Skylon
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Sussex UK
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Smudge ...
Our BEagle has a bit of a thing for surplus RAF Firemen's vests
Crap on my BBQ indeed ...
Coff.
Our BEagle has a bit of a thing for surplus RAF Firemen's vests
Crap on my BBQ indeed ...
Coff.
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 18th Jul 2013 at 20:28.
Thread Starter
Aahhh Coff,
What I must have missed whilst the likes of Beagle loitered waiting for a mission on tanker force. BTW, is that how he insisted his loadie dressed ? And thanks for showing me why I'm stuck at Gerry Anderson and not Paul Raymond. Once again I find myself indebted to my "seniors" and "betters" for enlightening my knowledge, and, providing further research material.
Smudge
A little aside,
An Albert Captain and myself once shared a quiet moment, down the back, having a ciggy, after landing at HKG. We got to discussing the loss of the rudder system in flight. Captain says, no probs for me, "I would just use differential engines to control the yaw and land the bugger". How would you fix it ? He asked. "Well, as we are sitting in HKG I would suggest you get used to your hotel room", a rudder booster pack change would require the bits and a couple of lads from Lyneham. 3-4 days minimum. How easy it would have been had Skylon from BZN been available for spares and blokes in around 5 hours. And what a treat for the lads from the line.
What I must have missed whilst the likes of Beagle loitered waiting for a mission on tanker force. BTW, is that how he insisted his loadie dressed ? And thanks for showing me why I'm stuck at Gerry Anderson and not Paul Raymond. Once again I find myself indebted to my "seniors" and "betters" for enlightening my knowledge, and, providing further research material.
Smudge
A little aside,
An Albert Captain and myself once shared a quiet moment, down the back, having a ciggy, after landing at HKG. We got to discussing the loss of the rudder system in flight. Captain says, no probs for me, "I would just use differential engines to control the yaw and land the bugger". How would you fix it ? He asked. "Well, as we are sitting in HKG I would suggest you get used to your hotel room", a rudder booster pack change would require the bits and a couple of lads from Lyneham. 3-4 days minimum. How easy it would have been had Skylon from BZN been available for spares and blokes in around 5 hours. And what a treat for the lads from the line.
Last edited by smujsmith; 18th Jul 2013 at 21:09.
SKYLON
Going back to the original use of the word for a feature of the 1951 Festival of Britain I attach a couple of photos of postcards from my album.
It was 62-years ago on this day (18th July 1951) that I visited the South Bank and marvelled at the apparent impossibility as to why the Skylon stood as it did.
As I commented in my diary at the time I was on my way to 5FTS (RAF Thornhill), Southern Rhodesia (Draft 2128) via Southampton.
The draft departed RAF Hednesford in Staffordshire early in the morning of 18th July for London by train via Rugeley. Later at Waterloo and with hours to spare before we caught the Southampton train most of the Draft visited the Festival of Britain on the South Bank adjacent to Waterloo station.
Going back to the original use of the word for a feature of the 1951 Festival of Britain I attach a couple of photos of postcards from my album.
It was 62-years ago on this day (18th July 1951) that I visited the South Bank and marvelled at the apparent impossibility as to why the Skylon stood as it did.
As I commented in my diary at the time I was on my way to 5FTS (RAF Thornhill), Southern Rhodesia (Draft 2128) via Southampton.
The draft departed RAF Hednesford in Staffordshire early in the morning of 18th July for London by train via Rugeley. Later at Waterloo and with hours to spare before we caught the Southampton train most of the Draft visited the Festival of Britain on the South Bank adjacent to Waterloo station.
In the old ULAS bar, there used to be a plaque which included a piece from the original Skylon, plus a photo showing a ULAS scarf flying from the top of the Skylon. I gather that a ULAS student had scaled the structure and tied a scarf to the top..... The plaque was a memento.
That string vest looks rather better on the delectable Georgina Moon than presumably it ever did on any fireman....
That string vest looks rather better on the delectable Georgina Moon than presumably it ever did on any fireman....
Possibly of interest.
ESA is looking into the payload delivery systems and other factors that might make Skylon useful to it.
Skylon to be studied as potential ESA launch vehicle
A video of operations which shows, amongst other things, how it gets payloads into geostationary orbit from low earth
[VIMEO]42682980[/VIMEO]
If the tags don't work then here's the link:
SKYLON - Operations on Vimeo
Skylon to be studied as potential ESA launch vehicle
A video of operations which shows, amongst other things, how it gets payloads into geostationary orbit from low earth
[VIMEO]42682980[/VIMEO]
If the tags don't work then here's the link:
SKYLON - Operations on Vimeo
First sabre development milestone reached
Reaction Engines Ltd - News: Press Releases
Monday 26th January 2015
FIRST SABRE DEVELOPMENT MILESTONE REACHED
Reaction Engines Ltd announces company growth and completion of first SABRE development milestone
This year, the Reaction Engines team are expanding in staff and activities to complete the SABRE demonstrator programme, with delivery on track for 2019. The company has relocated to larger premises on Culham Science Centre; consolidated its two manufacturing subsidiaries to a single new location in Didcot; and is recruiting across the company, ready for the design, manufacture and testing of the full SABRE engine cycle. This growth phase has also included the purchase of new, bespoke equipment which will enable Reaction Engines to manufacture its proprietary SABRE pre-coolers in-house, at full scale.
