The
Rolls-Royce RB.168 Spey is a low-bypass
turbofanA turbofan is a type of aircraft gas turbine engine that provides propulsion using a combination of a ducted fan and a jet exhaust nozzle. Part of the airstream from the ducted fan passes through the core, providing oxygen to burn fuel to create power. However, the rest of the air flow bypasses...
engine originally designed and manufactured by
Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce Limited was a British car and, from 1914, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904. In 1971, Rolls-Royce was crippled by the development of the advanced RB211 jet engine, resulting...
that has been in widespread service for over 40 years. Intended for the civilian
jet airlinerA jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
market when it was being designed in the late 1950s, the Spey concept was also used in various military engines, and later as a
turboshaftA turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine which is optimized to produce shaft power, rather than jet thrust. In principle, a turboshaft engine is similar to a turbojet, except the former features additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust and convert it into output...
engine for ships known as the
Marine Spey, and even as the basis for a new civilian line, the Rolls-Royce Tay.
The
Rolls-Royce RB.168 Spey is a low-bypass
turbofanA turbofan is a type of aircraft gas turbine engine that provides propulsion using a combination of a ducted fan and a jet exhaust nozzle. Part of the airstream from the ducted fan passes through the core, providing oxygen to burn fuel to create power. However, the rest of the air flow bypasses...
engine originally designed and manufactured by
Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce Limited was a British car and, from 1914, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904. In 1971, Rolls-Royce was crippled by the development of the advanced RB211 jet engine, resulting...
that has been in widespread service for over 40 years. Intended for the civilian
jet airlinerA jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
market when it was being designed in the late 1950s, the Spey concept was also used in various military engines, and later as a
turboshaftA turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine which is optimized to produce shaft power, rather than jet thrust. In principle, a turboshaft engine is similar to a turbojet, except the former features additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust and convert it into output...
engine for ships known as the
Marine Spey, and even as the basis for a new civilian line, the Rolls-Royce Tay. Aviation versions of the "base model" have accumulated over 50 million hours of flight time. In keeping with Rolls-Royce naming policies, the engine is named after the
River SpeyThe River Spey is a river in the northeast of Scotland, the second longest and the fastest flowing river in Scotland...
.
Design and development
In 1954 Rolls-Royce introduced the first commercial bypass engine, the
Rolls-Royce ConwayThe Rolls-Royce RB.80 Conway was the first by-pass engine in the world to enter service. Development started at Rolls-Royce in the 1940s, but it was used only briefly in the late 1950s and early 1960s before other turbofan designs were introduced that replaced it. The Conway powered versions of...
, with a 21,000
lbfThe pound-force or simply pound is a unit of force.- Definitions :The pound-force is approximately equal to the gravitational force exerted on a mass of one avoirdupois pound on the surface of Earth...
(94 kN) thrust aimed at what was then the "large end" of the market. This was far too large for smaller aircraft such as the Sud Caravelle,
BAC One-ElevenThe British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC 1-11, the BAC-111 or the BAC-1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
or
Hawker Siddeley TridentThe Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident, or DH.121, was a British short/medium-range three-engined airliner designed by de Havilland in the 1950s, and built by Hawker Siddeley Aviation in the 1960s, after the former became part of that group in 1960...
which were then under design. Rolls then started work on a smaller engine otherwise identical in design, the
RB.163 ( RB; Rolls Barnoldswick, after the original
RoverThe Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
works at
BarnoldswickBarnoldswick is a town and civil parish within the West Craven area of the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
), using the same two-spool
turbineA turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid or air flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum, with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they...
system and a fairly small fan delivering
bypass ratioThe term bypass ratio relates to the design of turbofan engines, commonly used in aviation. It is defined as the ratio between the mass flow rate of air drawn in by the fan but bypassing the engine core to the mass flow rate passing through the engine core.A high bypass ratio gives a lower ...
s of about 0.64:1. The first versions entered service in 1964, powering both the 1-11 and Trident. Several versions with higher power ratings were delivered through the 1960s, but development was ended nearing the 1970s due to the introduction of engines with much higher bypass ratios, and thus better fuel economy. Spey-powered airliners continued in widespread service until the 1980s, when noise limitations in European airports forced them from service.
Tailored for the Buccaneer
In the late 1950s the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
started the development of a new series of large
cruiserA cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
s that would put the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
at serious risk. After studying the problem, the RN decided to respond in a "non-linear" fashion, and instead of producing a series of new cruisers themselves, they would introduce a new strike aircraft with the performance needed to guarantee successful attacks on the Soviet fleet. The winning design was the
Blackburn BuccaneerThe Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level strike aircraft with nuclear weapon capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War...
, which had an emphasis on low altitude performance (i.e. to evade enemy radar) as opposed to outright speed.
Flying at low altitude, in denser air, requires much more fuel; the air-fuel mixture in a jet engine needs to be kept very close to a constant value to burn properly, and more air requires proportionally more fuel. This presented a serious problem for aircraft such as the Buccaneer, which would have had very short range unless the engines were optimised for low-level flight. The early pre-production versions, powered by the
de Havilland Gyron JuniorThe de Havilland Gyron Junior was a military turbojet engine design of the 1950s developed by the de Havilland Engine Company and later produced by Bristol Siddeley...
