XJ37 Turbojet Concept
 

While this is based on a conceptual military engine and a conceptual military aircraft, the question is more in the realm of engineering and would probably be best answered by people familiar with flight tests.

Back in 1938 a man by the name of Nathan C. Price began work on a gas-turbine engine (he had previously done work on steam-turbines), which eventually found itself being developed under the designation of L-1000, for Lockheed's jet-powered L-133 design.

The design was exceedingly complex (with the ambition of providing SFC figures as close to a piston engine as possible) and from 1938 to 1942 incorporated

• An axial-flow compressor
• A reciprocating compressor downstream of the axial
• An axial turbine

From 1942 to 1943, the design evolved incorporating the following

• A multi-stage axial flow LP compressor
• A three stage HP centrifugal flow compressor
• Inter-cooling between each HP stage
• A five stage turbine
• A variable speed hydraulic clutch to fine-tune the RPM of the LP compressor
• Means to spray fuel aft of the turbine in an afterburner like application for thrust augmentation

From 1943 to 1946, the design reached it's final turbojet configuration and by this point was called the XJ37 and was subcontracted out to Menasco

• A 16-stage LP compressor
• A 16-sgate HP compressor
• An inter-cooling stage between the two compressor spools
• A four-stage turbine (two per shaft)
• A variable-speed hydraulic-clutch to the first 4 LP compressor stages
• A hollow-turbine with passages for either air-cooling or liquid cooling
• An afterburner like device to augment thrust

From 1946 to 1951, the design had proceeded to be developed into a turboprop called the XT35 Typhoon which was eventually cancelled.

The questions I have largely has to do with the following questions of which any could use educated speculation.

• 1.) Did the knowledge exist to produce hollow turbine blades with air-cooling in those days?
• 2.) Had the design avoided the excessive complexity of hydraulic-couplings and inter-cooling, could they have produced an axial-flow engine with performance similar to the J34 or J35?
• 3.) Could a twin-spool turbojet akin to a mini J57 have been produced with the turbine technology of the time (even if the service life was short)?
• 4.) Could inter-cooling have successfully be implemented on a twin-spool turbojet, between the HP and LP stages? If it could, would the radiator needed to deal with the inter-cooling have produced excessive drag?