RB211 "early problems"
Sorry - the machine had a bit of a wobbly, so I forgot the Post No. (short term memory on the blink).
Ref early RB211 problems: I think RR's chief was referring to the company's rush to carbon fibre fan blades which caused vast embarrassment when sandy environments (which don't exist in Derby or Barnoldswick) caused unexpected erosion. While Lockheed had been urging a titanium back-up, inventing the sophisticated vacuum forging/diffusion bonding process to get weight down took lots of time ... as did the company's subsequent bankruptcy and nationalisation.
I don't think the 3-shaft layout was the cause - apart from needing a light-weight fan to keep the overall weight down.
Years later, GE, for the "90", did the CFRP thing right, if course ...
Last edited by Jig Peter; 17th Feb 2011 at 15:33.
Reason: Wrong addressee first time