Pratt & Whitney J48

Design and development

In 1947, at the behest of the United States Navy, Pratt & Whitney entered into an agreement to produce the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow turbojet engine under license as the J42 (company designation JT6), for use in the Grumman F9F Panther fighter aircraft. Concerned that the Nene would not have the potential to cope with future weight growth in improved versions of the Panther, Luke Hobbs, vice president of engineering for P&W's parent company, the United Aircraft Corporation, requested that Rolls-Royce design a more powerful engine based on the Nene, which Pratt & Whitney would also produce.

By 1948, Rolls-Royce had designed the Tay turbojet, also a centrifugal-flow design. However, as Rolls-Royce was then developing an improved design with an axial compressor, which would become the Avon, the development and production of the Tay turbojet was left to Pratt & Whitney. However, Rolls-Royce retained the rights to the Tay outside of the United States.

The Tay/J48 was a thirty percent enlargement of the preceding Nene/J42, and was produced both with and without afterburning.

Operational history

Several aircraft types used the J48 engine during the 1950s, including the Grumman F9F-5 Panther. and Grumman F9F-6/F9F-8 Cougar, The U.S. Air Force's Lockheed F-94C Starfire and North American YF-93 used afterburning versions of the J48 engine.

Variants

Data from The Engines of Pratt & Whitney: A Technical History.

Thrust given in foot-pounds (lbf) and kilonewtons (kN).

;J48-P-1: 6000 lbf / 8000 lbf with afterburning ;J48-P-2: 6250 lbf / 7000 lbf with water injection, powered some early Grumman F9F Panthers ;J48-P-3: 6000 lbf / 8000 lbf with afterburning ;J48-P-5: 6350 lbf / 8750 lbf with afterburning, powered the Lockheed F-94C Starfire ;J48-P-6: 6250 lbf / 7000 lbf with water injection, powered the North American YF-93 ;J48-P-6a: 6250 lbf / 7000 lbf with water injection, powered the Grumman F9F-5 Panther ;J48-P-7: 6350 lbf / 8750 lbf with afterburning ;J48-P-8: 7250 lbf, powered the Grumman F9F-6 Cougar ;J48-P-8A: 7250 lbf ; Turbo-Wasp JT-7: Commercial engines / company designation

Applications

• Grumman F9F-5 Panther
• Grumman F9F-6/-8 Cougar
• Lockheed F-94C Starfire
• North American YF-93

Specifications (J48-P-8A)

and start a new, fully-formatted line with --

• Frontal area: 13.9 sqft |power/weight= |thrust/weight=3.57

References

;Notes ;Bibliography

References

1. Connors, p.202
2. Gunston 2006, p.195.
3. [https://web.archive.org/web/19980703151007/http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/hist-ac/f9f.pdf F9F Panther], U.S. Navy Historical Office. Accessed 2011-01-06.
4. Bishop and Chant 2004, p. 154
5. RAF Flying Review "TECHNICAL GEN" authors: staff, September 1962 p. 59
6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141027044120/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2384 North American YF-93A]. National Museum of the US Air Force fact sheet. Accessed 2017-07-16
7. Connors, p.210
8. Wilkinson, Paul H.. (1957). "Aircraft engines of the World 1957". Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd..
9. Wilkinson, Paul H.. (1955). "Aircraft engines of the World 1955". Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd..