Turbomeca Palouste

Palouste
Rolls-Royce licensed-built Palouste
Type Gas turbine
National origin France
Manufacturer Turbomeca, Blackburn Aircraft, Rolls-Royce Limited, Lucas Aerospace
Major applications Sud-Ouest Djinn



The Turbomeca Palouste is a French gas turbine engine, first run in 1952.[1] Designed purely as a compressed air generator, the Palouste was mainly used as a ground-based aircraft engine starter unit. Other uses included rotor tip propulsion for helicopters.

Design and development

Designed and built by Turbomeca, the Palouste was also built under license in Britain by Blackburn and Rolls-Royce. Originally conceived as an aircraft ground support equipment starter gas generator, it was used also as propulsion for the Sud-Ouest Djinn and other tip-jet powered helicopters.

The Palouste was a very simple unit, its primary purpose being to supply a high flow rate of compressed air to start larger jet engines such as the Rolls-Royce Spey as installed in the Blackburn Buccaneer (this aircraft having no onboard starting system).[2] Air from the centrifugal compressor was divided between external supply (known as bleed air) and its own combustion chamber.

Several British naval aircraft were adapted to carry a Palouste in a wing-mounted pod installation to facilitate engine starting when away from base.[3]

A novel use of a surplus Palouste engine was its installation in a custom-built motorcycle known as the Boost Palouste. In 1986 this motorcycle broke an official ACU 1/4 mile speed record at 296 km/h (184 mph)). The builder modified the engine to include a primitive afterburner device and noted that pitch changes which occurred during braking and acceleration caused gyroscopic precession handling effects due to the rotating mass of the engine.[4]

Variants

Palouste IV
The gas generator used to power the Sud-Ouest S.O.1221 Djinn and other tip-jet helicopters.
Autan
A development of the Palouste delivering a higher mass flow of compressed air.[5]

Applications

Specifications (Blackburn Palouste)

Palouste engine fitted to a Sud-Ouest Djinn helicopter

Data from Hobby Gas Turbines[6]and Flight[7]

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also

Related development
Comparable engines
Related lists

References

Notes

  1. Gunston 1989, p.170.
  2. Flightglobal archive - Flight, February 1962 Retrieved: 24 July 2009
  3. Flightglobal archive - Flight, March 1965 Retrieved: 24 July 2009
  4. The Boost Palouste - jet-pack.co.uk Retrieved: 24 July 2009
  5. Bridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
  6. Palouste/Artouste - Hobby Gas Turbines Retrieved: 24 July 2009
  7. Flightglobal archive - Flight, September 1953 Retrieved: 24 July 2009

Bibliography

  • Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9

External links

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