Napier Eland

Eland
Napier Eland on display at the Helicopter Museum (Weston).
Type	Turboshaft/turboprop aero-engine
Manufacturer	Napier & Son
First run	1953
Major applications	Fairey Rotodyne Convair CV-540

The Napier Eland was a British turboshaft or turboprop gas-turbine engine built by Napier & Son in the early 1950s. Production of the Eland ceased in 1961 when the Napier company was taken over by Rolls-Royce.^[1]

Design and development

The Eland was first tested in 1953 in a Vickers Varsity aircraft.^[2] Further flight proving was carried out from 1955 using the first production Airspeed Ambassador 2.^[3] The Eland was dropped from production when Napiers was acquired by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1961.^[2]

The Eland was used to power various aircraft including the Westland Westminster heavy-lift helicopter, the Canadair CL-66; a turbine-powered version of the Convair CV-340 for the Canadian military^[2](later converted to Allison T-56 propjets after a number of engine failures), and the Fairey Rotodyne gyrodyne. In the Rotodyne, the Eland powered the tractor propellors for forward flight and a compressor, via a clutch and shaft arrangement, to feed the rotor tip-jets with compressed air for vertical flight.^[4]

Variants

Eland N.El.1

2,690 hp (2,010 kW) + 825 lbf (3.67 kN) residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.^[5]

Eland N.El.3

Powerplant for the Fairey Rotodyne driving the propeller and an auxiliary compressor to feed the rotor tip jets 2,805 hp (2,092 kW) + 500 lbf (2.22 kN) residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.^[5]

Eland N.El.4

3,765 hp (2,808 kW) + 610 lbf (2.71 kN) residual thrust, static at sea level ICAN conditions.^[5]

Eland N.El.6

Applications

Napier's Eland testbed Airspeed Ambassador at Farnborough SBAC Show 1955

Turboshaft

• Westland Westminster

Turboprop

• Airspeed Ambassador
• Canadair CC-109 Cosmopolitan (CL-66)
• Convair CV-540
• Fairey Rotodyne
• Vickers Varsity (one aircraft as an engine test bed in 1954)

Engines on display

A turboshaft Eland is on display at the The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare.^[6]

Specifications (Eland N.El.6)

Data from Flight ^[7]

General characteristics

• Type: Single-shaft turboprop
• Length: 120 in (3,048 mm)
• Diameter: 36 in (914 mm)
• Dry weight: 1,735 lb (787 kg)

Components

• Compressor: 10-stage axial flow
• Combustors: 6 chambers
• Turbine: 3-stage
• Fuel type: Jet fuel

Performance

• Maximum power output: 3,500 eshp (2,610 kW)
• Overall pressure ratio: 7:1
• Air mass flow: 31 lb/sec (14 kg/s)
• Specific fuel consumption: 0.595 lb/hr/eshp
• Thrust-to-weight ratio: 2.0 eshp/lb (3.3 kW/kg)

See also

Comparable engines

• Allison T56
• Bristol Proteus
• Ivchenko AI-20
• Lycoming T55
• Rolls-Royce Tyne

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Notes

1. Gunston 1989, p.107.
2. "Napier Eland 504A", Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum, retrieved 2008-05-26
3. Jackson 1973, p. 26
4. "A History of Fairey Engineering" (doc), WFEL.co.uk, retrieved 2008-05-26
5. Taylor, John W.R. FRHistS. ARAeS (1955). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd.
6. The Helicopter Museum - Fairey Rotodyne Retrieved: 28 July 2009
7. Flightglobal archive - Flight, August 1958 Retrieved: 28 July 2009

Bibliography

• Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9
• Jackson, A.J. (1973), British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume I, Putnam & Company Ltd, ISBN 0-370-10006-9

External links

• Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum - Napier Eland 504 information sheet
• "Eland 1959" a 1959 Flight article