General Electric J47

J47
Preserved General Electric J47
Type Turbojet
Manufacturer General Electric
First run 21 June 1947
Major applications B-47 Stratojet
Convair B-36
F-86 Sabre
Number built 36,500
Developed from General Electric J35
Developed into General Electric J73

The General Electric J47 turbojet (GE company designation TG-190) was developed by General Electric from the earlier J35 engine, and first flew in May 1948. The J47 was the first axial-flow turbojet approved for commercial use in the United States. It was used in many types of aircraft and more than 30,000 were manufactured before production ceased in 1956. It saw continued service in the US military until 1978.

Contents

Design and development

Overhaul life for the J47 ranged from 15 hours (in 1948) to a theoretical 1,200 hours (625 achievable in practice) in 1956. For example, the J47-GE-23 was rated to run 225 hours between overhauls. As installed on the F-86F, it experienced one in-flight shutdown every 33,000 hours in 1955 and 1956.[1]

Variants

Applications

Non-flying vehicles that used the engine include:

Specifications (J47-GE-23)

General characteristics

Components

Performance

Specifications (J47-GE-33)

General characteristics

Components

Performance

Nuclear-powered version – The X39

In the 1950s, interest in the development of nuclear-powered aircraft led GE to experiment with two nuclear-powered gas turbine designs, one based on the J47, and another new and much larger engine called the X211.

The design based on the J47 became the X39 program. This system consisted of two modified J47 engines which, instead of combusting jet fuel, received their heated, compressed air from a heat exchanger that was part of the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment (HTRE) reactor. The X-39 was successfully operated in conjunction with three different reactors, the HTRE-1, HTRE-2 and HTRE-3.[2] Had the program not been cancelled, these engines would have been used to power the proposed Convair X-6.

See also

Related development

Related lists

References

  1. ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200590.html
  2. ^ Thornton, G; Blumbeg, B. (January, 1961). "Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments Fulfill Test Goals" (in en). Nucleonics (McGraw-Hill) 19 (1). ISSN 0096-6207. 

External links