The key development activities over the first year of this programme have centred on intakes and combustion systems. This activity includes the recently completed Preliminary Requirements Review development milestone, and has been 50% funded by Reaction Engines’ private capital. Matching funding has been provided by the UK Space Agency, through the European Space Agency. With the UK Government’s commitment of £60m and private capital secured towards the next steps in this development phase, the Reaction Engines team are positive that a full static demonstration of the SABRE engine is achievable before the end of the decade, marking the greatest advance in propulsion since the jet engine.
Alan Bond, Managing Director and Chief Engineer at Reaction Engines Ltd, commented:
“The technology we’ve proven, and our ability to integrate it with both rockets and gas turbines to create SABRE is not just a means to a better rocket. This is the beginning of a new generation of propulsion, enabling faster, more efficient transportation both on Earth and in Space. We’re already seeing humanity gaining huge benefits from space-enabled services, and I believe that our connection with space will grow considerably in the near future; Reaction Engines are breaking down the biggest barrier, which is getting into orbit in the first place. We’re opening the gateway to the solar system."
FIRST SABRE DEVELOPMENT MILESTONE REACHED
Reaction Engines Ltd announces company growth and completion of first SABRE development milestone
This year, the Reaction Engines team are expanding in staff and activities to complete the SABRE demonstrator programme, with delivery on track for 2019. The company has relocated to larger premises on Culham Science Centre; consolidated its two manufacturing subsidiaries to a single new location in Didcot; and is recruiting across the company, ready for the design, manufacture and testing of the full SABRE engine cycle. This growth phase has also included the purchase of new, bespoke equipment which will enable Reaction Engines to manufacture its proprietary SABRE pre-coolers in-house, at full scale.
The key development activities over the first year of this programme have centred on intakes and combustion systems. This activity includes the recently completed Preliminary Requirements Review development milestone, and has been 50% funded by Reaction Engines’ private capital. Matching funding has been provided by the UK Space Agency, through the European Space Agency. With the UK Government’s commitment of £60m and private capital secured towards the next steps in this development phase, the Reaction Engines team are positive that a full static demonstration of the SABRE engine is achievable before the end of the decade, marking the greatest advance in propulsion since the jet engine.
Alan Bond, Managing Director and Chief Engineer at Reaction Engines Ltd, commented:
“The technology we’ve proven, and our ability to integrate it with both rockets and gas turbines to create SABRE is not just a means to a better rocket. This is the beginning of a new generation of propulsion, enabling faster, more efficient transportation both on Earth and in Space. We’re already seeing humanity gaining huge benefits from space-enabled services, and I believe that our connection with space will grow considerably in the near future; Reaction Engines are breaking down the biggest barrier, which is getting into orbit in the first place. We’re opening the gateway to the solar system."
Positive news, but I do wonder where the capital will come from to build the final vehicle. Iteresting if it could really be an ESA sponsored replacement for Ariane 6, or perhaps NASA/US commercial rocket companies could stump up the cash?
Not really related, but sad to read about the final demolition of the national engine test facility recently. Maybe the M2/60,000ft cell might have been useful for SABRE, though it was shut down around a decade+ ago so well beyond recommissioning I guess - I seem to recall only EJ200 was really keeping it open towards at the end.
http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/l...ke-way-7635622
Not really related, but sad to read about the final demolition of the national engine test facility recently. Maybe the M2/60,000ft cell might have been useful for SABRE, though it was shut down around a decade+ ago so well beyond recommissioning I guess - I seem to recall only EJ200 was really keeping it open towards at the end.
http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/l...ke-way-7635622
It would be wonderful if SABRE works.
The BBC doco on it was very interesting.
IIRC the claim is that the pre-cooler drops the temperature of the hypersonic airflow by 100 degrees in a hundredth of a second.
Seems extraordinary... but then again, may be there was a good reason for the Govt classifying the original RR design back in the day...
The BBC doco on it was very interesting.
IIRC the claim is that the pre-cooler drops the temperature of the hypersonic airflow by 100 degrees in a hundredth of a second.
Seems extraordinary... but then again, may be there was a good reason for the Govt classifying the original RR design back in the day...
