Could steam, power the airliner of the future?
Halifax 1V
>The water required to produce the steam could be stored in the redundant petrol tanks to the capacity of 2000 gallons, and coal could be positioned within the fuselage and wing roots. A novel feature of the aircraft was that pipes of super heated steam were routed through the leading wing edges to prevent icing. The auxiliary equipment, turrets, bomb doors, undercarriage, etc. all previously powered by hydraulics, would now operate under steam pressure...<
airmuseum.ca
The advent of the four-engined heavy bombers meant that more and more 100 octane fuel was needed, and this while our convoys were still suffering terrible losses carrying fuel from the USA. Invetiably, something had to give. Just as petroleum and oil would prove to be the Achilles heel of Germany towards the end of the war, it was also causing concern within Bomber Command.. A solution was sought at the highest level of government and many scientist and learned bodies were approached. Eventually, a Junior Minister of Fuel and Production, named Stephenson, suggested we utilize our most abundnt fuel supply, namely, coal. The Germans were producing thousands of tons of aviation spirit every month from coal, but it ws a very inefficient method and only viable because of the vast European stocks on hand. Unfortunately, the German fuel was low octane, and while the enemy's engines were designed to run on low grade petrol, our engines were not and would suffer irrepairable damage. Similarly, the conversion of so many of our refineries to the method would cause too much disruption to our already hard pressed fuel output...
The vertical boiler driving the two engines was located behind the main spar inside the fuselage and, although heavy, was surprisingly compact and able to be fed coal from the top by a single stoker. The water required to produce the steam could be stored in the redundant petrol tanks to the capacity of 2000 gallons, and coal could be positioned within the fuselage and wing roots. A novel feature of the aircraft was that pipes of super heated steam were routed through the leading wing edges to prevent icing. The auxiliary equipment, turrets, bomb doors, undercarriage, etc. all previously powered by hydraulics, would now operate under steam pressure. Electrical circuits were fed from a generator located along side the port engine. While the Avro Lancaster was ultimately to become the most famous of the heavies, the Halifax was by far the stronger aeroplane and more flexible. It became the obvious test bed for the hybrid bomber. So was born the Halifax 1V with its revolutionary engines, strengthened fuselage, and increased wing span to assist in its high altitude role. |
