Good point, Neil.
I learned recip, rotary, turbine, and rocket theory almost simultaneously
(being fascinated with all those things as a child)-- and they were all
among the great mysteries of life!-- so the contrast in the mechanical
complexity of a recip versus the (relative) simplicity of a turbine didn't
hit me for a long time. But, you are right-- the basic principles and
processes of turbines are simple compared to recips. And it appears to me
that a well-designed turbine is simpler to maintain and tune.
But "the devil is in the details", as they say. DESIGN of turbines (and
"hot-rodding" modification of surplus turbines) may actually be HARDER than
the recips, due to the subtleties of the cooling requirements, tip-seal
function, compressor and "hot-section" blade airfoil design, metallurgy--
etc., etc., etc. Still, I'd like to tackle a (shaft) turbine lsr project,
if the opportunity arises.
You know, it's really easy to do the REVERSE of the exercise you experienced
(teaching turbine mechanics how recips work). To teach a recip mechanic how
a gas turbine works, all you say is...
-- imagine a turbocharger, sitting all by itself
-- run a connector pipe from the compressor outlet to the turbine inlet
-- put a fuel-oil injector and a glow-plug in the connector pipe
You have a gas turbine!
Russ, #1226B
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Albaugh, Neil
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 11:14 AM
To: land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Thrust
Russ;
A degree of relative difficulty depends on ones point of view. Let me
illustrate-- years ago, I took an Airframe & Powerplant Mechanics course
here in Tucson at Pima Community College. It was a very good course and
since most of the students were Air Force people, it was held in a classroom
at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Everyone was enthusiastic and progressing
well until the "Reciprocating Engines" part of the course. The USAF jet
mechanics were amazed at their complexity and had to learn all the stuff
that we Hot Rodders learned years ago. Ignition and valve timing seemed to
be the most difficult concepts for them. "Jet Engines", on the other hand,
were a breeze for everybody-- they are actually relatively simple.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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