The Jendrassik Cs-1 was the world's first working
turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
engine. It was designed by Hungarian engineer
György Jendrassik in 1937, and was intended to power a Hungarian twin-engine
heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...
, the
RMI-1.
Design and development
György Jendrassik worked on
gas turbine
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
s and in order to speed up research, he established the Invention Development and Marketing Co. Ltd. in 1936.
Following the successful running of a small experimental
gas turbine
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
engine of 100 bhp output in 1937, began to design a larger turboprop engine, which would be produced and tested in the
Ganz
The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries.
The original Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ''Ganz ...
works in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
.
[Green, W. and Swanborough, G.; "Plane Facts", ''Air Enthusiast'' Vol. 1 No. 1 (1971), Page 53.]
Of axial-flow design with 15-stage compressor and 7-stage turbine, it incorporated many modern features. These included a rigid compressor-turbine rotor assembly carried on front and rear bearings. There was a single annular combustion chamber, of reverse-flow configuration to shorten the engine, air cooling of the turbine discs and turbine blades with extended roots to reduce heat transfer to the disc. The annular air intake surrounded a reduction gear for propeller drive takeoff, and the exhaust duct was also annular.
[Green, W. and Swanborough, G.; "Plane Facts", ''Air Enthusiast'' Vol. 1 No. 1 (1971), Page 53.]
With predicted output of 1,000 bhp at 13,500 rpm the Cs-1 stirred interest in the Hungarian aircraft industry with its potential to power a modern generation of high-performance aircraft, and construction of a twin-engined fighter-bomber powered by Cs-1s, the
Varga RMI-1 X/H, began.
The first bench run took place in 1940, becoming the world's first turboprop engine to run. However, combustion problems were experienced which limited the output to around 400 bhp.
[Gunston World, p. 111]
Work on the engine stopped in 1941 when the
Royal Hungarian Air Force
The Hungarian Air Force (, ), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces.
The primary focus of the present Hungarian Air Force lies in defensive operations. The flying units operate are organised into a single ...
selected the
Messerschmitt Me 210 Ca-1 for the
heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...
role, and the engine factory converted to producing the
Daimler-Benz DB 605
The Daimler-Benz DB 605 is a German aircraft engine built during World War II. Developed from the DB 601, the DB 605 was used from 1942 to 1945 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, and the Bf 110 and Me 210C heavy fighters.
The DB 610, a pa ...
to power these. The prototype RMI-1 was later fitted with these engines in 1944.
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
* {{Cite book, last= Gunston , first= Bill , title= World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines, 5th Edition , year= 2006 , publisher= Sutton Publishing Limited , location= Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK , isbn= 0-7509-4479-X
1940s turboprop engines
Hungarian inventions
Axial-compressor gas turbine engines