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The biggest threat to Skylon is the British government's 40+ year history of timidity towards space projects.
We remain the only nation to have successfully developed (Black Arrow) and then abandoned a satellite launch capability.
We remain the only nation to have successfully developed (Black Arrow) and then abandoned a satellite launch capability.
True Willard.
It's a sobering experience to stand in the science museum and look up at Prospero, or look at Woomera on a map and think of what might have been.
Remarkable achievement, and usually draws looks of incredulity when you tell younger people Britain has in the past successfully launched a satellite, using its own launcher.
It's a sobering experience to stand in the science museum and look up at Prospero, or look at Woomera on a map and think of what might have been.
Remarkable achievement, and usually draws looks of incredulity when you tell younger people Britain has in the past successfully launched a satellite, using its own launcher.
Back to BEagle's Skylon and ULAS scarf story...
I wonder if this is 3rd Baron Cranworth, Philip Gurdon?
LJ
A few days before the King and Queen visited the exhibition in May 1951, Skylon was climbed at midnight by student Philip Gurdon from Birkbeck College who attached a University of London Squadron scarf near the top. A workman was sent up a few days later to collect it.
LJ
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According to Wikipedia, the third Baron Cranworth would have been 11 at the time, a bit young for either Skylon climbing or entry to university. At the time, too, Birkbeck was hardly a baronial college, as it used to specialise in evening classes for the gainfully employed.
This article has some more interesting details about the actual staffing and what their manufacturing investments are:
Skylon spaceplane's inventor sees busy spaceports coming soon - Sen.com
...
Skylon spaceplane's inventor sees busy spaceports coming soon - Sen.com
We’ve grown steadily. If we go back to 2009 we were about 15 people, and now we’re getting ready for quite a major ramp-up of staffing capability. We’re up at about 65 staff this week, and over the next year to 18 months, we’ll probably expand by about another 110 people.
....But now we’ve got to the point where we want to build heat exchangers like that on a regular basis, so we’re installing our own massive vacuum furnace and so on. Our own factory will take another year to 18 months to get operational, but then we’ll then be able to build heat exchangers for real spaceplanes! We’re putting in the facilities that we’ll need for future manufacturing in the company over the next 20 to 30 years.
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Not too sure on the design, though. If you get an engine flame-out on one side,
A couple of talks about Skylon
Tuesday 14th April: Skylon-and-Sabre-Bringing-Space-Down-to-Earth
Richard Varvill, Technical Director, Reaction Engines Ltd.
Royal Aeronautical Society | Event | Skylon and Sabre - Bringing Space Down to Earth
Event venue:
AMRC Knowledge Transfer Centre, Brunel Way, Catcliffe, Rotherham
Address:
S60 5WG
Wednesday 22 April: The Sabre Engine
Alan Bond, Managing Director & Chief Engineer Reaction Engines Ltd
Royal Aeronautical Society | Event | The Sabre Engine
After the student awards ceremony, Alan Bond will describe the progress to date on the development of his revolutionary hypersonic engine.
Event venue:
Weston Auditorium, University of Herts.
Address:
AL10 9EU
Richard Varvill, Technical Director, Reaction Engines Ltd.
Royal Aeronautical Society | Event | Skylon and Sabre - Bringing Space Down to Earth
Event venue:
AMRC Knowledge Transfer Centre, Brunel Way, Catcliffe, Rotherham
Address:
S60 5WG
Wednesday 22 April: The Sabre Engine
Alan Bond, Managing Director & Chief Engineer Reaction Engines Ltd
Royal Aeronautical Society | Event | The Sabre Engine
After the student awards ceremony, Alan Bond will describe the progress to date on the development of his revolutionary hypersonic engine.
Event venue:
Weston Auditorium, University of Herts.
Address:
AL10 9EU
Richard Varville's recent talk at DEMO3d
It's not full of new information and in a way could be presented in a more exciting way but I still found a few things that added to what I know and it's a good summary of the position.
I can't wrap it in youtube tags because it is on Vimeo, so sorry about that:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/124910371
I can't wrap it in youtube tags because it is on Vimeo, so sorry about that:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/124910371
US Airforce Research Lab Finds SABRE feasible
Reaction Engines Ltd - News: Press Releases
AFRL Analysis Confirms Feasibility of the SABRE Engine Concept
Wednesday 15th April 2015
Reaction Engines Ltd. is pleased to announce that analysis undertaken by the United States’ Air Force Research Laboratory (‘AFRL’) has confirmed the feasibility of the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (‘SABRE’) engine cycle concept.
The analysis was undertaken by AFRL as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (‘CRADA’) with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ). These investigations examined the thermodynamic cycle of the SABRE concept and found no significant barrier to its theoretical viability provided the engine component and integration challenges are met.