, also proved to be dangerously underpowered. Rolls-Royce attacked this problem by offering a militarised version of the Spey, which emerged as the
RB.168. This led to the introduction of the Spey-powered Buccaneer S.2, which served into the 1980s. The Spey proved so successful in this role that it was produced under license in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the
TF41 (F113), and was used in a number of British and US designs.
Reliability
During its lifetime the Spey has garnered an impressive safety record, and was the first engine of any sort to be allowed 10,000 hours between overhauls. This dramatically cut maintenance costs, and is one of the major reasons it continued in service even when newer designs were available. With the need for a 10,000 to 15,000 lbf (44 to 67 kN) thrust class engine starting up again with the removal of the Spey from service, Rolls then used the Spey turbomachinery with a much larger fan to produce the Rolls-Royce Tay, a rather modern design even though its ancestors can be traced to the 1950s.
AMX development
A fully-updated version of the military RB.168 was also built to power the
AMX International AMXThe AMX International AMX "Ghibli" is a ground-attack aircraft for battlefield interdiction, close air support and reconnaissance missions. It is built by the AMX International Italian-Brazilian joint venture, and is designated the A-1 in the Brazilian Air Force.The AMX is capable of operating at...
attack aircraft, filling a role similar to the original Buccaneer.
Variants and applications
RB.163 Mk 511-8
- Gulfstream II
The Gulfstream II is an American twin engine business jet built by Gulfstream Aerospace, and its US military designation is C-11 Gulfstream II. It has been succeeded by the C-20 Gulfstream III...
and Gulfstream III (USAFThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the U.S. armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 - 80 P.L....
designation F113-RR-100 for C-20)
RB.163 Mk 512-14DW
- BAC One-Eleven
The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC 1-11, the BAC-111 or the BAC-1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
RB.163 Mk 555-15
- Fokker 28
The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a short range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer, Fokker.-Design and development:...
RB.168 Mk 101 (Military Spey)
- Blackburn Buccaneer
The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level strike aircraft with nuclear weapon capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War...
RB.168 Mk 202 (Military Spey)
- British version of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States...
(surplus engines were purchased and used by Richard NobleRichard Noble, OBE was a holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997, and was the project director of ThrustSSC, the vehicle which holds the land speed record, set at Black Rock Desert, Nevada in 1997....
for the Thrust SSC land speed record car of 1997.)
RB.168 Mk 202 (Military Spey)
- Xian JH-7
The Xian JH-7 , also known as the FBC-1 Flying Leopard, is a two-seater , twin-engine fighter-bomber in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force , and the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
(also known as FBC-1 Flying Leopard)
RB.168 Mk 250 (Military Spey)
- Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR1/MR2
RB.168 Mk 251 (Military Spey)
- Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R1 and AEW
RB.168 Mk 807
- AMX
The AMX International AMX "Ghibli" is a ground-attack aircraft for battlefield interdiction, close air support and reconnaissance missions. It is built by the AMX International Italian-Brazilian joint venture, and is designated the A-1 in the Brazilian Air Force.The AMX is capable of operating at...
, built under licence by FiatAvio
TF41
- Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II
The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-based subsonic light attack aircraft introduced to replace the United States Navy's A-4 Skyhawk, initially entering service during the Vietnam War. The Corsair was later adopted by the United States Air Force, to include the Air National Guard, to...
(USAF -D and US Navy -E models), licence built by Allison Engine CompanyThe Allison Engine Company was a U.S. aircraft engine manufacturer which was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc in 1995 to become a subsidiary, Rolls-Royce Corporation. With the acquisition of Allison, Rolls-Royce expanded its product line to the point where it can now offer engines in virtually all...
Marine Spey
The Spey is still produced today by Rolls-Royce as the Marine Spey, which powers seven ship classes including the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
's
Type 23 frigateThe Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate serving with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships are named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in June...
s and provides a power output of 19.5 MW. The Marine Spey incorporates technology from the Tay and
RB211The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce plc and capable of generating 37,400 to 60,600 pounds-force thrust...
.
Applications
- 16 Royal Navy
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
Type 23 frigateThe Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate serving with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships are named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in June...
s (including three being sold to Chile-History:The origin of the Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea"....
).
- 4 Royal Navy Type 22 frigate
The Type 22 Broadsword class is a class of frigate built for the Royal Navy. Fourteen of the class were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Four Batch 3 ships remain in service with the Royal Navy...
s
- 8 Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands.-Bases:The main naval base is Den Helder, Noord Holland.Secondary naval bases are in Amsterdam, Vlissingen, Texel and Willemstad...
Karel Doorman class frigateThe Karel Doorman class is a class of eight multi-purpose frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class is also known as the "Multi-purpose" or M class....
s
- 4 Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën class frigate
The De Zeven Provinciën class frigates are highly advanced air-defense frigates in service with the Koninklijke Marine . This class of ships is also known as LCF...
s
- 9 Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force
The , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of the post-World War II US occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the forces were confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed abroad. In...
Murasame class destroyerThe Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation warship in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , classified by some as a large frigate...
s
Engines on display
Examples of the Rolls-Royce Spey are on public display at the:
- Midland Air Museum
The Midland Air Museum is situated just outside the village of Baginton in Warwickshire, England, and is adjacent to Coventry Airport. The museum includes the Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre , where many exhibits are on display in a large hangar...
- Royal Air Force Museum Cosford
The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford is a museum dedicated to the history of aviation, and the British Royal Air Force in particular. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and a registered charity...
- Royal Air Force Museum London
Specifications (Spey Mk 202)
See also
External links