

 

[KHambsch]

Looking down the barrel of a Marquardt 30" diameter ramjet engine..note the "tic, tac, toe" flame holder and circular fuel pressure lines with spray jets facing forward. Can see why these first ones were so fuel inefficient. KView attachment 652128

Finally, I located an image of the Marquardt 30" diameter ramjet engine. It is almost 11 feet in length: (130.75 inches), and weights over 300lbs...I'll get that exact amount in a later post. This image gives an idea of the shear size.

I reviewed the document, and it states this engine weighs 330 lbs. Kevin

 

[KHambsch]

This is the same model of aircraft with the engine intakes located inside the fusalage.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

The Lockheed X-7 and follow-on AQM-60 Kingfisher drones are another ramjet aircraft. These were used to test 1950's - 60's US air defense systems, particularly SAMs. They proved so successful at evading intercept that the results were covered up and the tests stopped. The X-7 proved too fast for extant fire control systems to handle.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

The penultimate drone with a ramjet is probably the D-21. While it only saw limited use, it was uninterceptable at the time.

 

[iverson]

The penultimate drone with a ramjet is probably the D-21. While it only saw limited use, it was uninterceptable at the time.

D-21s were designed for launch from the back of the CIA's Lockheed M-12 (A-12). But that proved unacceptably dangerous. Two of them collided with the carrier aircraft. So Lockheed adapted the drone for launch from a B-52H, in the manner of the X-15. But this required a large, custom-designed, solid-fuel booster that was both expensive and none too reliable. They either fell off on the ramp or failed to separate from the drone after burn-out.

After a lot of development effort expended on these issues, the D-21 flew only four operational missions, none of them successful. One crashed in the USSR due to problems with the navigational equipment. Two flew full missions over China, but the film packages were damaged and lost during recovery. The fourth drone was shot down inside China.

I suspect that the cost/benefit ratio was looking pretty unpromising at this point. With satellites able to do the job legally, I suspect that the dangers and uncertainties of illegal overflight operations were no longer acceptable. The drones were sent to the boneyard.

 

[KHambsch]

The penultimate drone with a ramjet is probably the D-21. While it only saw limited use, it was uninterceptable at the time.

D-21s were designed for launch from the back of the CIA's Lockheed M-12 (A-12). But that proved unacceptably dangerous. Two of them collided with the carrier aircraft. So Lockheed adapted the drone for launch from a B-52H, in the manner of the X-15. But this required a large, custom-designed, solid-fuel booster that was both expensive and none too reliable. They either fell off on the ramp or failed to separate from the drone after burn-out.

After a lot of development effort expended on these issues, the D-21 flew only four operational missions, none of them successful. One crashed in the USSR due to problems with the navigational equipment. Two flew full missions over China, but the film packages were damaged and lost during recovery. The fourth drone was shot down inside China.

I suspect that the cost/benefit ratio was looking pretty unpromising at this point. With satellites able to do the job legally, I suspect that the dangers and uncertainties of illegal overflight operations were no longer acceptable. The drones were sent to the boneyard.

Don't know where I read it, but, if memory serves, I think the very first A-7 was "sustained" by that original Marquardt 130.75 L x 30" D ramjet engine...the test failed. Afterward I think the same ramjet nacelle was modified to accommodate the ram diffuser "spike".
Thank you T A Gardner for mentioning that!

 

[Dick]

Based on other images of the SERJ (reported in allot of literature as being compact), I can only guess this is some sort of prototype, or ? if.... SERJ at all. Damned if I know...checking out all that plumbing... yikes! K

If you look at the documents on nasa.gov of the SERJ engine, the engine is very stout and can't possibly have that shock cone in the front because the tip turbine fan folded upwards. It's possible this is an ERJ (ejector ramjet) but the ejector must be really small

**************SCRATCH THAT. I found a diagram (below, top) in a Preliminary Performance Report on the SERJ engine. If you look at the far left of the black and white photo, you see the engine is much fatter. The first section on the left Is much wider than the rest. The second section connects it to the right side of the engine. Starting from the third section towards the right of the photo, the diameter changes very little. Those pipes in the middle are for the "ejectors," remember, ejectors are actually rockets. Very small ones. That piping must also have the fuel for the "gas generator" and probably all the lub, hydraulics, etc. In the diagram below they use a shock cone. And that cone is far in front of the SERJ frontal face. So it makes sense all that piping includes the gas generator and all other needs.

I think this photo is the entire engine Marquardt use in their statis tests. Minus the gas generator. This would have been an installed configuration. Marquardt did design the intakes for the SR-71 and that cone was removed with the engine. Makes sense they would have recycled something they already had experience with. Without anything in the background for size, we can't tell how large or small this thing would have been. See picture below.

 

[Tonton-42]

Here's a P-51D fitted with ramjet engines; no info. -SP

They’re more like pulsoreactors, aren’t they ? (ramjet is in color)

 

[Tonton-42]

This is the Leduc 010

I'm surprised no one's mentioned these earlier, both aircraft on display at the Musee de l'Air at Le Bourget.

Aside from the Se.161 Languedoc image posted, the Leduc 010 was also launched from the two Heinkel He 274 prototypes co-opted by the French following the end of the war as the AAS 01A and B.

The Leduc 022 was a mixed power interceptor with a conventional jet engine inside the ramjet to get it airborne. It never reached its design speed. The surviving example was never flown.

Leduc 022 in flight. The aircraft reached Mach 0.95 without difficulty but was unable to become supersonic. The combustion system was found to be unsuitable for transsonic flight and high altitudes, stator control was ineffective, and much higher than expected drag existed.

 

[sferrin]

Propulsion system for XF-103. Ramjet (removed in this picture) sits above the turbojet.

 

[KHambsch]

If you look at the documents on nasa.gov of the SERJ engine, the engine is very stout and can't possibly have that shock cone in the front because the tip turbine fan folded upwards. It's possible this is an ERJ (ejector ramjet) but the ejector must be really small

**************SCRATCH THAT. I found a diagram (below, top) in a Preliminary Performance Report on the SERJ engine. If you look at the far left of the black and white photo, you see the engine is much fatter. The first section on the left Is much wider than the rest. The second section connects it to the right side of the engine. Starting from the third section towards the right of the photo, the diameter changes very little. Those pipes in the middle are for the "ejectors," remember, ejectors are actually rockets. Very small ones. That piping must also have the fuel for the "gas generator" and probably all the lub, hydraulics, etc. In the diagram below they use a shock cone. And that cone is far in front of the SERJ frontal face. So it makes sense all that piping includes the gas generator and all other needs.

I think this photo is the entire engine Marquardt use in their statis tests. Minus the gas generator. This would have been an installed configuration. Marquardt did design the intakes for the SR-71 and that cone was removed with the engine. Makes sense they would have recycled something they already had experience with. Without anything in the background for size, we can't tell how large or small this thing would have been. See picture below.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Marquardt's RJ 43 ramjet used on the Lockheed X-7, D-21, and BOMARC had a lot of development issues and rarely ran well for any length of time. I'm not sure that the problems with it were ever fully resolved either.

On the other hand, I will say, that the X-7 when it did run could not be intercepted by then current US SAM systems. Put up against Nike Ajax and Hercules, it was able to evade interception by both. BOMARC proved no better at stopping it. This was such an embarrassment to the Army and Air Force, that the X-7 and follow-on AQM 60 Kingfisher programs were quietly dropped to simply ignore the problem as if it hadn't happened.