A400M - why the props ?
In the early 80's when the" Future Large Aircraft" (FLA) was being considered , weren't Un Ducted Fans (UDF) also being developed in the USA and Soviet Union?. Might this approach have the attraction to European Industry of also assisting UDF development costs for an anticipated Civilian Market?
Slight aside, but talking of the engine blue note, there is a weird effect if you stand immediately below one on approach. A few seconds after the a/c passes overhead you get this odd sound effect, difficult to describe but like a threshing sound. No silly jokes please, and no, I wasn't imagining it.
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Having some time for musing I was wondering about the advantages of the turboprop vs. using more conventional turbofans for the A400M.
Designing a completely new engine was obviously a very expensive proposition (and turned out to be even worse than that...) so what are the expected gains ?
Designing a completely new engine was obviously a very expensive proposition (and turned out to be even worse than that...) so what are the expected gains ?
And we must not loose sight of the fact that the TP400 is actually a very efficient power plant indeed.
Slight aside, but talking of the engine blue note, there is a weird effect if you stand immediately below one on approach. A few seconds after the a/c passes overhead you get this odd sound effect, difficult to describe but like a threshing sound. No silly jokes please, and no, I wasn't imagining it.
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Why Turbo-props? The Lockheed Hercules comes to mind. To date, more than 2,500 C-130s have been ordered and/or delivered to 63 nations around the world. Seventy countries operate C-130s, which have been produced in more than 70 different variants.
From the highest of air strips in the Himalayas to landing on aircraft carrier runways in the middle of the ocean, the C-130 exceeds expectations. The Hercules has an ability to tackle any mission, anywhere, at any time. It is even a hurricane hunter.
I've flown on Viscounts in my youth and my teens. Although I've never flown on a Vanguard, I admired its majestic appearance, large windscreen, big port holes, (same as the Viscount's), and a cruise speed of 360 knots. In the late 1980's, a flight on a combi L-188 Electra, (freight and passenger), re-ignited my appreciation of the efficiency turbo-props.
From the highest of air strips in the Himalayas to landing on aircraft carrier runways in the middle of the ocean, the C-130 exceeds expectations. The Hercules has an ability to tackle any mission, anywhere, at any time. It is even a hurricane hunter.
I've flown on Viscounts in my youth and my teens. Although I've never flown on a Vanguard, I admired its majestic appearance, large windscreen, big port holes, (same as the Viscount's), and a cruise speed of 360 knots. In the late 1980's, a flight on a combi L-188 Electra, (freight and passenger), re-ignited my appreciation of the efficiency turbo-props.
Last edited by evansb; 17th May 2020 at 21:50.
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Saab 2000s have AE2100s now that I think about it.
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Given that the AE2100 is already 'detuned' (derated) for it's commercial applications (compared to the C130J), the TP400 would be way too powerful to be useful for a commercial turboprop installation.
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A400M - why the props
you also get a lot of lift off the prop flow meaning smaller wing area which is useful in austere areas and (may be talking garbage here) the energised flow over the leading edge of the wing means you don’t need leading edge slats, which significantly cuts down on complexity of the design.
Google "AERODYNAMIC DESIGN OF THE A400M HIGH-LIFT SYSTEM" for a paper written by an Airbus engineer (I'm not yet allowed to post links).
But in any case, is that capability worth 10bn€ (low ball guestimate) in R&D and many years delay in the program ? Wasn't the only issue but clearly engineering those from scratch was a very risky proposition. I don't see the reward to be commensurate, so I guess there were other matters considered...
