Five Engine Bombers ...

[Mark Allen M]

Also a 24-C COMPRESSOR ENGINE INSTALLED ON A B-24

[martin_sam_2000]

Here is a 3-engine bomber, but it counts as a "one extra" test bed.

Of course there was also Canada's 5-engine B-47.



August

I think you mean 7-engine B-47!

I was going to post this myself but you beat me to it.

and while it is still only 4 engines, I love the look of this test bed, and RCAF Mk-10 testing the Avro Canada Chinook, Canada's first jet engine.



Sean

[rcaf_100]

and while it is still only 4 engines, I love the look of this test bed, and RCAF Mk-10 testing the Avro Canada Chinook, Canada's first jet engine.



Sean

The Lancaster in the photo is FM209, which was designated the Lancaster 10O, and was used for testing the Orenda. It was destroyed in a hangar fire at Malton in 1956.
FM205 was supposed to be used for testing the Chinook (designated Lancaster 10C) but it never flew with Chinooks installed.

[Duggy009]

Postwar in Sweden, jet engines began to be developed. The leading manufacturer was STAL (Swedish Turbine AB Ljungström), which began to test its first engine - named ”Skuten” after a Swedish lake - in the middle of the forties. Skuten was fitted with an axial compressor and had a thrust of 1.500 kp. The next project was the ”Dovern”, which in the variant ”Dovern II” got the Air Force designation RM 4 (RM = Reaktionsmotor). This engine had a thrust of 3.300 kp and was intended for the SAAB 32 Lansen. The last Swedish design was the ”Glan” of 7.000 kp, developed together with Svenska Flygmotor AB (SFA), which still under the name Volvo Aero builds the engines for the Swedish combat aircraft under license. None of the Swedish developed jet engines came into production. In November 1952, the programme for the development of Swedish jet engines was cancelled for good. Instead, license-built British (and later American) engines were chosen for the SAAB fighters.

To test the Dovern engine, a Lancaster Mk I was acquired from Britain (ex RAF RA805) in 1950. The aircraft was modified by Avro at Hamble in the UK. A large pod was fitted under the fuselage to contain the jet engine. The underside of the fuselage was covered with stainless steel plating to resist the heat from the exhaust. For the same reason, the tailwheel was made retractable. A large control panel was installed in the W/O space.

The Lancaster got the designation Tp 80 and the SwAF/n 80001. In May 1951, the aircraft was delivered to Sweden. It was based at FC (Försökscentralen = the Test Establishment) at Malmen near Linköping. The first test with the RM 4 Dovern was executed in June 1951.

After the Dovern programme was cancelled, the Tp 80 was used for the development of afterburners for the licence-built British engines. The Lancaster was (naturally!) also used as a target aircraft.

Unfortunately, the Tp 80 crashed in 1956. Two of the crew managed to bale out, but the other two were killed.

[Chuck Giese]

Interesting to see the B17 that had the Typhoon turbo prop also had electric props on the Wright Cyclones.

I don't think you could get the Hamilton Std props to unfeather at altitude unless you had a way to heat the oil first. Oil doesn't flow too well at -20

[Mark Sampson]

Just makes me wonder how much faster they flew those test beds... a lot of extra power beyond standard to be sure. And they were testing after all. A B-17 or a Lancaster above 350mph?

[menards]

Just makes me wonder how much faster they flew those test beds... a lot of extra power beyond standard to be sure. And they were testing after all. A B-17 or a Lancaster above 350mph?

Still limited by the Vne...which does not change.

[Invader26]

They were testing engines not airframes....