Armstrong Siddeley Beta was an early rocket engine, intended for use in supersonic aircraft. The

Miles M.52 The Miles M.52 was a turbojet-powered supersonic research aircraft project designed in the United Kingdom in the mid-1940s. In October 1943, Miles Aircraft was issued with a contract to produce the aircraft in accordance with Air Ministry Sp ...

, the intended British contender for supersonic flight, had been cancelled in 1946 due to uncertainty concerning its

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

engine's thrust potential and the risks of crewed supersonic flight. A scale model was then built by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

with a 362 kg (800 lbf) thrust

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

'hot' motor evolved at Westcott derived from the

Walter HWK 109-509 The Walter HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant rocket engine that powered the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 aircraft. It was produced by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft (HWK) commencing in 1943, with licensed ...

engine. This initiated the Beta and the subsequent

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

engines. In October 1948 the Vickers ''Transonic'' model flew at 930 mph (Mach 1.5) in level flight at 35,000 ft. To reduce the risks of single-sourced engines, other makers were given experience of work with

. In 1952 Napier were providing their NRE.17 engines for missile trials, as a line of development from Beta.

Variants

* Beta II : Larger version of Beta I

References

{{ASaeroengines Beta, Armstrong Siddeley Rocket engines using cold cycle hydrogen peroxide propellant

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...