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Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating 41,030 to 59,450 lbf (182.5 to 264.4 kN) of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production three-spool engine.
Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, it entered service in 1972 and was the exclusive engine to power the L-1011. Mismanagement of the initial development and consequent cost issues led to the company assets being transferred to a new government-owned company, Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd., to save the workforce and the engine businesses important to the UK and many other aerospace and aircraft operating companies.
In the early 1970s, the engine was reckoned by the company to be capable of at least 50 years of continuous development. The RB.211 was renamed, in 1989, to become the basis of the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines when the RB211-524L was renamed to the Trent.
In 1966, American Airlines announced a requirement for a new short-medium range airliner with a focus on low-cost per-seat operations. While it was looking for a twin-engined plane, aircraft manufacturers needed more than one customer to justify developing a new airliner. Eastern Airlines had expressed interest, but required greater range and needed to operate long routes over water. At the time, this demanded three engines to provide redundancy. Other airlines also favored three engines. Lockheed and Douglas responded with designs, the L-1011 TriStar and DC-10 respectively. Both had three engines, transcontinental range and seated around 300 passengers in a widebody layout with two aisles.
The wide-body McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 was representative of the innovative aircraft and aero-engine technologies which were then being adopted by US and European airframe manufacturers to provide airlines with aircraft of very large carrying capacity and short/medium to long range. These very large capacity aircraft were needed to address the significant increases in passenger numbers and air traffic which were then being forecast by the industry. In Europe, large capacity airliner concept studies had been carried out by both private and government organisations since the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many of the studies conducted by the aviation companies were weighted towards a 200 to 300 seat aircraft, with a high cycle performance that was based on the usage of the game-changing new technology of the high by-pass ratio aero-engine.
Between 1964 and 1967, Hawker Siddeley's examination of British European Airways (BEA)'s requirements produced the 160-seat HS.132 and the 185-seat HS.134; both offered the prospect of a 25–30% reduction in seat mile costs over aircraft then in service. Both of the designs would have used two new-technology Rolls-Royce RB.178 aero-engines of 30,000 lbf (130 kN) to provide superior operating performance over the first generation three-engine jets.
According to Cownie, Gunston, Hayward and the UK Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), the roots of the advanced RB.178 go back to 1961 when Rolls-Royce officially initiated work on a high by-pass ratio aero-engine as a replacement for the Conway. The company went ahead with the project and under the leadership of Adrian Lombard built the twin-spool demonstrator. Overall development costs of the RB.178 was £2.6 million. As a comparison, the GE and P&W companies were awarded nearly $20 million by the US Department of Defense to develop and build the TF39 and STF200 technology demonstrators.
The RB.178 was built on the reliable and economic advantages inherent in the Conway and, given that engine's heritage, the new engine's performance looked certain. The RB.178 (designated the 16 series) appears to have been the engine proposed for the Vickers Superb DB.265 (VC10), with four engines powering the high capacity transatlantic airliner.
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Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating 41,030 to 59,450 lbf (182.5 to 264.4 kN) of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production three-spool engine.
Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, it entered service in 1972 and was the exclusive engine to power the L-1011. Mismanagement of the initial development and consequent cost issues led to the company assets being transferred to a new government-owned company, Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd., to save the workforce and the engine businesses important to the UK and many other aerospace and aircraft operating companies.
In the early 1970s, the engine was reckoned by the company to be capable of at least 50 years of continuous development. The RB.211 was renamed, in 1989, to become the basis of the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines when the RB211-524L was renamed to the Trent.
In 1966, American Airlines announced a requirement for a new short-medium range airliner with a focus on low-cost per-seat operations. While it was looking for a twin-engined plane, aircraft manufacturers needed more than one customer to justify developing a new airliner. Eastern Airlines had expressed interest, but required greater range and needed to operate long routes over water. At the time, this demanded three engines to provide redundancy. Other airlines also favored three engines. Lockheed and Douglas responded with designs, the L-1011 TriStar and DC-10 respectively. Both had three engines, transcontinental range and seated around 300 passengers in a widebody layout with two aisles.
The wide-body McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 was representative of the innovative aircraft and aero-engine technologies which were then being adopted by US and European airframe manufacturers to provide airlines with aircraft of very large carrying capacity and short/medium to long range. These very large capacity aircraft were needed to address the significant increases in passenger numbers and air traffic which were then being forecast by the industry. In Europe, large capacity airliner concept studies had been carried out by both private and government organisations since the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many of the studies conducted by the aviation companies were weighted towards a 200 to 300 seat aircraft, with a high cycle performance that was based on the usage of the game-changing new technology of the high by-pass ratio aero-engine.
Between 1964 and 1967, Hawker Siddeley's examination of British European Airways (BEA)'s requirements produced the 160-seat HS.132 and the 185-seat HS.134; both offered the prospect of a 25–30% reduction in seat mile costs over aircraft then in service. Both of the designs would have used two new-technology Rolls-Royce RB.178 aero-engines of 30,000 lbf (130 kN) to provide superior operating performance over the first generation three-engine jets.
According to Cownie, Gunston, Hayward and the UK Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), the roots of the advanced RB.178 go back to 1961 when Rolls-Royce officially initiated work on a high by-pass ratio aero-engine as a replacement for the Conway. The company went ahead with the project and under the leadership of Adrian Lombard built the twin-spool demonstrator. Overall development costs of the RB.178 was £2.6 million. As a comparison, the GE and P&W companies were awarded nearly $20 million by the US Department of Defense to develop and build the TF39 and STF200 technology demonstrators.
The RB.178 was built on the reliable and economic advantages inherent in the Conway and, given that engine's heritage, the new engine's performance looked certain. The RB.178 (designated the 16 series) appears to have been the engine proposed for the Vickers Superb DB.265 (VC10), with four engines powering the high capacity transatlantic airliner.