Reaction Engines Ltd. and AFRL are now formulating plans for continued collaboration on the SABRE engine; the proposed work will include investigation of vehicle concepts based on a SABRE derived propulsion system, testing of SABRE engine components and exploration of defence applications for Reaction Engines’ heat exchanger technologies.
AFRL/RQ program manager Barry Hellman stated - "The activities under the CRADA have allowed AFRL to understand the SABRE engine concept, its pre-cooler heat exchanger technology, and its cycle in more detail. Our analysis has confirmed the feasibility and potential performance of the SABRE engine cycle. While development of the SABRE represents a substantial engineering challenge, the engine cycle is a very innovative approach and warrants further investigation. The question to answer next is what benefit the SABRE could bring to high speed aerospace vehicles compared to other propulsion systems. Although application of the SABRE for single stage to orbit space access remains technically very risky as a first application, the SABRE may provide some unique advantages in more manageable two stage to orbit configurations. Furthermore, the heat exchanger technology also warrants further investigation for applications across the aerospace domain."
Sam Hutchison, Director of Corporate Development at Reaction Engines Ltd commented - “The confirmation by AFRL of the feasibility of the SABRE engine cycle has further validated our team’s own assessment and conviction that the SABRE engine represents a potential breakthrough in propulsion that could lead to game changing space access and high speed flight capability. We look forward to continued collaboration with AFRL”.
SABRE is an innovative class of aerospace propulsion that has the potential to provide efficient air- breathing thrust from standstill on the runway to speeds above Mach 5 (4,500mph) in the atmosphere – twice as fast as jet engines. The SABRE engine can then transition to a rocket mode of operation for flight at higher Mach numbers and space flight. Through its ability to ‘breathe’ air from the atmosphere, SABRE offers a significant reduction in propellant consumption compared to conventional rocket engines which have to carry their own oxygen – which is heavy. The weight saved by carrying less oxygen can be used to increase the capability of launch vehicles including options for high performance reusable launch vehicles with increased operational flexibility, such as horizontal take-off and landing. Additionally, the SABRE engine concept could potentially be configured to efficiently power aircraft flying at high supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
Wednesday 15th April 2015
Reaction Engines Ltd. is pleased to announce that analysis undertaken by the United States’ Air Force Research Laboratory (‘AFRL’) has confirmed the feasibility of the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (‘SABRE’) engine cycle concept.
The analysis was undertaken by AFRL as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (‘CRADA’) with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ). These investigations examined the thermodynamic cycle of the SABRE concept and found no significant barrier to its theoretical viability provided the engine component and integration challenges are met.
Reaction Engines Ltd. and AFRL are now formulating plans for continued collaboration on the SABRE engine; the proposed work will include investigation of vehicle concepts based on a SABRE derived propulsion system, testing of SABRE engine components and exploration of defence applications for Reaction Engines’ heat exchanger technologies.
AFRL/RQ program manager Barry Hellman stated - "The activities under the CRADA have allowed AFRL to understand the SABRE engine concept, its pre-cooler heat exchanger technology, and its cycle in more detail. Our analysis has confirmed the feasibility and potential performance of the SABRE engine cycle. While development of the SABRE represents a substantial engineering challenge, the engine cycle is a very innovative approach and warrants further investigation. The question to answer next is what benefit the SABRE could bring to high speed aerospace vehicles compared to other propulsion systems. Although application of the SABRE for single stage to orbit space access remains technically very risky as a first application, the SABRE may provide some unique advantages in more manageable two stage to orbit configurations. Furthermore, the heat exchanger technology also warrants further investigation for applications across the aerospace domain."
Sam Hutchison, Director of Corporate Development at Reaction Engines Ltd commented - “The confirmation by AFRL of the feasibility of the SABRE engine cycle has further validated our team’s own assessment and conviction that the SABRE engine represents a potential breakthrough in propulsion that could lead to game changing space access and high speed flight capability. We look forward to continued collaboration with AFRL”.
SABRE is an innovative class of aerospace propulsion that has the potential to provide efficient air- breathing thrust from standstill on the runway to speeds above Mach 5 (4,500mph) in the atmosphere – twice as fast as jet engines. The SABRE engine can then transition to a rocket mode of operation for flight at higher Mach numbers and space flight. Through its ability to ‘breathe’ air from the atmosphere, SABRE offers a significant reduction in propellant consumption compared to conventional rocket engines which have to carry their own oxygen – which is heavy. The weight saved by carrying less oxygen can be used to increase the capability of launch vehicles including options for high performance reusable launch vehicles with increased operational flexibility, such as horizontal take-off and landing. Additionally, the SABRE engine concept could potentially be configured to efficiently power aircraft flying at high supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
Last edited by t43562; 16th Apr 2015 at 09:41. Reason: reformat to make it easier to read
