Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Hiller Aircraft Company
- Physical Description
- Prototype pulse reactor; 6 horseshoe-shaped combustors; designed for V/STOL applications; called "Six Pack"; side shields missing.
- Summary
- In the early 1960s, under U.S. Navy contracts, Hiller Aircraft Company developed a pulse reactor lift engine for vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) applications that would be competitive with turbojets, but with reduced complexity and cost. Simplicity of the concept was that it had no moving parts, and could operate near the ground without sustaining foreign object damage.
- Consisting of package of six pulse reactor tubes, the Hiller engine was a pulsating combustion type with a pulse rate of approximately 100 cycles per second. Following operation on a Navy variable attitude stand under various conditions, it was concluded that the engine was not suitable for use as a V/STOL engine because it would neither start nor operate in a nose-up position (exhausting into the wind) at elevated air velocities; and maximum thrust was approximately 5 percent below that obtained by Hiller. The 0.71 thrust/weight ratio was also considered unsatisfactory for V/STOL aircraft.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from U.S. Navy, Naval Air Propulsion Center, Trenton, New Jersey.
- Circa 1960s
- Inventory Number
- A19820088000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- PROPULSION-Turbines (Jet)
- Materials
- SteelAluminum, Magnesium AlloyCopper AlloySynthetic FabricAdhesive
- Natural Fabric
- Paint
- Rubber
- Ceramic
- Nickel Plating
- Phenolic Resin
- Cadmium Plating
- Anodized Aluminum
- Dimensions
- Width 121.9 cm (48 in.), Height 152.4 cm (60 in.), Length 183 cm (72 in.) (Approximate)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19820088000
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9258b189c-661c-4906-8139-e4d16bbcf83c
