The SNECMA ATAR 101 is a French

axial-flow An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...

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 built by

SNECMA Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It d ...

. It was derived from engines and design work carried out at

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models. The name is derived from its original design group, ''Atelier Technique Aéronautique de Rickenbach'' employing Hermann Östrich and many of the wartime BMW gas turbine design group as well as other German engine design teams. The ATAR 101 powered many of the French post-war jet aircraft, including the Vautour II, Étendard IV, Super Mystère B2, and the Mirage III-001, prototype of the Mirage III series.Gunston 1989, p. 160.

Design and development

At the end of World War II the French aircraft industry was in disarray, having been commandeered by the German government to produce mostly German designed aircraft and aero-engines. To develop an indigenous gas turbine aero-engine the French government acquired the services of a large contingent of German design engineers and technicians. Some of these engineers formed the Atelier Technique Aéronautique de Rickenbach, led by Dr. Hermann Östrich who had been developing gas turbine engines at BMW. By September the team was housed at the Dornier factory at Rickenbach near

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

and had largely completed design of the ATAR 101 by October 1945. A contract for development of the engine was awarded in December 1945, a stipulation being that all manufacturing was to be carried out in France. Communications between the ATAR group and SNECMA, the newly formed nationalised engine manufacturer, proved to be difficult and the design team soon moved to Decize on the river

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

, to improve communications with SNECMA and was renamed ''Aeroplanes G.Voisin, Groupe 'O' ''. Manufacture of components for the ATAR 101 V1 commenced at SNECMA plants in May 1946 and the first run was carried out on 26 March 1948. The early engines were constructed from ordinary commercial steels and suffered from very short running lives, not achieving a 150-hour endurance test until 1951. As more exotic materials were introduced the durability and reliability of test engines improved dramatically and on 10 November 1950 the first flight-ready ATAR 101A flew in the fuselage of a Martin B-26G Marauder (F-WBXM). Steady progress was made by Groupe O, but they were soon absorbed into SNECMA during a massive re-organisation of the nationalised company in June 1950. Other aircraft joined the flight test program, including two SNCASE S.E.161 Languedoc airliners, a SNCASO S.O.30P Bretagne (F-WAYD), SNCASE S.E.2060 Armagnac and a Gloster Meteor F.4 (RA491). The ATAR 101 was steadily developed with improvements to materials, aerodynamic design, compressors, combustion chambers and turbines resulting in the first commercially viable engine, the ATAR 101B, which, along with later marques, powered the SNCASO S.O.4050 Vautour interceptor/bomber/reconnaissance aircraft. Improved models continued to be developed throughout the 1950s culminating in the 101G with after-burning, which laid the ground work for the later ATAR 8 and ATAR 9.

Variants

''Data from:'' Turbojet: History and Development 1930–1960: Volume 2: ;101V:Early test engines used to develop the engine. ;101A: Flight test engines flown on flying test-beds. ;101B:Initial production engine built in limited numbers for prototypes and test installations on contemporary aircraft. First flown in a Dassault MD.450-11/12 Ouragan on 5 December 1951, 101Bs also flew in a Gloster Meteor F.4 and the S.O.4050-01, first prototype of the Vautour. ;101C: Improved compressor and combustion as well as an increase in maximum rpm from 8,050 to 8,400 rpm gave a thrust of ;101D:The D introduced a variable area eyelid nozzle, replacing the translating bullet used in earlier Marks. ::101D3 ;101E:By 1954 the 101E3 was developing largely due to a new compressor with 15% higher pressure ratio. ::101E3 ::101E4 ::101E5 ;101F:The 101D fitted with an afterburner to produce the 101F ;101G:The 101E fitted with an afterburner to produce the 101G ::101G2 ::101G3 ::101G4

Applications

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...

(engine development) * SNCASE S.E.161 Languedoc * SNCASE S.E.2060 Armagnac * Dassault MD.450-11/12 Ouragan *

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

F.4 (engine development) *

Dassault Mystère The Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber. It was a straightforward development of the successful Dassault Ouragan Development After the success of the Ouragan, Dassault was working on a more advanced machine which woul ...

B prototypes and Mystere C production aircraft *

Dassault Mystère IV The Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV is a 1950s French fighter-bomber aircraft, the first transonic aircraft to enter service with the French Air Force. It was used in large-scale combat in the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six Day War. Design an ...

B prototype only *

Dassault Étendard IV The Dassault Étendard IV is a supersonic, transonic aircraft carrier, carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. Development of the Étendard originally commenced during the 1 ...

prototype of the Étendard IV series * Dassault Super Mystère B2 *

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...

prototype * SFECMAS Gerfaut * Nord Griffon * SNCASE S.E.212 Durandal * SNCASE S.E.5000 Baroudeur * Leduc 0.22

Specifications (101C)

References

Bibliography

* Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. *

External links

A site about some ATAR aircraft projects
{{Snecma aeroengines 1940s turbojet engines

Atar Atar, Ahtra, Atash, Azar () or ''Dāštāɣni'',, s.v. ''agni-.'' is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is conside ...

cs:SNECMA Atar