The Boeing T50 (company designation Model 502) was a small

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaft horsepower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the ex ...

engine produced by

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. It was the first turboshaft engine to ever power a helicopter: a modified

Kaman K-225 The Kaman K-225 is an American experimental helicopter developed by Kaman Aircraft. One example was modified to become the world's first gas turbine-powered helicopter. Design and development The K-125 was Charles Kaman's first helicopter, whi ...

in 1951. Based on Boeing's earlier Model 500 gas generator, the T50's main application was in the

QH-50 DASH The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (''Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter'') is a small drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized he ...

helicopter drone of the 1950s. An up-rated version designated Model 550 was developed to power the QH-50D and was given the military designation T50-BO-12. Two T50 were tested on a HTK-1 (

Kaman HH-43 Huskie The Kaman HH-43 Huskie is a helicopter developed and produced by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Kaman Aircraft. It is perhaps most distinctive for its use of twin intermeshing rotors, having been largely designed by the German aeronautical ...

) in the 1950s, which was the first test of twin turbine engine on a helicopter.

Variants

;T50-BO-1: ;T50-BO-2: ;T50-BO-4: at 6,000 output rpm, military rating turboprop. ;T50-BO-6: ;T50-BO-8: at 5,950 output rpm, revised reduction gear ratio, fuelsystem and other changes. ;T50-BO-8A: ;T50-BO-10: at 6,000 output rpm ;T50-BO-12: ;502-1-1:Auxiliary power unit ;502-2E:Turboprop, at 2,900 output rpm max. continuous at sea level. ;502-6:Engine for an engine-generator set used for magnetic minesweeping by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. ;502-7B:Compressed air generator. ;502-8A:Turboshaft. ;502-8B:Turboprop, at 37,500 compressor rpm for take-off. ;502-10B:Turboprop, at 37,500 compressor rpm for take-off. ;502-10C:Turboshaft power unit / gas producer ;502-10F: ;502-10V: (T50-BO-4) ;502-10VB: at 3,000 output rpm, variant of -10V / T50-B0-4 with revised reduction gear ratio. ;502-10VC: (T50-BO-8) ;502-11:Compressed air generator. ;502-11B: ;502-12B: ;502-W ;502-14: (T50-BO-10) ;550-1: (T50-BO-12)

Applications

;T50 (Model 502) *

Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (''Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter'') is a small drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized he ...

* Kaman HTK-1 *

Kaman K-1125 The Kaman K-1125 was a prototype American 12-passenger civil transport helicopter developed by Kaman Aircraft. Development In August 1962, Kaman Aircraft first flew a prototype civil transport helicopter. It used components of the earlier Kama ...

* XL-19B Bird Dog * Radioplane RP-77D ;GT502 *

Stridsvagn 103 The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv 103), also known as the Alternative S and S-tank, is a Sweden, Swedish Cold War, Cold War-era main battle tank, designed and manufactured in Sweden. "Strv" is the Swedish military abbreviation of ''stridsvagn'', Swedish f ...

Specifications (T50-BO-10 / 502-14)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Boeing Model 502 Gas Turbine Engine

'' "Jet Sheds Weigh" '', September 1947, Popular Science
article at bottom of page on earlier Model 500 {{USAF gas turbine engines 1950s turboshaft engines Helicopter history