Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!akgua!mcnc!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!sri-unix!CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA From: CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA Newsgroups: net.aviation Subject: New Engine Unveiled Message-ID: <12373@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Tue, 25-Sep-84 18:12:36 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12373 Posted: Tue Sep 25 18:12:36 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 30-Sep-84 00:45:42 EDT Lines: 45 From: Werner Uhrig[ just read this in the local paper ] General Electric unveiled an unducted fan engine recently at the International Air Show in Farnborough, England. A propfan engine like this one, which the company says is more fuel efficient, may power future jet-liners. An Wmerican plane manufacturer is already testing the design. The engine's two bands of short propeller blades rotate in opposite directions. [ a photo accompanying these lines shows a rather fat looking engine pod, tapering to a rather thin tail-end (might be my misconception due to the perspective). At the tail are 2 circular sections with 8 prop-blades each, looking somewhat like shark-fins. 2 requests for comments: 1. am I mistaken that it always seems that such announcements are always done overseas, England, France, Germany, mostly, and never in the US? are all air-shows of importance in Europe? 2. these 2 bands of counter-rotating prop-blades remind me of the blades in my mixer. Now when I try to imagine the air-flow between them, I can't help but think that they must be interfering with each other something fierce. How can one prop try to pull the air into a clock-wise circular motion and not be interfered with by another prop right behind, trying to force the airflow into a counterclockwise rotation? On a Cessna 310 pull-push configuration, there is, at least, the length of the passenger cell between the 2 props, but in this case it doesn't look like more than inches. [ when the blimp was visiting Austin 10 days ago for the Auburn-game, I went up to take a closer look while he was doing his 3-day PR-stuff of taking dealers and other folks that Goodyear would like to ingratiate for rides - right, I was not one of those - and I had my first REAL taste of the disadvantages of the new "Austin Airport Radar Service Area" (ARSA) - THEY WOULDN'T LET ME IN BELOW THE 4000ft HAA upper limit of the control zone. And the blimp, of course was down there at 2000ft. ... Boy, I hate blimps and ARSAs and other traffic and controllers and ....((-: well, I wasn't sure if anyone has any ideas on how to tempt a blimp to leave an ARSA, or how to shoot one down to inspect it closely on the ground then ... ] -------